Ferrari Boss Left “Speechless” After Seeing The New SRT Viper

[I Bin Therbefor]

From Motor Authority

"Ferrari Boss Left “Speechless” After Seeing The New SRT Viper


Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the current chairman of Ferrari and one of the key men responsible for turning the Italian sports car manufacturer into a global automotive powerhouse, was left “speechless” upon seeing the 2013 SRT Viper for the first time.

That little snippet of information was revealed by none other than Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne during an interview on the Paul W. Smith radio show.

“I had the chairman of Ferrari down here for the board meeting last week and he had a chance to look at the car, and he was speechless,” Marchionne said. “I mean for Ferrari to admit that the car is a unique vehicle is a hell of a compliment to the work that’s gone on here.”

Marchionne made the surprising revelation when questioned about production activities taking place at Chrysler facilities in the Detroit area. He said that production of the new 2013 SRT Viper had just commenced at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant and that so far things were doing well.For someone like di Montezemolo, who is surrounded by some of the fastest and most desirable cars on the planet, to be left speechless after seeing the new Viper is testament to the hard efforts made by the car’s development team and the people that build it.

We’re sure its 6.4-liter V-10 engine, rated at 640 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque and billed as having the most torque of any naturally-aspirated sports car engine in the world, may have had a little to do with his initial impression."

Back in the old days, there was a drive to combine Italian styling with Detroit power. IMO - All attemptes failed.
IMO - What the Viper does is combine Detroit styling with Detroit power and does it VERY WELL.

 

[FrgMstr]

Speechless because he noticed the entire front end was a Ferrari rip off. Except for the Koenigsegg headlight.

 

[TowDawg]

And that it's not a 6.4L engine.

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

Sergio has been very vocal himself about what a fan he is personally of this car.
In fact, Ralph alluded to it in new york at the reveal.

 

[SnakeBitten]

Speechless because he noticed the entire front end was a Ferrari rip off. Except for the Koenigsegg headlight.

Lol. Similar thing came to my mind. But seriously it is a great looking vehicle overall but especially from the rear quarter shots. Oh my, I could just imagine Montezemelo seeing it from the rear quarter. That angle is what did it for me for the original GTS and Im glad the Gen V has resurected that aspect faithfully.

 

[Jay M]

The future looks very bright for Viper when the people who's opinion matters most love the car.

I can't wait to see it in person.

~Jay

 

[kennyhemi]

Speechless because he noticed the entire front end was a Ferrari rip off. Except for the Koenigsegg headlight.

Hey, my GF front end is a DD and so my nieghbor get with her and goes get the same DD and they even look the same....moral of the story it may be a ripoff but they both leave me "speechless"

 

[vpower01]

Hey, my GF front end is a DD and so my nieghbor get with her and goes get the same DD and they even look the same....moral of the story it may be a ripoff but they both leave me "speechless"

Amen to that brother!

Cant wait to it in person

 

[Dom426h]

Nice story I_Bin

I agree, In person, I was speachless. Even after seeing it for a few hours at the unvailing party i still stood in front of it mesmerized for a solid half hour on two occasions at the NYC AutoShow.

Upon getting back home and seeing all the pictures on the internet it was like i saw a diff car. Sometimes Pics do not do three dimensional art justice.

Speechless because he noticed the entire front end was a Ferrari rip off. Except for the Koenigsegg headlight.

Frg, a few Q's for you:
1. Have you seen the new Viper in person?
2. When you say "front end" are you referring to the bumper only or like the windshield on up?
3. Which Ferrari front end do you think the G5 Viper looks like?

 

[Voodoo Rob]

Quite honestly what is he suppose to say?

 

[stranger355]

Quite honestly what is he suppose to say?

LOL! I was thinking the same thing. Even if he didn't really like it, he can't really say that to his boss...I would certainly be lost for words. BUT, I was at the press reveal (second row!!) and it's a good looking car even though I'm a bit over exposed to the Viper's lines.

 

[crazyspeed]

And that it's not a 6.4L engine.

^^^ ha ah ... 6.4L maybe he was thinking of the new Chrysler Hemi ??$!

 

[crazyspeed]

Quite honestly what is he suppose to say?

So..he was speechless...never said he liked it

 

[Slithr]

After seeing it, how long was it before his speech returned Is he back to talking today?

 

[Vic]

Ok, so maybe the front end is a bit "Ferrari-like".

It's still great looking, even from it's "bad side"! (the front- har har!)

Seriously, the absence of fog lights is a departure from classic Viper styling cues. Maybe that's partly why we don't see blatantly obvious "Viper" dna, from the straight-ahead view.

Add to that fact that the headlights have been updated, LEDs and all, and it is all-too easy to say it looks a little "599" from the front.

However, as I get used to seeing the front end, I realize that such easy, point-and-shoot quick comparisons don't last, and the uniquness of what SRT did here shines through. It only looks like a Ferrari in the sense that Ferrari makes beautiful, ****, highly desirable automobiles. It doesn't really look like anything else- It's just very new, very well done, and a bold stamp in a class of it's own.

 

[Slithr]

Ok, so maybe the front end is a bit "Ferrari-like".

It's still great looking, even from it's "bad side"! (the front- har har!)

Seriously, the absence of fog lights is a departure from classic Viper styling cues. Maybe that's partly why we don't see blatantly obvious "Viper" dna, from the straight-ahead view.

Add to that fact that the headlights have been updated, LEDs and all, and it is all-too easy to say it looks a little "599" from the front.

However, as I get used to seeing the front end, I realize that such easy, point-and-shoot quick comparisons don't last, and the uniquness of what SRT did here shines through. It only looks like a Ferrari in the sense that Ferrari makes beautiful, ****, highly desirable automobiles. It doesn't really look like anything else- It's just very new, very well done, and a bold stamp in a class of it's own.

Vic, I do believe you just nailed it ... couldn't have said it better myself. Also, most talking haven't seen it in person, which I understand it's Striking in the flesh. Can't wait to see it in person myself

 

[SkyBob]

When I saw it at the New York Auto Show I too was speechless, but that was because I didn't say anything. I went to the auto show alone.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

Im speechless about most Ferrari models but just cannot afford to maintain one to proper standards.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

As noted, by Ralph, when Sergio saw the car he was pleasantly stunned and approved it immediately. I wonder if semantics are just in the way, as change speechless to breathless and maybe it portrays the concept better. I think the thought conveyed is that the car is exceptional and from being at the Reveal, where there were literally tons of audible intakes of oxygen , made one realize many folks were left breathless by the new Viper. The pictures are fantastic, but seen in person please take an oxygen mask --- you will be sucking in air at it's beautiful appearance!

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

Agreed with Bill... Definitely take an oxygen mask.
Standing next to it at to reveal, I forgot there were hundreds of people around me. You kinda get sucked in and mesmerized!
Weird

 

[AviP]

I was speechless before the reveal when the Left Lane News photo was leaked. It was so butt fugly I cancelled going to the NY auto show. I think the design team needs some fresh blood.

I believe the Fiat bigwig speechlessness was an act to keep the Viper designers happy, thus letting Ferrari retain it's top billing. In a couple of years, IMHO, Ralph will be speechless too when he sees the horrible sales figures. And in 2015, we will all be speechless when the Viper will stop being produced after 5 generations, 4 body styles, 3 logos (identity crisis?), 2 many wins and 1 awesome machine back in the day.

Regards,
-Avi
1997 Viper GTS

 

[Allan]

Suffice to say that he's just burned out that the new Viper looks cooler than his stuff.

 

[05Commemorative]

I was speechless before the reveal when the Left Lane News photo was leaked. It was so butt fugly I cancelled going to the NY auto show. I think the design team needs some fresh blood.

I believe the Fiat bigwig speechlessness was an act to keep the Viper designers happy, thus letting Ferrari retain it's top billing. In a couple of years, IMHO, Ralph will be speechless too when he sees the horrible sales figures. And in 2015, we will all be speechless when the Viper will stop being produced after 5 generations, 4 body styles, 3 logos (identity crisis?), 2 many wins and 1 awesome machine back in the day.

Regards,
-Avi
1997 Viper GTS

to confirm, you are bashing the car but have not seen in person?

 

[Camfab]

Hey, my GF front end is a DD and so my nieghbor get with her and goes get the same DD and they even look the same....moral of the story it may be a ripoff but they both leave me "speechless"[/QUOTE

I had to read this 20X to figure out what you were trying to say.

 

[tattooed]

Personally, I don't care at all what the chairman of Ferrari thinks of the car. I want to know what the first 50 Gen V owners who are forum members, and the first 20 professional reviewers, think about it.

 

[Paul Hawker]

Think the new Viper is a "Knock it out of the park winner!"

I would imagine that there are very few (but some) current Viper owners, with relatively stock Vipers, that would not wish to trade straight across for the Gen V.

I understand the money issue, but I think the new car is a pretty significant improvement over the previous cars in most every regard.

Just as most parents would not trade their kids for anybody elses, I understand the bond between owners and their beloved Vipers, but I do not understand their need to trash the new car on the forums.

 

[PDCjonny]

The question is will the ardent cheerleaders who get all wadded up when someone criticizes the Gen 5
be opening the checkbook for one or are they just offering equally useless lip service.
Planning on buying a used one in three years doesn't help Dodge.

 

[I Bin Therbefor]

Here's the chreeleader test: How will a bus load of California cheer leaders respond to seeing a red drop top model, top down, parked along side the road as the bus goes past? Remember the urban legend from long ago about that test result on an earlier generation Viper?

On a serious note; My bet is that SRT will be monitoring the demographics of all Viper buyers very closely. Who buys which model will be useful knowledge for evaluating the current business plan. Gilles said that SRT had learned from Ferrari about producing a low volume car at a profit. Further he said that the Viper is intended to make a positive, but very small, contributuion to the profit picture and lastly he said the production rate looks like about 12 cars a day. All that says to me that the Gen V Viper has the best chance of being around three (3) years from now that SRT can give it. Now it's up to the market. Can the GTS capture new buyers while the base model keeps the current buyer?

 

[AbsolutHank]

The question is will the ardent cheerleaders who get all wadded up when someone criticizes the Gen 5
be opening the checkbook for one or are they just offering equally useless lip service.
Planning on buying a used one in three years doesn't help Dodge.

That's exactly right! That's what I've been saying here too...they designed the new car for the people who can/want to afford the new car...not like most members, myself included, who is planning on picking up one used.

 

[eucharistos]

Hey, my GF front end is a DD and so my nieghbor get with her and goes get the same DD and they even look the same....moral of the story it may be a ripoff but they both leave me "speechless"[/QUOTE

I had to read this 20X to figure out what you were trying to say.

you're a better man than me camfab