'outta Dodge...The Viper As It's Own Brand...

pitviper

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\'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

this was being mentioned in the "super Viper" post in the SRT/VGX forum, but i thought that it perhaps deserved to be opened op for insight on it's own merit...here is what i posted originally, followed by a rebuttle post by jkermode, which i also found very insightful...

post below by pitviper
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an interesting sentance was made and got me thinking..."would people pay Ferrari money for a Dodge?...". perhaps not when you put it like that. but here is where the potential blasphemy comes in...ready? what if it's time for DC to cut the perverbial umbilical cord? yes, i mean make Viper it's OWN brand. it would become the pinnacle of design, power, lust, speed, and beauty that draws from all of DC's resources. i have heard countless commercials, many for various sportscar races, that say something to the effect of "come see the top marqees compete, such as Ferrari, Viper, and Porsche...". in many hearts and minds it already IS it's own entity, so why not give it it's own life? it would then be easier to have a few different models under the Viper name that represent the different ideals such as we are all tossing about in this post. you can have the front engined american inspired brute, the european mid engined serpent, perhaps even a "ferrari 456 GT" fighter (luxury 2+2 GT coupe). who knows, even a Viper LMP/GTP. another thought crossed my mind...would people pay 150k-250k for a "ford"? well that's what they are doing in large part when they are buying an Aston Martin DB7 or Vanquish. "Viper" could be the ultimate true brand expression for ALL of DC. anyway...just a thought, huh?
pit

(please don't stone me, lol)


post below by jkermode
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Pitviper,

So the DC empire would be comprised of;

Dodge: Entry level and average cars & trucks (<$50k)
Chrysler: Mid luxury cars & trucks (<$100k)
Mercedes: Luxury cars & trucks (<$150k)
Maybach: Pure luxury cars ($unlimited)
Viper: Pure sports cars ($unlimited)

DC could probably pull that off. Unfortunately, that leaves me out of the fray.

How about if Viper was handled Similar to Corvette, a unique brand but layered across the entire DC network. For example:

Maybach dealers could get the W motored, mid-engine Ultimate Viper mentioned above, doing battle with the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world.

Merecedes receives a slightly tamer, mid-engined Viper to head off the Ford GT and Porsche 911.

Dodge could sell a lightwieght MR2 / Renault Sport/ Lotus Elite Viper, for us poor folk. (SRT-4 motor in the trunk of the Smart roadster please)

Finally, Chysler gets the front-engined, monster motored SRT to parry Chevrolets Corvette entry.


A nice long term vision, but, how are we going to spank the upcoming Ford and Chevy?



so what do you all think? what would be the reprocussions of such moves? i would love to hear all of your input...thanks for your time... HERE is a link to the other post, in case it helps clear up some questions about what we meant in certain instances...

pit
 

Paolo Castellano

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

A nice long term vision, but, how are we going to spank the upcoming Ford and Chevy?[/i]pit[/b]

[/QUOTE]

That's easy, an intercooled Supercharger with 5-6 psi with forged pistons for a supercharger application. Who cares about the weight for this moment. Do we really know the Ford will truly end up weighing 2,700 LBS for the producton car? Or that the Chevy will be less than 3,000 LBS with a bigger engine? I remember reading the Enzo would be 2,700 LBS forever==> What happened? It came out weighing 3,000 LBS! I hated the SRT when I first saw it but seeing it more and more and having seen one firsthand underneath as well as the body and engine compartment, especially with those brakes, I am beginning to really like it if only they had a coupe! Paolo
 

jrkermode

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

Tim,

I believe the Viper brand could exist within multiple markets as evidenced by Lotus. They existied for decades on everything from kit cars to F1. In the end that was not enough to comprise an entire company, but, as a brand, I think it well proves the legitimacy of the idea.

Will additional models diminish the brand? Not if Viper were to stay true to the mission of delivering the most enthusiast oriented sports car in each market segment.

By example, do you think the presence of the $50,000 Boxster will discourage sales of the upcoming $500,000 Porsche GT? Do you think the $13,000 Dodge "Domino's Delivery" Neon discourages people from purchasing the $80,000 Dodge Viper?

The market, and especially enthusiasts, don't seem to be too heavily influenced by that sort of fashion factor.

Give us driver's cars, unencumbered by all the coddling nonsense which adds nothing to the driving experience and especially all that stuff which masks our mistakes.
 

Andy

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

I think you miss the whole point of the Viper. It's not exactly a cash cow. In fact, I would guess it's Dodge Marketing's biggest line item expense. Heck, they have the cover of every auto mag on the stand sometimes. I think the Viper has more potential as a a funded flagship of the Dodge line than it's own brand.

The SRT lineup is an attempt to do what you want. I'm waiting for a 4 door, v8, manual, RWD SRT sedan. Bring it on!
 

jrkermode

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

SRT and AMG are fine when all you want to do is make a hot rod version of an existing platform, however the idea behind a Viper brand is to make cars without compromising to accomodate the existing platform.

For example, the SRT-4 goes a long way using an econobox platform. But, the Viper "4" would be something much closer to a Lotus Elise, a pure driver's car. The Elise, even with less power, will run rings around an SRT-4 (of course the Viper Elise would have more power than the Lotus Elise, just on principle).

Something like the Elise or the Viper you just can't do right using a platform developed for a different primary purpose.

Unique platforms don't have to be expensive. Look at the Prowler. That car used a number of pieces from the parts bin yet assembled them in a way to create a totally unique driving experience. The Prowler is the kind of car that could be part of the Viper brand.
 

Joseph Houss

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

I'm waiting for a 4 door, v8, manual, RWD SRT sedan. Bring it on!

Hang in there Andy! The SRT-8 goes there.... and more! (wagon!)
 

Firewater

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

I think the Viper is just fine as a Dodge. If it were to have like 4 doors and a auto trans or something....that would really put the Viper into the "every other car" area.

The Viper IS NOT like every other car!!!
 

ElDiablo Viper

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Re: \'outta Dodge...The Viper As It\'s Own Brand...

I'm OK with the Dodge brand as long as they don't make 30K per year and sell for 40K
 

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