Maiden Road Trip - CA Viper Rendezvous

[VENOM V]

Fresh from my dealership and with only 15 miles on the odometer, it was time to break it in right! My daughter and I joined Vipers from all over California for a road trip to Santa Barbara. About 35 or 40 Vipers converged at the Fess Parker Resort for a 3-day party.

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[NastyGTS]

Looks like you guys had a blast! Love the Color

 

[ViperSmith]

There was a meet up in MD I stopped by last weekend. The color of the Stryker Red just makes the hood cowls look so pronounced and deep - it is such a great visual trick.

How is it driving? Glad you waited?

Also curious - how did they 3m the hood, since the sheets max out at 5' in width.

 

[sambo32]

Did you remove the side GTS emblems, I did the same on my viper.

 

[VENOM V]

Saturday morning we took a road trip to Solvang, a Danish village in the mountains. Imagine a line of Vipers as long as you can see, winding through the hills. There were perhaps more Vipers in that line than I had seen in my lifetime. Casa Cassara Winery offered us a place to park in town, along with discounted wine tasting. There was a small car show in town with some awesome classic muscle.

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[VENOM V]

That night, we drove to the Reagan Presidential Library and had our dinner party. Absolutely amazing place, they also had a Lincoln exhibit. The So Cal Prez, Lance Kouchi along with VP Scott Hirko threw us one hell of a party! That's President Kouchi at the podium

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[VENOM V]

Looks like you guys had a blast! Love the Color

It was pretty amazing. You have to put yourself in my shoes. I've been attending Viper gatherings in the family wagon, man I needed this. I literally had made an offer on a black one just before my Viper finally cleared inspection and was put on the truck. I was that close on bailing out. The interesting thing is that out of all of those Vipers, there were only 2 Gen V's. The other one was a black/gunmetal GTS, the exact car I had order before switching to the Stryker Red. So my two favorites, it was pretty cool. The other one I couldn't take my eyes off was this bad ass VooDoo ACR.

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[VENOM V]

There was a meet up in MD I stopped by last weekend. The color of the Stryker Red just makes the hood cowls look so pronounced and deep - it is such a great visual trick.

How is it driving? Glad you waited?

Also curious - how did they 3m the hood, since the sheets max out at 5' in width.

It is such a different animal than any car I've experienced, as you know you have to drive a Viper before you understand. It's a barbarian, a race car on the street. I love it. It's loud, raw, stiff, it has explosive acceleration and razor sharp handling. So different than my Camaro. The Camaro is remarkable on the road course, but is quiet and isolated on the road in comparison to the Viper. The Camaro is a street car on the race track, it is no Viper. I prefer the barbarian, LOL.

I did 3M on the nose, doors, sills, lower quarter panels, and front of the hood. Middle of the hood is Xpel. Sides of the hood, roof, and rear are bare paint. I greatly prefer the Xpel over 3M, it's nearly invisible except for the occasional bubble or flaw. The 3M offers greater protection so it's perfect for the nose and sills, but you see orange peel and it just doesn't look nearly as good. I'm going to replace the 3M on the doors with Xpel.

 

[VENOM V]

Did you remove the side GTS emblems, I did the same on my viper.

Yes, I'm running without the Stryker hood emblem and side GTS emblems for now. No time to put them on after they were temporarily removed to install the clear wrap. My installer literally worked 30 hours straight, poor guy pulled an all-nighter so that I could make the Viper trip! I'll probably put the emblems back on, but I hear you. Looks clean without them.

 

[02 Graphite GTS]

Hey Venom V,
It was a great pleasure to meet you at the WZR. This is the first time I have gotten a good look at the Stryker Red in the sunlight. WOW, pictures just don't do it justice. It is gorgeous, ****, sinister and mean.
Enjoy your Viper and we all look forward to seeing you folks again !

Lance

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[VENOM V]

Hey Venom V,
It was a great pleasure to meet you at the WZR. This is the first time I have gotten a good look at the Stryker Red in the sunlight. WOW, pictures just don't do it justice. It is gorgeous, ****, sinister and mean.
Enjoy your Viper and we all look forward to seeing you folks again !

Lance

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Lance, that was an over-the-top good time, thank you! You guys really went all out in the planning. Everything from the Fess Parker to the cruise to Solvang to dinner at the Reagan Library.
Perfect way to christen the new Viper. The first of many get togethers.

 

[ACRucrazy]

Love the car!
Gonna clear bra your $14,000 paint job?

 

[VENOM V]

Love the car!
Gonna clear bra your $14,000 paint job?

Thanks! Yep, already done. I tip-toed home from the dealer and had it done in a nick of time before the road trip.

 

[Bruce H.]

Thanks for sharing that great opportunity. That's what it's all about with such a special car. I bet you'll never doubt for even a moment that you didn't buy the nicest sports car available. Enjoy!

 

[HogWhisperer]

Wow, congrats, Venom V, that car looks awesome. And by the way, I agree with you on driving the V. You just can't fully appreciate it until you drive it. Have fun and drive the wheels off of it!

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Thanks for all the pics and what a gorgeous shot Lance posted of you at the head of the line of slithering Snakes!!! Now make sure you post plenty of cool shots after you take the beast to Thunderhill. It is nice to hear from guys who really understand the car ( since both you and HogWhisperer are track guys ) and own one , as it gives many individuals a real perspective of what the Gen V is all about.

Envy you getting to run at Thunderhill -- really fun track and I always enjoyed the West side of the course going over the blind rise heading South ( fun to hit at speed ).

 

[kratedisease]

Thanks! Yep, already done. I tip-toed home from the dealer and had it done in a nick of time before the road trip.

Funny how you say " done in the nick of time " ha ha ha .... the key word is nick..... as in no nicks in the paint !! ha ha