Will the thrill be gone?

[vvvviper]

No, I'm not a Viper owner yet, but before the year is up, I'll have a 2001 Yellow RT10 parked in my garage. Driving my last two cars, '97 Mustang Vortech supercharged Cobra and currently '99 Vette, has been alot of fun. - The exhileration HOWEVER of climbing behind the wheel of the snake has no equal. The Viper is a thrilling sports car, an absolute beast that leaves you breathless, smiling from ear to ear, heart pounding like the first time you kiss a new girlfriend. AND MY VIPER HASN'T EVEN ARRIVED YET! So what's my dilemma?

Preowned Vipers are a fare representation of their owners. They're immaculate! You've seen the ads '98 GTS
1742 miles, only garage kept! '99 RT10 105 EZ miles . VIPER OWNERS PAMPER THEIR CARS! And yep, I'll probably do the same. That's all good. It's a means of showing respect and taking care of something that belongs to you. But hey, I want to have FUN in this car. I want to drive it, wind blowin', jams goin' enjoyin' the feel of the road. - I don't want the car's best days spent inside some climate controlled garage.

Seemingly of constant concern are: Where to park it?, whether to let the Valet have it? Is it going to Rain? Will a Fender bender run me five figures? ...and most of all, how the h*** do I keep under the speed limit? ...Is it just me ?....how do you get around these obstacles?

Marc in Boca

 

[Martin D]

Marc,

I drive it like I stole it!!! No really I have 30K miles on this beast and I bet it sees 135 MPH and 6000 RPM at least 5 times a week! I figure when the time comes, I will buy a new one. As for keeping it safe - use common sense! I never leave it with a Valet, I park out of the way, and I am especially careful not to exceed the speed limit in a major way if there is other traffic around. I try to make sure not to endanger anyone's life.

Maybe I will see you around Boca - family has a condo there!
Good luck with your RT!!!!

Regards,

 

[treynor]

In statistics, this is called "Sample Bias". The cars you're seeing for sale with low miles are the ones which aren't being driven. The cars you don't see for sale are the ones with 15K miles of hooliganism per year showing on their odometer, bugs embedded in the front bumper from 140 MPH encounters, and rear tires with all the rubber stretched backwards from hard acceleration.

I trust you'll take a bubble car and give it a proper thrashing. We'd think less of you if you merely move it from one sanitary life to another...

 

[BigsViper]

Here's my chance to tell my sad tale. Sunday before last I needed some stuff for some honey-do's an took the hour and a half drive to the Home Depot about two miles away.

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I parked in the north forty as usual, trying not to force anyone to be careful. I was in the store for about 20 minutes and when I came out there was a note on my windshield from a good samaritan claiming he had seen an old blue Ford pick-up back into the right front facia of the snake, and wrote down the license number along with his (the witnesses) name and phone number.

The result was a paint scrape under the headlight about two inches long and a quarter inch wide. I called the samaritan to thank him and asked him if the guy even knew he hit me; he said he was going very slow and probably not. He also said it was a geezer. It's one of those deals that will cost to repair, but probably not enough to go after an old guy that meant no harm.

The moral? I will only take the snake to places I can keep an eye on it. I like my Durango enough to take it everywhere else. Anyway, my fun comes from drivng the Viper, not driving it to somewhere to park it.