NHL2133
Enthusiast
Last Wednesday I celebrated my 25th birthday and I knew I wanted it to be special. What better way to make a birthday special then with a Viper, right? A couple of months ago I stumbled upon the website of a company in Denver who rents exotic/luxury cars, and as luck would have it their fleet includes a 2004 Viper. I didn't really think about renting until the end of March, when I saw that they were offering a "rent 2 days, get one free" deal. It was then I decided this would be a perfect present to me. I called the company and asked about availability for 72 hours starting the Monday before, and lasting through my b-day. I got lucky again as it was available all 3 days. So I put down a deposit and started waiting.
As time drew near a problem arose, Colorado weather. The Friday/Saturday before I was to pick the car up were supposed to be filled with snow, copious amounts of heavy wet nasty snow. As the weather forecasts change on a whim around here, I nervously awaited to see if the storms arrival and departure would stay on schedule. It did, and while Denver saw a fair amount of accumulation, my area saw 3 days of rain and just enough snow to make slush on the road. By the time I left for Denver on Monday morning everything was dry.
By Monday afternoon almost all the snow in Denver had melted, and I was signing the papers to rent the White Mamba. American Dreams Colorado is located inside of the LeMay auto museum, and they had a large collection of exotic and classic vehicles in the show room...
Ferrari 550
Lamborghini Diablo VT
In the back there is a large garage area that houses the other rental cars, and customer cars (for the detail shop) like...
Shelby Cobra (not for rent)
and the newest car to the rental fleet, the Ariel Atom
Then it was time for me to slide behind the wheel of the beast...
I had driven an SRT vert and coupe before (Thanks again MR. B!), but knowing this car was "mine" for 3 days really let me sit back and enjoy the entire experience. With all the pointers I've picked up on these board over the last few years it was a comfortable and enjoyable drive home (aside from the Jetta who wanted to race in bumper-to-bumper traffic
). The car got plenty of stares, and since everyone wants to drive next to it, no one yields (which lead to an unexpected detour). The 50 mile drive back home is much shorter in the Viper, and once she was in the driveway, it was photo-op time.
The girlfriend loves it, and loves to be photographed next to the snake (ironic since she's very afraid of the real thing).
The rest of day 1 and most of day 2 were spent showing off the car, and giving people rides. I guess I'm the only one in my family who likes torque in my cars, as my parents and brother were surprised but not pleased with how fast the car got to 60. But the other riders really enjoyed being pinned to their seats.
Day 3 was my birthday, and the day I had picked to take the car up to the mountains to see how well it handled the curves and switch backs of the Big Thompson Canyon.
On the way up the Viper turned 72,000
It drove perfectly up and down the canyon, and we were treated to some great picture taking opporitunites in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Stacey sneaks into another shot...
After a quick drive to a new location, the clouds break, the sun comes out, and the top goes down.
On our way out of the park I had to stop and snap a couple of photos without the low-hanging clouds so you can see Longs Peak.
Stacey makes another appearance...
Here she is wishing she could drive it...
Then it was back down the canyon and a short trip home.
Couldn't pass up a night time shot.
The entire experience was amazing, and it has me looking for ways to save even more so I can fully live the dream. I have to say that the most impressive things about the car are the torque (which never seems to run out), the brakes (which will get you stopped in a hurry), and the comfort. I fit into the car perfectly, and with the exhaust right over my shoulder, the sound was purely awesome! Most of the reactions I got were positive, there were just a few dirty looks and one guy yelled "F*&K YOU" at me while driving the other direction.
If I'm not ready to buy my own next year, I might just rent it again.
Special thanks to Kelli and Justin and American Dreams for their help with the rental process which was smooth and easy. Also, a shout out to Aaron who works at Intrigue Detail which shares the LeMay facility. Aaron posts on these boards as Cornfed, and his poor GTS was without a hood and under a Corvette car cover in the back at LeMay. I hope you get that engine fixed soon!
~Josh
As time drew near a problem arose, Colorado weather. The Friday/Saturday before I was to pick the car up were supposed to be filled with snow, copious amounts of heavy wet nasty snow. As the weather forecasts change on a whim around here, I nervously awaited to see if the storms arrival and departure would stay on schedule. It did, and while Denver saw a fair amount of accumulation, my area saw 3 days of rain and just enough snow to make slush on the road. By the time I left for Denver on Monday morning everything was dry.
By Monday afternoon almost all the snow in Denver had melted, and I was signing the papers to rent the White Mamba. American Dreams Colorado is located inside of the LeMay auto museum, and they had a large collection of exotic and classic vehicles in the show room...
Ferrari 550
You must be registered for see images attach
Lamborghini Diablo VT
You must be registered for see images attach
In the back there is a large garage area that houses the other rental cars, and customer cars (for the detail shop) like...
Shelby Cobra (not for rent)
You must be registered for see images attach
and the newest car to the rental fleet, the Ariel Atom
You must be registered for see images attach
Then it was time for me to slide behind the wheel of the beast...
You must be registered for see images attach
I had driven an SRT vert and coupe before (Thanks again MR. B!), but knowing this car was "mine" for 3 days really let me sit back and enjoy the entire experience. With all the pointers I've picked up on these board over the last few years it was a comfortable and enjoyable drive home (aside from the Jetta who wanted to race in bumper-to-bumper traffic
). The car got plenty of stares, and since everyone wants to drive next to it, no one yields (which lead to an unexpected detour). The 50 mile drive back home is much shorter in the Viper, and once she was in the driveway, it was photo-op time.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
The girlfriend loves it, and loves to be photographed next to the snake (ironic since she's very afraid of the real thing).
You must be registered for see images attach
The rest of day 1 and most of day 2 were spent showing off the car, and giving people rides. I guess I'm the only one in my family who likes torque in my cars, as my parents and brother were surprised but not pleased with how fast the car got to 60. But the other riders really enjoyed being pinned to their seats.
Day 3 was my birthday, and the day I had picked to take the car up to the mountains to see how well it handled the curves and switch backs of the Big Thompson Canyon.
On the way up the Viper turned 72,000
You must be registered for see images attach
It drove perfectly up and down the canyon, and we were treated to some great picture taking opporitunites in Rocky Mountain National Park.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
Stacey sneaks into another shot...
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
After a quick drive to a new location, the clouds break, the sun comes out, and the top goes down.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
On our way out of the park I had to stop and snap a couple of photos without the low-hanging clouds so you can see Longs Peak.
You must be registered for see images attach
Stacey makes another appearance...
You must be registered for see images attach
Here she is wishing she could drive it...
You must be registered for see images attach
Then it was back down the canyon and a short trip home.
Couldn't pass up a night time shot.
You must be registered for see images attach
The entire experience was amazing, and it has me looking for ways to save even more so I can fully live the dream. I have to say that the most impressive things about the car are the torque (which never seems to run out), the brakes (which will get you stopped in a hurry), and the comfort. I fit into the car perfectly, and with the exhaust right over my shoulder, the sound was purely awesome! Most of the reactions I got were positive, there were just a few dirty looks and one guy yelled "F*&K YOU" at me while driving the other direction.
If I'm not ready to buy my own next year, I might just rent it again.
Special thanks to Kelli and Justin and American Dreams for their help with the rental process which was smooth and easy. Also, a shout out to Aaron who works at Intrigue Detail which shares the LeMay facility. Aaron posts on these boards as Cornfed, and his poor GTS was without a hood and under a Corvette car cover in the back at LeMay. I hope you get that engine fixed soon!
~Josh
Holy huge pics batman. Seems like you had a great B-Day.
Now that you've been spoiled with a Gen 3 do you think you would buy a Gen 3 or do you perfer the looks of the gen 2 ?
