MONTEREY, California — Chrysler will produce a Laguna Seca 1:33 special edition of the 2010 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR to commemorate the car's record-setting lap time of 1:33.915, set Tuesday at the road course here.
The production-car lap record was set by Chrysler SRT Vehicle Dynamics Engineer Chris Winkler, who shaved more than 1.1 seconds off the old mark set in August by a Viper-based Devon GTX.
Curiously, Chrysler's press release referred to the previous record holder simply as "a one-off exotic prototype." In fact, owner Scott Devon is well known to the automaker, which earlier this year rejected his $5.5 million bid for the rights to the Viper brand and tooling and then pulled the model off the auction block after Fiat took control.
After the Laguna lap run, design boss Ralph Gilles, who heads the Dodge brand team, dropped some broad hints about Viper's future after the current-generation car ends its production run in 2010.
Gilles said: "We're investigating what the next-generation Viper is going to be.... When we have partners across the ocean who are known as the best sports-car makers in the world, the future opportunities are huge."
Chrysler plans to build a limited run of 500 Vipers for model year 2010, including the Viper ACR, which gets a short-throw shifter with a shorter 5th-gear ratio (from 0.74 to 0.80), as well as a revamped rear wing. The 2010 Viper ACR makes its public debut next week at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Inside Line says: Where are they going to find a nameplate long enough to fit "Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR Laguna Seca 1:33 Special Edition"? — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
davesuton says:
11:45 PM, 12/01/2009
AWESOME!
johnchun says:
07:37 AM, 11/27/2009
I alwyays knew the Viper was a record setting vehicle. Just let the "animal" prove it self at any track in any country.