My viper conundrum

[Cru33]

Hey all!

New to the forum. Found it while doing a search today.

I’ve been a Viper fan since I was 12 when I saw the 1st Viper pace car with my dad at the 91 Indy 500! Finally got the GTS I’d always wanted in 5 years ago. Love it!

Lately though, I’ve been wondering if I should sell it because I just don’t drive it that often, mostly because I don’t want anything bad to happen to it. Ha ha.

It drives great, but I just don’t feel good taking it somewhere and then worrying about people messing with it in the parking lot. Just stresses me out.

I have all of my vipers die casts and toys from my childhood, which is super cool (to me) but I feel like maybe the car has just become a really expensive, really large die cast.

Does anyone else ever get this feeling? Any thoughts. Just thought I’d throw that out for some discussion today as I was sitting and thinking about it.

Thanks all! Have a great day.

 

[daveg]

I typically park it where I can see it. Work etc. If something major happens to it its replaceable. Not driving it your saving it for the next caretaker.
My problem is time....

 

[Solid Red 98]

Vipers are quite rare, and entering the irreplaceable exotic club. Their savings grace is that they are stout, and there are replacement parts out there if they get dinged. Mine goes out about once a week, so its no daily. My biggest stress is the windshield on freeways. Still, its important to keep all cars--even exotic ones in some perspective. They play and sometimes live in a hostile, outside environment, just like the econo-model, truck, or SUV in the neighboring lane, and are subject to the ravagesof the road. Enjoy owning and driving your Viper while you have it. Something could happen to it--that's life. Diecast cars are to look at. 1:1 scale cars are for driving and experiencing, unless you are a collector.

 

[BoondocSaint]

Never hurts to frequent places where people will have good car etiquette. Examples would be Cars and Coffee events, local car shows, track events as either a driver or spectator, car cruises etc. etc. etc. I definitely get the concern, but you can get a lot of low stress enjoyment out of the car with a little planning ahead.

 

[efnfast]

I won't leave mine unattended in parking lots .... in the early years I would and 90% of the time I'd come back to find people loitering around it. All it takes is 1 asshole - of which they are plenty these days - to ruin your day.

 

[Bill W]

I drive my 02 Viper once or twice weekly, averaging 2500 miles annually. I've had mine for 6 years and used to worry about dings, cracked headlights, windshields, etc. No longer. I drive it and enjoy the ride as often as I can. When on interstates and other highways I'm careful about driving behind big trucks and stay clear of them.

 

[MoparMap]

My 04 ticked over 138,000 miles not that long ago, ~100,000 miles of those are my own. I bought it to be my daily driver more or less, though I get the concern about parts. Generally speaking my line of thought is "some company made this part before, so some company can make it again". It might be wildly expensive to get a one-off part made, but with the increase in 3D printing technology I think small batch replacement parts are going to get more reasonable, at least for parts that support that.

I guess the real question is, does it bother you if the car is "less than perfect"? Scratches and chips are annoying, but don't really bother me that much since it's a largely composite car. They are more worrying on steel cars because they are starting points for rust, but paint is just paint and easy enough to replace down the road. I'm not concerned with resale value because I bought the car for me, not the next guy down the line. That's not to say I don't care about my car and would trash it, more just that I don't mind some cosmetic imperfections. I hit some ice on a bridge a couple of weeks ago and somehow managed to only just bump the guardrail while somehow missing the half dozen other cars in front of me. Ended up breaking my driver's side mirror off and damaging the door while putting a pretty good dent in the side panel just behind the front tire. It *****, but that's just life and what I have insurance for. The side panel could probably be saved as I think the dent could be knocked out, but the door is more questionable. Regardless, it will get fixed one way or another as I have zero intention of ever getting rid of it.

I think too as the cars get older we might start seeing more replacement parts come to market. They are getting old enough to be "classics" and as more and more parts get discontinued, I think the aftermarket will step up and start making things. Someone on the forum here is already working on replacement headlight lenses, which has been a big one for a long time.

 

[TEALLIFE]

Theyre just cars and you have insurance.

Enjoy it or sell it to someone who will.

 

[AviP]

Viper owner since 97. It's always mildly stressful. I try to park between cars that have parked properly and preferably back into an end spot (curb to the left or right). I NEVER park far away from other cars because that's what the have-nots love.

 

[capevettes]

I drive my Viper all the time, year round. If you love the car, drive it. I don't leave it anywhere parked unless I can see it. It just makes good sense to have a regular car or truck to take for errands. Life is too short not to enjoy it. Don't save it for the next guy.

 

[green_rt10]

Great conversation! Even though I intentionally bought a car with cosmetic issues in hopes of worrying about it less, I've still spent most of my ownership worrying way too much. It's finally starting to subside, these days.

Here's the thing I'm learning: the whole ethos of preserving a car, of making sure nothing ever happens to it is a fool's errand. Things do break down, over time. We can take care of them, we can do our best to preserve the things we love. Theoretically, even the Mona Lisa, at some point, will succumb to time and decay, despite humanity's efforts. These cars are old, at this point. It's better to experience and enjoy the car, even if that knocks a few years off of the "caretaking" aspect. With cars like Vipers, the monetary difference between a perfect, garage-queen-level car and a car with some "stories" isn't a whole lot, percentage wise. It's sad, imho, to just put the thing in the garage and be too afraid to use it. Look at BaT/C&Bs, etc: cream puff Vipers still sell far below their origianl MSRP. They are not investments, and they don't need to own us.

It would be silly to say that anyone is entitled to drive a Viper. But, if someone was, I think it's people like us: the people who grew up loving them. They're part of our own personal mythology. Childhood is immensely powerful, and only a generation or two actually grew up wanting these cars. Just like the 50s American car scene is dying off slowly because later generations didn't grow up pining for them, there will come a time when our cars do not mean much to the current generations. It's much better, in my opinion, to make our own childhood selves happy. Even at the risk of dings, broken parts, less-than-perfect presentation.

Hunter S. Thompson said it best:

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

Seems very in line with the Viper ethos.

If the Viper isn't doing it for you, it's totally fine to let it go. But, if you do love it but are scared to use it, I'd encourage you (as a fellow nervous person who is also a dreamer [a rough, rough combination]) to try to find some zen and just enjoy it.