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Car of the Day : May 28, 2013; Hot Wheels '92 Dodge Viper RT/10
Topic Started: May 27 2013, 09:53 PM (678 Views)
craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

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The car for today is the 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10 by Hot Wheels.

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The SRT Viper (formerly the Dodge Viper prior to the 2013 model year) is a V10-powered sports car, manufactured by the Dodge division of Chrysler. Production of the two seat sports car began at New Mack Assembly in 1991 and moved to its current home at Conner Avenue Assembly in October 1995.
Although Chrysler considered ending production because of financial problems, chief executive Sergio Marchionne announced and showed on September 14, 2010 a new model of the Viper for 2012. All Vipers are V10 powered with a manual transmission.

The Viper was initially conceived in late 1988 at Chrysler's Advanced Design Studios. The following February, Chrysler president Bob Lutz suggested to Tom Gale at Chrysler Design that the company should consider producing a modern Cobra, and a clay model was presented to Lutz a few months later. Produced in sheet metal by Metalcrafters, the car appeared as a concept at the North American International Auto Show in 1989. Public reaction was so enthusiastic that chief engineer Roy Sjoberg was directed to develop it as a standard production vehicle.

Sjoberg selected 85 engineers to be "Team Viper," with development beginning in March 1989. The team asked the then-Chrysler subsidiary Lamborghini to cast a prototype aluminum block based on Dodge's V10 truck engine for sports car use in May. The production body was completed in the fall, with a chassis prototype running in December. Though a V8 engine was first used in the test mule, the V10, which the production car was meant to use, was ready in February 1990.

Official approval from Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca came in May 1990. One year later, Carroll Shelby piloted a pre-production car as the pace vehicle in the Indianapolis 500 race. In November 1991, the car was released to reviewers with first retail shipments beginning in January 1992.


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The centerpiece of the car was its engine. It was based on the Chrysler LA design, which was a truck engine. The original configuration made it too heavy for sports car use, so Lamborghini, then owned by Chrysler Corporation, revamped Dodge's cast-iron block V10 for the Viper by recasting the block and heads in aluminum alloy. Some within Chrysler felt the pushrod two-valve design, while adequate for the truck application, was unsuitable for a performance car and suggested a more comprehensive redesign which would have included four valves per cylinder. Chrysler, however, was uncertain about the Viper's production costs and sales potential and so declined to provide the budget for the modification.
The engine weighed 711 lb (323 kg) and produced 400 bhp (300 kW) at 4600 rpm and 465 lb·ft (630 N·m) at 3600 rpm, and thanks to the long-gearing allowed by the engine, provided fuel economy at a United States Environmental Protection Agency-rated 12 mpg-US (20 L/100 km; 14 mpg-imp) city and 20 mpg-US (12 L/100 km; 24 mpg-imp) highway.[7] The body was a tubular steel frame with resin transfer molding (RTM) fiberglass panels. Some small bits of the suspension, (tie-rod ends and parts of the front wheel hubs) following the manufacturer's "engine first" mantra, were sourced from the Dodge Dakota pickup. It had a curb weight of 3,284 lb (1,490 kg) and lacked all modern driver aids such as traction control or anti-lock brakes. Car and Driver magazine referred to this generation as "the world's biggest Fat Boy Harley", and likened driving it to "playing ping pong with a Louisville Slugger baseball bat." Despite this, in straight line performance, it completed a quarter mile (402 m) in 12.6 seconds and had a maximum speed of over 150 mph (240 km/h). Its large tires allowed the car to average close to 1 lateral g in corners, placing it among the elite cars of its day. However, the car proved tricky to drive at high speeds, particularly for the unskilled.


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Check out Wikipedia.com to learn more on the Viper.

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I was shocked to learn the 1st gen Viper from HWs hadn't been ran for COTD yet. This was about the 3rd variation released of the Viper around 1993. It debuted in red with several wheel variations. I got this my last deal with Quicksilverdc.

The Viper is widely viewed as the spiritual successor to the Shelby Cobra with Carol Shelby have some input on the direction of the 1st generation of the V-10 beast. Hope was lost for a while with the Viper program as Chrysler canned production only for it to resume after Fiat purchased the struggling US maker.

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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
:blink: Ouch - that hurts my eyes! Yikes - that is one brighty colored car.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
I had to have this one in my Viper collection only because I collect Vipers!!
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I never was a fan of the UH wheels, but I'll still take them any day over sawblades and 3 spokes. I picked up the very first issue...red with 5 spokes...and gave it to the son of a girlfriend at the time. Now it appears that version is one of the more sought after variations! At least I still have my '96 Pace Car edition by Maisto (1/18 scale) that I have had since the December prior to that race (bought at a Kmart in Buffalo, NY).

Back to this diecast...yes it is bright, but the gold UH wheels compliment the color nicely, I think this is one of the better looking variations of this casting. In my opinion, the Viper started out great but did a slow dive into banality as far as looks are concerned. I've heard a lot of talk that the new Viper will recapture some of the freshness of the original design, but I have yet to see one to form an opinion. I hope they do, there are too few worthy American halo cars left.
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Pegers
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Pony Car
Wes,the red w/chrome sp5 is very hard to come by.but even
harder is the green w/chrome sp5.i have only seen 2 of them in person...
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JustDavid
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SUV
This one is a *bit* on the bright side...where's my sunglasses?
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Dean-o-mite
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Muscle Car
craftymore
May 27 2013, 09:53 PM
I was shocked to learn the 1st gen Viper from HWs hadn't been ran for COTD yet.
We really have only scratched the surface when it comes to Car Of The Day covering the spectrum of vehicle castings out there. There are literally thousands of castings out there, yet to be featured. Slowly -and randomly- filling in the gaps is part of what makes COTD so appealing for me.

This Viper is easily trumped by the Matchbox offering, but it has its own charm. Some red applied to the tail light area would do wonders for it, in my book.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Dean-O-mite
May 29 2013, 09:48 AM
"We really have only scratched the surface when it comes to Car Of The Day covering the spectrum of vehicle castings out there. There are literally thousands of castings out there, yet to be featured. Slowly -and randomly- filling in the gaps is part of what makes COTD so appealing for me."

Lately, especially true with me and Vipers and the winged Mopars!!
I keep thinking, "How many more of these cars have castings out there that I have yet to see??" As far as the Vipers. I find so many different makers, body versions, and color variations, that I have lost track of which I have or do not have. If I'm at a swap meet or yard sale, I'll just buy them all and sort out later what I need.
Edited by ivantt, May 29 2013, 02:06 PM.
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