Viper Club of America - Viper Quarterly Magazine Winter 2005
PERSPECTIVES
What an incredible party! Of Course, I'm talking about the Viper Owners Invitational. If you missed it, well, all I can say is that you missed about as much fun as you can have without getting arrested. The cars, the racing, the fun, friends and food --it was almost more than anyone could stand. And, when you topped it all off with the introduction of the new concept Dodge Viper SRT10 coupe, it was truley a historic event.
When I was asked to speak at VOI.8, a number of words came to mind: high-performance, over the top, cutting edge, outrageous, insane -- and that just described the Viper owners.
It had been two years since we were last together, but in some ways is seemed like only yesterday. At that time, we talked about the revolutionary Viper Competition Coupe. And since then, the Comp Coupe has posted some impressive victories, from the Speed World Cup Challenge, to the brand-new Forumula D Drifting championship. In fact, Dodge wants to congratulate Tommy Archer of the 3R-Racing Team, who recently won the SCCA Pro Racing World Championship Challenge GT series driver's championship. Look for more details in the spring issue of VM.
And speaking of racing, although the Viper SRT10 is a fantastic car, you know that in a lot of series you can't race a convertable. Thats a big reason as to why we decided to unveil a new addition to the Viper family at VOI.8 -- our new vesion of the future -- the 2005 Dodge Viper concept coupe. It's the answer to a lot of prayers I've heard around here over the past few years. Oh yea, we hear you. And you'll find proof of our response in this magazine. Check out the new concept coupe in this issue of VM (Winter 2005).
And when we do build this car, make sure you take advantage of another Dodge exclusive. If you end up purchasing one of these fabulous cars (and why wouldn't you?), I would like to personally invite you to Detroit to tour the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant and pick up your Viper right there. No other car manufacturer invites you to do this. That's because we want you to know the pride we take in building this car for you, and we want the opportunity to show you how much your loyalty means to us. You can ask anyone who has made the trip to Detroit -- it's well worth the time and effort.
I'd like to take this opportunity to make one more point. You know what blows me away about our Viper Nation? It's the way Viper owners support the rest of the Dodge and DaimlerChrysler lines of vehicles. I look at the trucks used to haul Vipers to the Viper Days Challenge Series and the V-10 National drag races and I see Dodge. I look at the other family cars driven by our Viper owners and I see Caravans, Crossfires, Neons, 300s and more. If there's one thing I've come to realize over the past few years, it's that you Viper owners are responsible for a helluva lot of other DaimlerChrysler sales -- and I think you deserve the respect and gratitude from everyone at the corporation.
On our last night of VOI.8, Dan Knott, director of SRT, got me up on stage and we made a promise that there will be a VOI.9. As of now, we're not exactly sure where or when it will happen. But no matter where it is, you better make sure you're there. After all, we can't do any of this without you.
Sincerely,
Darryl Jackson
Vice President
Dodge Division