I've seen a few posts about your first Viper experience, so I thought I'd share mine.
To those that actually read it, I apologize for the length (I don't get to apologize for my length very often, so let me enjoy it...damn genetics...)
Let me preface the story by telling you my brother and I had fantasized about owning a Viper ever since they'd come out. We'd live vicariously through video games and play countless hours staying up till sunrise trying to unlock the elusive Viper (Need for Speed, Forza, Gran Turismo, Juiced, etc.). We would come up with implausible scenarios where we'd have to eat Ramen and shut off the electricity to afford the payment of a REAL car, but in our heads the numbers worked and the sacrifice was worth it. I'd immediately judge new acquaintances by playing the game "dream car" and asking them what car they'd buy if they'd won the lottery. When they'd turn the tables and would ask me, my answer was always immediate and always the same. I could go down a list of mods a mile long for my prospective car and spout off performance specs and depreciation trends for my future Viper. On any given gorgeous day, I'd ask my fiancé (now wife) the same question. "Know what would be AWESOME to have today?" She'd roll her eyes and answer mockingly "Let me guess...A GEN. I VIPER RT/10?!" I'd smile, nod and reply "yes, you are correct. But with that attitude you'll be riding in the trunk."
In early March of this year, a series of events set in motion the opportunity to buy my first Snake. I negotiated with a seller that had posted his car for sale 10 months prior until we reached an agreement. I booked a flight for myself out of Texas and a flight out of Missouri for my brother to pick up the car in Mississippi on March 30. I had recently gotten engaged and I thought this would be an awesome pseudo-bachelor party. We had originally planned on flying to Las Vegas and renting exotics over the course of a few days, but when this opportunity presented itself I quickly substituted the prospect of owning the car over renting one. Even my fiancé was supportive. "JUST F**KING BUY IT ALREADY SO YOU'LL SHUT UP ABOUT IT!" See? THAT'S why I proposed! This was very literally a dream come true.
Note: As a vote of confidence/ignorance, I had already purchased a set of '02 wheels/tires 2 days prior to flying out to inspect the car. My fiancé was threatening divorce, but I convinced her it was a financially sound idea given that I'd gotten them for such a good price. I could resell them for a profit! She wasn't convinced, but resisted her strongest urges to stab me repeatedly. THAT'S MY LADY!
We both arrive in Jackson, Mississippi around 10am. We grab our Ford Escape rental and begin our 1.5 hour trek to Philadelphia to pick up the car. I have an appointment at 1pm at a dealership 45 minutes away from Philadelphia with the closest Viper tech I could find, so we have to budget our time carefully. We grab a bite shortly before arriving at the gentleman's home. When I see it sitting in the driveway I tell my brother "even if that thing repeatedly punches me in the balls as I drive it down the road, I'll still buy it...I'll just wear a cup." I was in love.
The owner, Brad, asks me if I want to drive it to the dealership. Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls, man? I've never driven a Viper, but I jump in and start it and drive up his steep driveway. At the top, I find myself on a blind corner...in a 400HP RWD machine...on gravel. I didn't know it at the time either, but the clutch was shot. Talk about a steep learning curve (pun intended)! I promptly threw gravel all over the Ford Escape in tow and headed towards the dealership on a gorgeous, windy country road.
I was intoxicated by the instant celebrity that accompanied driving the Viper. I'd read about it on forums for years, but nothing quite prepares you for the waves, smiles, honks and comments you get from the people on the road. My cheeks hurt from smiling like a goon the entire way to Meridian.
At the dealership, I'm informed their "tech" is actually just the mechanic there with the most tenure. He's not a factory-certified Viper tech, but the gentleman who's worked there the longest, therefore having seen the lion's share of Vipers (which I'm told is 1-2 a year). He clears a rat's nest (literally) from the engine compartment and changes the oil and gives us his blessing for our 800+ mile journey back to Austin. The rat's nest in the upper subwoofer is still there (I know, I know...I'm working on it).
Over the course of the next 5 hours, we finalize paperwork. Right before leaving Brad's home, he gives us a crash course in putting on the factory soft top and windows. I'm ecstatic at this point and anxious to get on the road, so I pay enough attention to get the gist, but for the most part I just want to drive. I follow my brother to the airport, drop off the rental and we begin our trip.
After we fill up outside of Jackson, I tell my brother to drive. He's like "no, that's okay." I insist, telling him he's been patient all day while I've been getting everything finalized and it'd mean a lot if he drove it for a while. I pull over on an on-ramp and switch seats with him. He starts to merge slowly and swears under his breath. "DUDE." I'm like "what, man? Why are you stopping? DRIVE this motherf**ker!" He replies with "no, dude...seriously..." and gestures towards the stick. The stick shift had come out of the shift boot...into his hand. Whoever had installed the aftermarket shifter hadn't secured it properly and we were sitting on the side of the highway with the stickshift sitting in my brother's lap. Luckily we were able to thread it back on and continue along our merry way.
Here is the kicker: my brother promised his girlfriend that he'd go to formals with her the following night, so his flight is scheduled to leave from Austin the next morning at 11am. We have to drive straight through. We drive for maybe an hour before it begins to rain. HARD. I pull off into the nearest gas station, scraping the fascia on the way in and we fumble with the soft top and windows. We eventually figure it out and continue on our way, but the top leaks horribly. We drive for a few hours and don't stop again until almost midnight to get gas and to get some energy drinks. After a few more hours we kill that tank and are getting pretty tired and decide to try and catch a few winks of sleep at a gas station. We discover that if you're NOT careful getting in the car, you hit your head on the support pillar for the top and it collapses and dumps any rain that had accumulated on the top into the drivers seat. We find that the latch that secures the pillar is missing. As I pump the gas, my bro returns with handfulls of Sugar Babies and energy drinks and insists we push forward. I agree...but the car won't start. Video games have not prepared me for this conundrum. After a good half hour of looking like a complete fool somewhere in the middle of east Texas, popping the hood, kicking the tires, checking fuses...we discover that the failing clutch needed to be stomped to the floorboard to get the car to start. We take note and continue on.
Note: To those who haven't partaken, driving a Viper in the rain isn't fun. 13" wide rear tires and 10" wide front tires make nice surfaces for hydroplaning. If you like watersports (not the R. Kelly kind) you'll appreciate piloting a Viper in a torrential downpour, because it's very similar to waterskiing. Add that to a leaking top, fogging windows and having to pass semis doing 50mph on the highway in next-to-zero visibility...well, it was unpleasant. Rain leaked in from all angles because that top wasn't made to keep the weather out. Both of us had been up since 3am the previous morning to catch our departures and connecting flights, and we hadn't eaten a real meal since 11am. Plus, when you're driving a 15 year old car, with the top and windows on, all the little squeaks and rattles are amplified exponentially. Ignorance and sleep deprivation kept us on the road.
About an hour from home (7am in Waco) my brother suddenly shushed me. "DUDE...do you hear that?!" I thought something was wrong with the car and pulled over. "What is it, man?" I asked. "SERIOUSLY...you don't hear that?!" "NO, MAN...WHAT IS IT!?" Then...he makes a puppet out of his hand and screams "IT'S F**KING SNEAKY PETE!" and lunges at me. Okay, so in hind sight maybe it's not that funny. But after being up for almost 30 hours that was HI-LAR-IOUS. We get back on the road after irrigating a parking lot with some kidney-processed energy drinks and get home.
My fiancé hears the car well before she sees us and meets us in the driveway. She compliments the car and we both grumble and stumble past her...soaking wet...and retire for a few hours of sleep. I drive my bro to the airport and experience about an hour's worth of buyer's remorse. Everything about the 13+ hour drive home screamed I'd just made a mistake, but once the sun came out in Austin on April 1st, you couldn't keep me out of the car. I drove all day Saturday and all day Sunday until eventually I got pulled over by a state trooper for not having any plates (the seller took them off), expired registration and inspection, and no proof of insurance. I had taken my bag out of the car with all of the documentation tying me to the car and left it at the house. After having me pop the hood and asking me a few questions about how I get into the car ("Where are your door handles?" "I don't have any officer." "How do you get in?" "I reach inside." "How do you keep people out?" "I don't park it." "Oh.") they let me off with a warning, telling me to park it until I had plates on it.
Even though that drive home was a nightmare and was a HUGE learning experience, I'd do it a thousand more times knowing the kind of joy that this machine brings me. VIVA LA VIPER!
Here is are 2 pics from the classified listing:
www.jtiff.com/viper/classified.jpg
www.jtiff.com/viper/classified2.jpg
A pic of the first wash (old badges and wheels):
www.jtiff.com/viper/wash.jpg
A pic of my wife and I on a VCA cruise:
www.jtiff.com/viper/fast.jpg
A pic of us leaving our wedding reception in the Viper:
www.jtiff.com/viper/wedding.jpg
To those that actually read it, I apologize for the length (I don't get to apologize for my length very often, so let me enjoy it...damn genetics...)
Let me preface the story by telling you my brother and I had fantasized about owning a Viper ever since they'd come out. We'd live vicariously through video games and play countless hours staying up till sunrise trying to unlock the elusive Viper (Need for Speed, Forza, Gran Turismo, Juiced, etc.). We would come up with implausible scenarios where we'd have to eat Ramen and shut off the electricity to afford the payment of a REAL car, but in our heads the numbers worked and the sacrifice was worth it. I'd immediately judge new acquaintances by playing the game "dream car" and asking them what car they'd buy if they'd won the lottery. When they'd turn the tables and would ask me, my answer was always immediate and always the same. I could go down a list of mods a mile long for my prospective car and spout off performance specs and depreciation trends for my future Viper. On any given gorgeous day, I'd ask my fiancé (now wife) the same question. "Know what would be AWESOME to have today?" She'd roll her eyes and answer mockingly "Let me guess...A GEN. I VIPER RT/10?!" I'd smile, nod and reply "yes, you are correct. But with that attitude you'll be riding in the trunk."
In early March of this year, a series of events set in motion the opportunity to buy my first Snake. I negotiated with a seller that had posted his car for sale 10 months prior until we reached an agreement. I booked a flight for myself out of Texas and a flight out of Missouri for my brother to pick up the car in Mississippi on March 30. I had recently gotten engaged and I thought this would be an awesome pseudo-bachelor party. We had originally planned on flying to Las Vegas and renting exotics over the course of a few days, but when this opportunity presented itself I quickly substituted the prospect of owning the car over renting one. Even my fiancé was supportive. "JUST F**KING BUY IT ALREADY SO YOU'LL SHUT UP ABOUT IT!" See? THAT'S why I proposed! This was very literally a dream come true.
Note: As a vote of confidence/ignorance, I had already purchased a set of '02 wheels/tires 2 days prior to flying out to inspect the car. My fiancé was threatening divorce, but I convinced her it was a financially sound idea given that I'd gotten them for such a good price. I could resell them for a profit! She wasn't convinced, but resisted her strongest urges to stab me repeatedly. THAT'S MY LADY!
We both arrive in Jackson, Mississippi around 10am. We grab our Ford Escape rental and begin our 1.5 hour trek to Philadelphia to pick up the car. I have an appointment at 1pm at a dealership 45 minutes away from Philadelphia with the closest Viper tech I could find, so we have to budget our time carefully. We grab a bite shortly before arriving at the gentleman's home. When I see it sitting in the driveway I tell my brother "even if that thing repeatedly punches me in the balls as I drive it down the road, I'll still buy it...I'll just wear a cup." I was in love.
The owner, Brad, asks me if I want to drive it to the dealership. Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls, man? I've never driven a Viper, but I jump in and start it and drive up his steep driveway. At the top, I find myself on a blind corner...in a 400HP RWD machine...on gravel. I didn't know it at the time either, but the clutch was shot. Talk about a steep learning curve (pun intended)! I promptly threw gravel all over the Ford Escape in tow and headed towards the dealership on a gorgeous, windy country road.
I was intoxicated by the instant celebrity that accompanied driving the Viper. I'd read about it on forums for years, but nothing quite prepares you for the waves, smiles, honks and comments you get from the people on the road. My cheeks hurt from smiling like a goon the entire way to Meridian.
At the dealership, I'm informed their "tech" is actually just the mechanic there with the most tenure. He's not a factory-certified Viper tech, but the gentleman who's worked there the longest, therefore having seen the lion's share of Vipers (which I'm told is 1-2 a year). He clears a rat's nest (literally) from the engine compartment and changes the oil and gives us his blessing for our 800+ mile journey back to Austin. The rat's nest in the upper subwoofer is still there (I know, I know...I'm working on it).
Over the course of the next 5 hours, we finalize paperwork. Right before leaving Brad's home, he gives us a crash course in putting on the factory soft top and windows. I'm ecstatic at this point and anxious to get on the road, so I pay enough attention to get the gist, but for the most part I just want to drive. I follow my brother to the airport, drop off the rental and we begin our trip.
After we fill up outside of Jackson, I tell my brother to drive. He's like "no, that's okay." I insist, telling him he's been patient all day while I've been getting everything finalized and it'd mean a lot if he drove it for a while. I pull over on an on-ramp and switch seats with him. He starts to merge slowly and swears under his breath. "DUDE." I'm like "what, man? Why are you stopping? DRIVE this motherf**ker!" He replies with "no, dude...seriously..." and gestures towards the stick. The stick shift had come out of the shift boot...into his hand. Whoever had installed the aftermarket shifter hadn't secured it properly and we were sitting on the side of the highway with the stickshift sitting in my brother's lap. Luckily we were able to thread it back on and continue along our merry way.
Here is the kicker: my brother promised his girlfriend that he'd go to formals with her the following night, so his flight is scheduled to leave from Austin the next morning at 11am. We have to drive straight through. We drive for maybe an hour before it begins to rain. HARD. I pull off into the nearest gas station, scraping the fascia on the way in and we fumble with the soft top and windows. We eventually figure it out and continue on our way, but the top leaks horribly. We drive for a few hours and don't stop again until almost midnight to get gas and to get some energy drinks. After a few more hours we kill that tank and are getting pretty tired and decide to try and catch a few winks of sleep at a gas station. We discover that if you're NOT careful getting in the car, you hit your head on the support pillar for the top and it collapses and dumps any rain that had accumulated on the top into the drivers seat. We find that the latch that secures the pillar is missing. As I pump the gas, my bro returns with handfulls of Sugar Babies and energy drinks and insists we push forward. I agree...but the car won't start. Video games have not prepared me for this conundrum. After a good half hour of looking like a complete fool somewhere in the middle of east Texas, popping the hood, kicking the tires, checking fuses...we discover that the failing clutch needed to be stomped to the floorboard to get the car to start. We take note and continue on.
Note: To those who haven't partaken, driving a Viper in the rain isn't fun. 13" wide rear tires and 10" wide front tires make nice surfaces for hydroplaning. If you like watersports (not the R. Kelly kind) you'll appreciate piloting a Viper in a torrential downpour, because it's very similar to waterskiing. Add that to a leaking top, fogging windows and having to pass semis doing 50mph on the highway in next-to-zero visibility...well, it was unpleasant. Rain leaked in from all angles because that top wasn't made to keep the weather out. Both of us had been up since 3am the previous morning to catch our departures and connecting flights, and we hadn't eaten a real meal since 11am. Plus, when you're driving a 15 year old car, with the top and windows on, all the little squeaks and rattles are amplified exponentially. Ignorance and sleep deprivation kept us on the road.
About an hour from home (7am in Waco) my brother suddenly shushed me. "DUDE...do you hear that?!" I thought something was wrong with the car and pulled over. "What is it, man?" I asked. "SERIOUSLY...you don't hear that?!" "NO, MAN...WHAT IS IT!?" Then...he makes a puppet out of his hand and screams "IT'S F**KING SNEAKY PETE!" and lunges at me. Okay, so in hind sight maybe it's not that funny. But after being up for almost 30 hours that was HI-LAR-IOUS. We get back on the road after irrigating a parking lot with some kidney-processed energy drinks and get home.
My fiancé hears the car well before she sees us and meets us in the driveway. She compliments the car and we both grumble and stumble past her...soaking wet...and retire for a few hours of sleep. I drive my bro to the airport and experience about an hour's worth of buyer's remorse. Everything about the 13+ hour drive home screamed I'd just made a mistake, but once the sun came out in Austin on April 1st, you couldn't keep me out of the car. I drove all day Saturday and all day Sunday until eventually I got pulled over by a state trooper for not having any plates (the seller took them off), expired registration and inspection, and no proof of insurance. I had taken my bag out of the car with all of the documentation tying me to the car and left it at the house. After having me pop the hood and asking me a few questions about how I get into the car ("Where are your door handles?" "I don't have any officer." "How do you get in?" "I reach inside." "How do you keep people out?" "I don't park it." "Oh.") they let me off with a warning, telling me to park it until I had plates on it.
Even though that drive home was a nightmare and was a HUGE learning experience, I'd do it a thousand more times knowing the kind of joy that this machine brings me. VIVA LA VIPER!
Here is are 2 pics from the classified listing:
www.jtiff.com/viper/classified.jpg
www.jtiff.com/viper/classified2.jpg
A pic of the first wash (old badges and wheels):
www.jtiff.com/viper/wash.jpg
A pic of my wife and I on a VCA cruise:
www.jtiff.com/viper/fast.jpg
A pic of us leaving our wedding reception in the Viper:
www.jtiff.com/viper/wedding.jpg
Nice Gen1. Good luck with the car. Start replacing the weather stripping.
