Dodge Viper stereotypes and sayings

[Daniel SRT-10]

This could be humorous or offensive but with my casual sense of humor It’s my hope this thread is fun for all.

The rude, inappropriate, insulting or even scary comments I’ve come to know about the viper or their drivers was a factor when I decided to own one.

Viper is most often compared to a Corvette but they couldn’t be further apart in characteristics. Ive owned a ZO6 Corvette so I know how dramatic the polarity swing is between the two, Ultimately the Viper much more fun. You can lose respect for a Corvette and still be forgiven but do that in a Viper and it will leave you by wrapping its self around a tree in a lasting embrace.

 

[ViperJeff]

Some Viper enthusiasts are purists and exclusive. Which is ok, I just find it a little odd as it tends to push people away instead of Welcoming.

 

[George Farris]

Actually, been doing Vipers since February 1994. My observation is we are the most friendly and welcoming car club/guys I have ever been around.

People go nuts around these cars and it just revs us up!!

 

[Tom and Vipers]

When I drive my Viper I know exactly what it is like to be a beautiful woman with big t*ts. Staring, whistling, revving there engines and smiles, V's and thumbs up too. Still, I have a profound background in sleep street racing in the 70's and I prefer the anonymity. But now that I'm old, having a Viper that makes every head turn is fun. As far as a street race, I just laugh and keep on driving.

Corvette: Its simply not in the same class as Viper. A loaded Corvette is nothing more than a gussied up base model - sort of sad really.

MY SEARCH - VIPER IS SO UNIQUE THAT IT DOESN'T REGISTER:

20 years ago when I had money to burn, I was finally going to buy an expensive fast car (previous most spent in a car was $8000 for a T-bird Turbo Coupe.) I discovered the bottom fell out of the 12-cyl Ferrari market and I found you could buy a Testarossa driver for $35k - but was turned off by Ferrari friend who said you won't like it, it's a big heavy car and it feels that way when you drive it. I looked at Turbo Buicks and even an Anniversay Turbo Trans Am - but nothing was clicking.

Now I read all the car mags and knew all here was, but it took a friend to simply say, "Buy a Viper."

DUH! I was dumbfounded - I knew this car well: 120 mph 1/4 mile out of the box.

WHY didn't I think of this? Probably because it was so unique and so out of my price range when it came out, my brain had classified it as something different, not just a "car."
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UNFORTUNATELY I know of one "stereotype" of Viper that is rather irritating. It's along the lines that Shelly Duval really is Olive Oil and Andrew McCutchen looks like Jar Jar Binks - but the GTS does in deed look like a clown shoe. This really ****** me off because it never occurred to me and now that I've heard it, it definitely has some traction.

 

[steve e]

Tom I do not see it, my shoes look nothing like a Viper.

 

[Frank Parise]

I regularly visit a number of other discussion forums to keep current including several viper forums, several mustang forums, the hellcat forum, and a couple of corvette forums. Sadly, the decorum is generally dreadful and I do not remember it being that way 20 years ago. I do my best to filter through the noise and do the fact gathering I need to take care of my cars. There are enough old guys that remain gentlemen and actually know what they are talking about.

 

[Richard S]

I was in the VCA early on in the late 90's when I bought a couple of new Vipers. (yeah, I'm an "older guy" now). Got busy with work and kids and lost interest in my 96 Rt/10, 98 GTS and the VCA for over 15 years. In fact, I haven't put a tag on my GTS since 2010!!

Both are gorgeous and run perfectly. I have more time now and a renewed interest in my Vipers and this forum. Tom's post above about irritating Viper comments blew me away!! In the late 90's a friend's wife made a comment to me that my GTS looked like a "clown shoe".. with it's big up-turned broad toe and sagging mid section. We must have been smoking something because I could actually picture it! So, I posted that comment on the VCA forum in about 1999 and today I read Tom's post that the analogy stuck and has become a somewhat annoying legend. I'll begrudgingly take full credit for that!!

Tom, I LOVE the way my GTS looks, even 20 years later.. but you gotta concede the resemblance.

Oh yeah, one more comment, Tom mentioned that one of the cars he considered buying before his 1st Viper many years ago was a 1989 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am. That got my attention, too. I still have my Turbo T/A (bought in 1990)!

A lot of fun here.

 

[MoparMap]

I've got a "good" stereotype that's always come to mind for me. I started off in a Vette club back before and one thing that seemed to strike me more than anything about them was it felt like an "owners" club more than a "drivers" club. Pretty much every Viper owner I've ever met seems to really enjoy driving their car, not just owning it. They are all V10, 6 speed, big torque, and big tire cars, so they seem to attract the kind of person that really likes to be engaged while driving, not just someone that wants a flashy car to show off. I think that's one reason I've always really appreciated them more than other cars of similar performance levels.

 

[Richard S]

People always think Viper owners know every other Viper owner in town. Never heard that in a Corvette. In the early years we actually did know nearly every other Viper owner in town.

 

[MoparMap]

I'm constantly surprised how many Vipers there are around a town sometimes. I think I know most of the ones in my town now (it's not a huge city), but it always surprises me just how many there are around that you almost never see or that were right under your nose the whole time.

 

[steve e]

I live in Prescott AZ and have never seen a Viper , I know there around just never saw one yet, come to think of it no one has seen mine ether, it sits in the garage LOL.

 

[matt dillon]

I Don't know much about the GTS's looking like the Clown Shoe, I Always thought it was the RT/10's. That was One of the reasons I Bought the Jeff Lemke 3-Piece Top for mine & Now to me it Doesn't look like that at All anymore! Makes a Big Difference!

 

[jboegn1]

steve e, I also live in Prescott AZ and I have a yellow Viper (SHY ASP). I am surprised that you have not seen it. I drive it about once a month and have taken it to a few car shows since 2013.

 

[steve e]

Thats Awesome, its me I don't get out often, I have been working on the house, now that its finished I can get out more and play. I would like to talk to you one day and find out all the ways to safely drive in Prescott, I have a 99 GTS and I can't even get it out of my drive way with out putting down boards to get over the drain pit , and very few places I dare to go because the car is so low.

 

[jboegn1]

My car is a 2005 SRT-10 that has been lowered 2". I occasionally bottom out but fortunately the undercarriage is fairly well protected. I do hate the sound when it scrapes the bottom over speed bumps, driveways, *** holes, etc. I am tempted to raise the car back to stock height but I like the look of being lowered.

 

[InTheZoneAC]

My car is a 2005 SRT-10 that has been lowered 2". I occasionally bottom out but fortunately the undercarriage is fairly well protected. I do hate the sound when it scrapes the bottom over speed bumps, driveways, *** holes, etc. I am tempted to raise the car back to stock height but I like the look of being lowered.

Try 1" lower instead, see how that goes

 

[KyViper]

I am on my 2nd Viper and going on to my 5th Corvette (as soon as this Virus thing is over and GM builds it) and truly appreciate what each of them were and still are to me.
Other than the Forums, I have never had anyone say "Clown Shoe" about the Viper.
Maybe we should just drop it and let it fade away.
All I know is that when I drive my 97, I get Thumbs up and Stares. I see people scrambling for their Cell Phones to get a Pic or Video of it. This on a car that is 23 years old.
Where I live you never see another Gen 1 or 2 Viper. Even at Cars and Coffee type gatherings. When I take mine, there is always someone examining every square inch of it.
They all have stories of when they saw their first Viper and could remember exact Date and Time when they saw it.
When I have someone along for a ride and I do a Max accelerate takeoff they are Blown away.
It is so true that when you stop for gas that I do get swarmed by others at the station along with others that have trailed me for the last several miles hoping I would pull off.
Sorry the C4 Vettes that are contemporaries of my 97 that do not even get noticed (I had a C4 and know how that feels).
The day I took the Picture that is my Avatar, I had two teen age boys who were running as fast as they could to get over to it before I left. From the looks of them when they got to me it looked like they had run quite a distance.
Enough about the attention, my true happiness of having my Viper comes on a nice day when I am out rowing through the gears on a country road.
Absolutely priceless.
Ky

 

[Bill W]

What's really cool is when people walk past a $200,000 McLaren to gawk at my Gen 2 RT/10 at Cars and Coffee. Yep, that's right, and we were parked side by side. Timeless beauty. Nothing like it.

 

[newredrt10]

the war between Viper and vet will continue. i always seem to get into a heated talks about these cars, but i always end them this way, they are to different cars but every Viper owner has owened one or has one in tier stable, because Viper owners love a good car

 

[ViperJeff]

I’ve always loved the early vettes, kinda lost interest after about 68/69

 

[MoparMap]

My first car was a 71 Vette that I still have. The rear suspension is currently in pieces as I've finally taken the time to remove the old rusty trailing arm shims, but now I have the fun task of trying to get the wheel bearings out. The car probably isn't worth fixing up considering it's a base model and not that special, but it's special to me. It's still one of my favorite cars appearance-wise. The newer ones don't strike me the same way.

 

[SRT10]

Vettes and Vipers, I love both of them. American performance cars are world class now. The Viper has retired to become a classic while the Vette has expanded to mid-engine performance soon to introduce a 1200hp Zora model. God bless America!

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[MoparMap]

They certainly each have their place. The Vette is still the king of performance to dollars in my eyes, but the Viper just feels better to drive in my experience. The newest Vette I've driven is a base C7, but it just didn't feel quite as direct as my 04 Viper. Still a hoot around a track I'm sure.

 

[DJ'sviper]

I grew up with friends giving each other crap about Ford, Chevy and Dodge. I have had guys get livid at a car show that I would bring a viper to. I think its funny. It's a car. A very nice car. Vette is a car a very nice car. I enjoy all nice cars but jealousy will be there. Looking up able at the boxy vet next to the viper. Seems to lost its sense of design compared to the flowing lines on the viper. I had a model of a jaguar that had those lines. The viper was created by Shelby after the early Cobra. They look like a race car. Had three kids pull me over. Thought that they were going to try to take the car at first. They were just excited. So I took them out to the highway with their souped up car. They couldn't believe it when I walked away from them. Gave them rides and had fun. One was so shocked that it was factory. If you can't share it ou are missing out of a lot of fun. However, I did not let them drive it. LOL

 

[Marktorquewatches]

I don't collect cars, but I do cycle through a lot of them. I bought my 2003 just a few weeks ago; it is my 19th car. Nine of those cars have been Mercedes and BMWs, some sporty, like SL500s, BMW M Roadster, BMW 540. My current daily driver is a twin turbo BMW and my weekend bike is a custom Harley. Nothing has compared to the driving experience of the Viper. The technology in the BMW is cool (while under warranty), but the raw power and attitude of the Viper is incredible. It appeals to my inner rebel. No traction control, no cruise control, no cup holders - awesome! I can admit that I was scared of the car when I test drove it. THAT was a selling point. It's only been 3-1/2 weeks, so I am still a little scared of what the car can do, but that will grow into respect over time. Mark

 

[kssssnake]

This has been a great read. My take is that corvette owners never open their hoods. Viper owners only close them when they go for a drive. To echo Mark, the guy we bought the car from had one piece of advice; when you get comfortable with the beast that's when it will bite you. Never think that you are in control. I do like the looks of the new vette. Have a friend with one.

 

[steel snake]

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I was going to restore a 1970 Dodge Coronet RT ragtop back in 2000. It would have cost 50K to do it right. I thot to myself for 50K I could get a nice Viper. So I stepped into the 21st century and bot a 2000 RT10. Drove that for 10 years and sold it. Instant seller's remorse. Three years later, did a 6 mo search and found my 2002 RT10 1 state over. With horse power laying all over the road in big black patches, 450+ ain't nothin', but I'm the one driving the Viper. Still, I give Vettes the hi beam salute as a courtesy. They have feelings too.

 

[steve e]

That is a good looking Viper,great color to.