Wing King
Enthusiast
Jonathan Mark is the editor of “Auto Age USA”, a Texas based automotive publication. He’s a real car guy who “gets it”, as all Viper enthusiasts do. Over the years we’ve become good friends, and I’ve developed a great respect for his writing skills. I consider him to be a true artist with words. Recently, he had the chance to visit an SRT Driving Experience and sample a Gen 3 Viper for his first time in a real “performance” environment. His subsequent review has been published now, and I’d like to share my favorite excerpts of it with all of you. He titled it, simply, “The Rush of Power”. For me, it pretty well sums up, in as few words as I think would ever be possible, the reasons most all of us on this website either own our Vipers, or aspire to that goal someday in the future. See if you identify with his thoughts like I did:
“Time and place takes on a different sense in the presence of a car as rare as the Dodge Viper. It’s an occasion just to see one. It’s the experience of a lifetime to drive one. As transportation, you might as well be headed for another dimension.”
“The Zen of cars like the Viper….. of which there have been very few, ever……. is that it turns the world back on you. After a lifetime of asking for more speed, more brakes, better handling: …… what if you got your wish? What if you rubbed the lamp?”
“Your next wish would be (or should be) for your capability, as a driver, to keep up with the car’s prowess.”
“If you understand how an antique car can put you in a different time, or how a convertible can always put you in a different mood….. you can begin to understand how a Viper can warp the paved universe.”
“You could commit the rest of your driving life to getting in touch with this car, and it would be rewarding. You will never outgrow it. Speed and momentum will always be The Master. The one mistake casual owners make, is thinking that they can take a Viper out once in six months, and see how fast it will go. Any Viper is best used regularly as a tool by the professional.”
“About $90,000, if you have to ask. And you still won’t own it. You’ll be beginning a relationship.”
Ahhhhh! Wonderful words that should be immortalized in the Viper Holy Grail!
“Time and place takes on a different sense in the presence of a car as rare as the Dodge Viper. It’s an occasion just to see one. It’s the experience of a lifetime to drive one. As transportation, you might as well be headed for another dimension.”
“The Zen of cars like the Viper….. of which there have been very few, ever……. is that it turns the world back on you. After a lifetime of asking for more speed, more brakes, better handling: …… what if you got your wish? What if you rubbed the lamp?”
“Your next wish would be (or should be) for your capability, as a driver, to keep up with the car’s prowess.”
“If you understand how an antique car can put you in a different time, or how a convertible can always put you in a different mood….. you can begin to understand how a Viper can warp the paved universe.”
“You could commit the rest of your driving life to getting in touch with this car, and it would be rewarding. You will never outgrow it. Speed and momentum will always be The Master. The one mistake casual owners make, is thinking that they can take a Viper out once in six months, and see how fast it will go. Any Viper is best used regularly as a tool by the professional.”
“About $90,000, if you have to ask. And you still won’t own it. You’ll be beginning a relationship.”
Ahhhhh! Wonderful words that should be immortalized in the Viper Holy Grail!
