My Birthday present to me (pics)

NHL2133

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Last Wednesday I celebrated my 25th birthday and I knew I wanted it to be special. What better way to make a birthday special then with a Viper, right? A couple of months ago I stumbled upon the website of a company in Denver who rents exotic/luxury cars, and as luck would have it their fleet includes a 2004 Viper. I didn't really think about renting until the end of March, when I saw that they were offering a "rent 2 days, get one free" deal. It was then I decided this would be a perfect present to me. I called the company and asked about availability for 72 hours starting the Monday before, and lasting through my b-day. I got lucky again as it was available all 3 days. So I put down a deposit and started waiting.
As time drew near a problem arose, Colorado weather. The Friday/Saturday before I was to pick the car up were supposed to be filled with snow, copious amounts of heavy wet nasty snow. As the weather forecasts change on a whim around here, I nervously awaited to see if the storms arrival and departure would stay on schedule. It did, and while Denver saw a fair amount of accumulation, my area saw 3 days of rain and just enough snow to make slush on the road. By the time I left for Denver on Monday morning everything was dry.
By Monday afternoon almost all the snow in Denver had melted, and I was signing the papers to rent the White Mamba. American Dreams Colorado is located inside of the LeMay auto museum, and they had a large collection of exotic and classic vehicles in the show room...
Ferrari 550
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Lamborghini Diablo VT
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In the back there is a large garage area that houses the other rental cars, and customer cars (for the detail shop) like...
Shelby Cobra (not for rent)
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and the newest car to the rental fleet, the Ariel Atom
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Then it was time for me to slide behind the wheel of the beast...
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I had driven an SRT vert and coupe before (Thanks again MR. B!), but knowing this car was "mine" for 3 days really let me sit back and enjoy the entire experience. With all the pointers I've picked up on these board over the last few years it was a comfortable and enjoyable drive home (aside from the Jetta who wanted to race in bumper-to-bumper traffic :bonker:). The car got plenty of stares, and since everyone wants to drive next to it, no one yields (which lead to an unexpected detour). The 50 mile drive back home is much shorter in the Viper, and once she was in the driveway, it was photo-op time.
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The girlfriend loves it, and loves to be photographed next to the snake (ironic since she's very afraid of the real thing).
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The rest of day 1 and most of day 2 were spent showing off the car, and giving people rides. I guess I'm the only one in my family who likes torque in my cars, as my parents and brother were surprised but not pleased with how fast the car got to 60. But the other riders really enjoyed being pinned to their seats.

Day 3 was my birthday, and the day I had picked to take the car up to the mountains to see how well it handled the curves and switch backs of the Big Thompson Canyon.
On the way up the Viper turned 72,000
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It drove perfectly up and down the canyon, and we were treated to some great picture taking opporitunites in Rocky Mountain National Park.
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Stacey sneaks into another shot...
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After a quick drive to a new location, the clouds break, the sun comes out, and the top goes down.

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On our way out of the park I had to stop and snap a couple of photos without the low-hanging clouds so you can see Longs Peak.

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Stacey makes another appearance...
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Here she is wishing she could drive it...
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Then it was back down the canyon and a short trip home.

Couldn't pass up a night time shot.
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The entire experience was amazing, and it has me looking for ways to save even more so I can fully live the dream. I have to say that the most impressive things about the car are the torque (which never seems to run out), the brakes (which will get you stopped in a hurry), and the comfort. I fit into the car perfectly, and with the exhaust right over my shoulder, the sound was purely awesome! Most of the reactions I got were positive, there were just a few dirty looks and one guy yelled "F*&K YOU" at me while driving the other direction. :rolaugh:
If I'm not ready to buy my own next year, I might just rent it again. :drive:

Special thanks to Kelli and Justin and American Dreams for their help with the rental process which was smooth and easy. Also, a shout out to Aaron who works at Intrigue Detail which shares the LeMay facility. Aaron posts on these boards as Cornfed, and his poor GTS was without a hood and under a Corvette car cover in the back at LeMay. I hope you get that engine fixed soon!



~Josh
 

HI-NOS-Viper

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Would it be possible to make the pics a little larger :D Holy huge pics batman. Seems like you had a great B-Day.
 

J&R3xV10

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good for you Josh and great photos.....even if they are a bit large :D I always wondered, how much is it to rent a Viper?? I would guess like $500 a day:dunno: Now that you've been spoiled with a Gen 3 do you think you would buy a Gen 3 or do you perfer the looks of the gen 2 ?
 

FLATOUT

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Very cool man and Happy Birthday!

Looks like you really enjoyed the time with the car, both of you:headbang::headbang::headbang:

Andy Wheeler
 

mike & juli

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NICE BIG PIX!!!! What a great idea...and one of the gorgeous Vipers out there...heck, along with your scenery...absolutely beautiful. THX for sharing...and Happy Belated 25th Birthday~! :) ~juli
 
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NHL2133

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Okay, so I fixed the picture size problem. Sorry everyone, I didn't realize when I posed that you would need a 100" monitor to view every picture. Thanks for the birthday wishes, it really was the best b-day of the 25.

Robert,
I've only had a limited amount of seat time in a Gen 2 RT/10, and my dream is still to have a GTS. If I were in the market today I would have to give a serious drive to a GTS before deciding between the two. There really is something special about a 500hp convertible, but I do prefer the looks of a GTS!
 

Kevan

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Happy B-day!

I was expecting a dinner with Milan and the boys.
This looked like much more fun! :D
 

Ratical2

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Happy Birthday Josh, What a beautiful place to enjoy a Viper drive. I really enjoyed the pics because they brought back a lot of great memories. I lived in Boulder for 5 years, Big Thompson canyon, Boulder Canyon, Seven Mile Canyon, Trail Ridge Road....alot of other beautiful places to put the Viper through its paces.

Congratulations!
 

InjectTheVenom

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DUDE I HATE YOU! I turned 25 myself on March 31st and there ain't one single f*cking rental company here in The Netherlands with a Viper on their inventory list! All I did to mark the historical event was have the jeweler make my birthday gift and throw my colleagues at work a small party :(

Happy birthday though, glad you had such an amazing experience! Awesome scenery where you live.. if I want to see that kind of mountains I have to drive quite a distance into Germany.
 

VENOMAHOLIC

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My first drive was a rented yellow 94 in Vegas. It was a priceless experience that made me redouble my efforts to afford one. Happy B-Day.
 

Leslie

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hey Josh Happy Birthday and congrats on your Viper ride!

Dreaming about what you want is how it becomes a REALITY, don't loose site and it will be yours!
 

Spdrcrj25

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Congratulations and good luck on your future purchase. After driving that one, I'm sure we'll be seeing a purchase thread from you. LOL
 

VENUM INJECTION

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Awesome present to yourself! I have never understood why people react so harshly like that one guy passing you in the oposite direction. But I am glad you had a good experience otherwise.
 
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NHL2133

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Whew, where to begin. First off, thank you all for the well wishes.

Black Mamba 47- Awesome wife! I'm sure my girlfriend will want to learn how to drive a stick so I can rent it for her on her b-day.

Kevan- I called everyone on the team and they all said they had early tee-times? :dunno: Oh the misery of an early off season...

Ratical- As you know, the canyon roads around here are the best for a cruise. Great scenery, great twisties, and great locations at the end of the road. I can't wait to have a Viper of my own to drive all over the state.

Willem- Don't hate! :rolaugh: Vipers are hard to find for rent around here too, I just got super lucky that the company in my backyard has one. If you ever get the chance to rent one and you can't afford to buy one, DO IT!

VENOMAHOLIC- I hear ya. I'm working harder now, and saving every dime I can. Everyone I spoke to said "it's a good goal for 10 years from now". I don't think so, two years, max!

Leslie- Super focused now. I can't wait to have one of my own.

Spdrcrj25-Hopefully that thread is coming sooner rather then later!

Keith-The Mamba had new suspension, so she rode like new, couldn't even tell there were 72k on the clock.

Venum- He was just a jealous idiot, I just laughed at him. One bad reaction and 100 good, people really love these cars!

Thanks again everyone!
 

BigBadViper

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Nice pics with the mountains in the background. Good luck on getting your own. I have never ridden in a stock Viper, or any Viper other than mine. I want to check out one of the newer ones. Congrats and happy birthday.
 
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Venomiss

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Happy birthday and awesome pictures to remember your day.
I think we should do a poll on how soon you'll be an owner...my guess is one year or less.
 

zoomie

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Great pics. and Happy Birthday.
These DO make Hot birthday presents !
and weddings.. anniversaries..

Viper Rent LLC of Maryland, Baltimore
 

Freddog11

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Nice story and pics, now you're hooked and you'll own one before you know it. I never considered buying a Viper until I rented one on my wedding day. We were in Maui and stopped at a place to rent a Harley. I looked out back and saw that the place had a bunch of exotics for rent. I asked the guy which was the best, we're talking Lambos, Porche, and the like, but the guy recommended the Viper. I loved the car that day and told my new wife I wanted one. Three years later I had one in the garage and love even more than the rental...because its mine. You'll have one soon...like I say, you're hooked now.
 
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NHL2133

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Happy birthday and awesome pictures to remember your day.
I think we should do a poll on how soon you'll be an owner...my guess is one year or less.

Wow, I like your guess better then mine of 2 years. I think I'll adopt your guess.

Nice story and pics, now you're hooked and you'll own one before you know it. I never considered buying a Viper until I rented one on my wedding day. We were in Maui and stopped at a place to rent a Harley. I looked out back and saw that the place had a bunch of exotics for rent. I asked the guy which was the best, we're talking Lambos, Porche, and the like, but the guy recommended the Viper. I loved the car that day and told my new wife I wanted one. Three years later I had one in the garage and love even more than the rental...because its mine. You'll have one soon...like I say, you're hooked now.

I was hooked before, but even the small taste of the ownership experience has brought it to a whole new level. I find myself looking at every dime I spend now, trying to find a way to turn that dime spent into a nickle spent. I think I have a disease. :rolaugh:
 

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