What are your Top 3 Most Memorable ments in your Viper?

[black mamba1]

Thats supposed to read "Most Memorable moments in your Viper". Anyway...

1. My wife and I were cruising along a highway in northern Connecticut in 2007 in March. Chuck Tator had installed a competition coupe cam, Belanger headers, and ported my motor the fall before. In the rear view mirror I noticed a black Z06 driving like a bat out of hell through traffic trying to catch up to me and my wife. Now...just a few weeks before I was horsing around with a Lexus IS...we were just horsing around. He stepped into it so I stepped into it and shot around him...my wife looked at me and said..."stop this g^ddamn car and let me out. Dont you ever drive like that with me in this car.". The Z06 finally caught up to us and put his nose right on my ass...and stayed there. He was taunting us. I gritted my teeth...and sped up. He sped up and kept his nose right in the ass of my Viper for the next two miles. My wife could see I was about to lose my mind...so she looked over at me and said..."get him baby." So..I dropped into third...then into second, the Z heard my revs and pulled up along side of me...I let him hit first then I hit. He was a car and a half in front of me...there were concrete walls on both sides of our road....I walked him down when we I hit 128 mph and I stayed into it all the way up to 180 mph and had a good 8 cars on him. My wife looked at me and said..."Now thats what the f*ck I'm talking about!"

2. Racing at Limerock Track with the Viper Club and hitting 140 on a straightaway when a gorgeous blue 740 rwhp Gen 2 GTS missed a downshift and went into a spin not 20 feet in front of me at 140 mph. He spun off the track and came to rest harmlessly in the grass....my wife was in the stands screaming her lungs out just knowing we were both gonna crash, but I downshifted into 3rd at the end of the straightaway, took the hairpin turn without braking as I was taught by the instructors, and kept right on racing!

3. Going into the garage the day after buying my Viper....turning on the lights...and just looking at it. It seemed as if I was dreaming. And...I couldnt help thinking....."Americans are crazy...who in their right mind would build a machine like this...and who in the hell would buy a car like this?" Then I smiled and realized I was part of a very small club of really crazy ass sports car enthusiasts.

What are your most memorable moments in your Viper?

 

[SkyBob]

My three most memorable moments were that blonde, that brunette, and that redhead. Decorum prohibits me from saying anything more.

 

[nutkees]

1.
Competing in the Heysteria Run in 2011 and was pulled by the Spanish police for doing a burnout on the Boulevard. Stopt but then decided to floor it! Why I did that I still don't know, but the adrenaline was sky high. Never will forget that feeling. Did got away tho!!

2.
When I just got the Viper I was so nervous and had so much respect for the car, I was sitting in the car in my garage to go for a spirited drive, started the beast, but I was al shaking of adrenaline, turned of the car and went back inside.

3.
Was driving on the track in the Netherlands and coming up the straight the car lost it grip in high 4th gear, went sideways quit a bit, but was just able to hold it. My god what a feeling!!!!

 

[DrumrBoy]

1. First week of ownership I had two occasions where, in slow moving traffic, other drivers paid so much attention to me that they crashed into the guy in front of them. Slow speed, nobody hurt, but that was my introduction to the power and captivation of the Viper's design

2. Lit it up going through an underpass (no cats, muffler delete) with my the 5 year old in the passenger seat. Cop headed the other way turned on the lights and pulled a U. I immediately ducked into an apartment complex and parked it under a tree....got out and walked about 1/2 mile further into the apartment complex. Then came the catch 22 question "Was that policeman going to stop you Dad?" If you say yes, then you're condoning running from the police to a 5 year old....if you say no, you're lying to a 5 year old. I chose, "I'm not sure" and we had a nice 20 minute chat about other stuff under the shade of a maple tree...never saw the cop.

3. First time on a road course (DE1)....even though I had stock brakes and couldn't do crap in terms of times....everybody got out of the way when I was in their rear view - even Corvettes amazingly enough

 

[96GTS]

1. I got orders to Nellis AFB, so I was pulling the car (painted like an American flag) on the back of an open trailer from Little Rock to Vegas and passed a bunch of military trucks doing convoy training for Iraq. As I was passing the first truck with soldiers in the back, one of them gestured to the car and then a whole bunch of heads came poking out to see the Viper. That happened each time I passed a truck, and it's something I'll always remember.

2. When I found out I had orders to Abilene I wanted to go to Area 51 before I left Nevada. When I got there I had to drive 14 miles down a dirt/gravel road, and dirt and dust was coming in every opening. That was 4 years ago, and I'm STILL getting dirt and dust out of the car.

3. I was sitting at a stop sign waiting for traffic so I could go. There was a car stopped 30 yeards to my right in the North-bound lane waiting on traffic South-bound traffic so they could turn left. Another car in the North-bound lane was driving along about 50 MPH and was too busy looking at the Viper to notice the car stopped in front of them. At the last second they slammed on the brakes and plowed right into the back of the other car. I felt really bad because I kinda caused the whole thing.

 

[ZYellow01RT]

1. Watching my beloved Viper being delivered for the first time, neighbors watching, while I was screaming like a Justin Bieber fan.

2. Cruising at around 35 mph down a fairly busy road during rush hour, and having a motorcycle cop pass me and almost hit the car in front of him while he was staring at my car and not paying attention to where he was going.

3. Being at a car show next to a classic Corvette, while people kept walking past his car and asking me all about mine.

4. Having a Ninja rice rocket revving his bike behind me while I was waiting at an on ramp to the freeway, both taking off when the light turned green, and then watching his face in my rear view mirror when he finally realized that he couldn't catch up with me....

Oh wait...that was four things. Sorry.

 

[InjectTheVenom]

@black mamba1: do the occasions that people could call a Viper theirs for a brief moment of time also count

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Here's one of them...

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Didn't touch a thing right at the finish, and was my best run.

 

[BLK04]

Yesterday , today & tomorrow

 

[-FROG-]

1. 1st time to drag strip in my Gen I busting out with a 12.1 @115

2. 1st time out ot the drag strip in my Gen II GTS busting with a 11.5 @125

3. Currently in the works.

 

[Allan]

1- Receiving a standing ovation from the corner worker, after executing a killer drift coming out of turn 8 at Highplains Raceway. (the guy actually stood up clapping as I approached his corner station) I used to do that alot "on purpose" and usually would get a thumbs up or something like that, but this must have looked spectacular for the guy to get up like that. A special moment for me. 2- Another lapping day, same track, same turn, had a 'regular ride-along passenger' in the car, this person rides with me alot because of my "entertainment value-driving style" Anyway, there was a Miata with an instructor and student in the car aproaching 'my favorite drift hairpin turn 8' ,I was closing fast, and got the point by right before the turn, it was the perfect set up. The line they took, I couldn't have planned it better, I passed that Miata while drifting full-blast around the corner. (what a lesson for that guy)- all in fun of course. Definitely the high point of the day. 3- Dusting a 'sport bike' on the interstate. This guy just wouldn't leave me alone. Cat and mouse crap, blowing by me,then slowing way down, again and again. I had enough, clear road -no other traffic, no cops, I schooled him on what Vipers can do, after about 140 he started to disappear in the mirror, all the way up to 170, he didn't want any of that. Stayed in it til he was just a dot in the mirror, he left me alone after that. 4- If I may, Cruising the Las Vegas strip. Have done that on two seperate occasions (thats a long haul for me).

 

[Ev0lv3]

Don't own a viper (yet) Although I have rented one, and have more than one friend whom own one, or two. Its my absolute dream car and once I pay my current car off starts the saving.

Driving down the las vegas strip in a viper is amazing. There could be ferrari's, lambo's, bentleys, etc on the strip and the viper would get the most looks. Was one of the most fun things I did while in Vegas last year was rent a viper. I'll post back in here when I do indeed purchase one.

 

[Dom426h]

Yesterday , today & tomorrow

Nice

It IS hard to pick the top ones. right?

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Way too hard to pick a top 3, so here are 3 random ones:

Me and a friend were leaving a club in Tampa, FL a few years ago and as we were walking towards the McV, we noticed something you don't see every day....there was a girl ******* my passenger door. She had got in her car when we got to the McV (she was parked right beside it). She rolled down here window and asked if it was my Viper. After I said yes, she starts saying how Vipers are the greatest car of all-time and how she always chooses the Viper when playing Gran Turismo 3 and never loses We talk for a little bit longer and she tells us some fantasies she has had with Vipers and guys.....so at this time, I offer to take her for a ride down the road (thus leaving my friend in the parking lot at 3am )

2. One of my best friend's is a fireman and he called me earlier and said they were outside Wal-Mart collecting for MDA. It was a beautiful day so I took the Viper out there just to say hey. I was talking to one of the other fireman and he told me to pull it up behind the firetruck to gather some attention to them. I pulled it up and popped the hood. Since I didnt have any other plans, I stayed with them for the next 2.5 hours and gave rides to anyone who donated $5 or more. As the firemen were leaving, a woman and her son (a Viper fanatic)walked up and she paid the $5 for him to ride and then asked me to stay until her husband could get there with their other kid (another Viper fanatic). When him and his dad pulled up, his dad barely got the car stopped before he jumped out and ran up to the Viper. During his ride (I took everyone to the place where all the ricers race on the weekend and really got on the gas), he told me he was already saving up for his Viper and already had $300 in the bank. Both of them were almost speechless after their rides and their mom thanked me for bringing them back in one piece I let them pose for a lot of pics beside and in the car and the whole experience seemed like it really made their day .

3.


While in FL w/a friend, we went to this mall where you can drive thru the center and parallel park in front of the stores or park in the big parking lot out back. We lucked up and got a parking place outside a store, and decided just to walk around some. We walked out of 1 of the stores and noticed some kid and his mom looking at my car. No big deal. 15-20 mins later, we notice the same kid has dragged his mom back to the Viper. I figure he must be a real Viper fan, so I walk over and offer to pop the hood and let him sit in it. His mom takes a photo with their camera phone and then some other kid showed up with his parents, so he did the same thing. About 15 mins later, there was a line of atleast 10-15 people waiting just to sit in the car and have their photo taken One kid asked me if the car was loud and I told him I'd crank it up for him. When I got in the car, you could hear the people in line saying "ohhhh he's gonna crank it up!" I cranked it up and revved it to about 5000RPM. The noise bounced off the buildings and sounded incredible. The noise attracted more attention and the line grew even longer. I was opening and closing the door and being cameraman for people while my friend was handling the "what year? how fast?", etc. questions. I know at least one person went into one of the stores and bought a disposable camera just to have a Viper photo.

Ok, thats 1 girl story, 1 charity story, and 1 "all people like vipers" story.

 

[Allan]

Those are way cool stories.....you should write a book.

 

[All Blue ACR]

Flying to Portland and seeing it for the first time

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Hearing it start in the trailer and half the neighborhood (nervously) watching it unload

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Yep.... (click on pic)

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[Whitten]

Way too hard to pick a top 3, so here are 3 random ones:

Ok, thats 1 girl story, 1 charity story, and 1 "all people like vipers" story.

I loved guys like you when I was growing up...men like you are literally the reason why I love, respect, and want a 96-97 B/W above any other car still to this day. I was about 11-12 years old when the Gen II debuted and I fell in love with it immediately. I have 3 viper stories of my own that I will share even though I am not YET an owner.

#1) My Father came home from a business trip in 1994 and brought me a black RT-10 Testor's model with the pre painted body in gloss black....I spent days working on the model even though it was a snap together kit that was only supposed to take an hour to complete. I literally painted everything in the cockpit with painstaking detail for a 11 year old. I showed that model off to any and every person that would look at it. My father has this model in his office to this day.

#2) My freshman year of high school, my girlfriend at the time and I decided to go to the local mall to hang out....so naturally that meant her parents had to drive us to the mall since neither one of us had a license. Once we got to the mall we did the typical teenage thing and that was absolutely nothing but walk around and talk until we came upon a Blue with White striped RT-10 sitting in the middle of the big open atrium gleaming in the sunlight that streaked through the glass in roof. I freaked....I mean really freaked, as in voice cracking screams of excitement muffled only by coughs to try and force my voice back to a lower and more respectable octave rather than sound like the giddy child that I was. Thankfully the girl I was with shared in my enthusiasm and obliged me with being able to go up and get an up close peek at it. I poured over the car, forgetting that my girlfriend was with me. After about 15 minutes of me drooling on the paint, a man walked up to me with a black polo shirt that proclaimed he was a salesman from Palmer Dodge and asked me if we would like to sit in the car and have our picture taken. Startled back to reality by the question and then the realization that #1) I had forgotten about my girlfriend and #2) I was about to sit in my dream car I stared at the Dodge salesman and proceeded to give him the wide eyed, mouth open "brook trout" look that teenagers are so well known for.

I still have that Polaroid picture of me and that girl sitting in that Viper to this day. While the girl means nothing to me now the moment in time that the picture captured is priceless to me and will forever be in my garage and one day a copy will be in the glove box of my own GTS.

#3) After graduating from high school I worked for a friend of the family who had a muscle car collection. We spent the summer remodeling his office building so that he could have his offices up front and his showroom/ shop in the back (drool). We finished up in August just before I left for my Freshman year in college and at the end of the summer it was time to ferry all of the cars from the storage building to the new showroom. Of note we moved 2 fathom green with white striped 1969 302 Z-28 Camaros, 1 68' Z-28, 1 red with black stripe 70' chevelle SS with a 502, a 1955 Tri 5 with an L88 427, a 66 GT-350 Shelby, 2002 ZL-1 Camaro, and a 1997 SLP LT-4 powered Camaro. At the end of the day my adrenaline had been pumping for so long that I was near delirious.

Or so I thought until the owner of all these cars came pulling up behind us in his company car...a Red 2002 Dodge Viper ACR. Remember how much I freaked out above? As calmly as I could muster, I asked him if he would be willing to let me drive his Viper around the block. He looked at me with a huge grin because he knew both how much I loved his Viper above all others and how much courage it must have taken me to ask him that question. Without a word he reached into his pocket and tossed me the keys. Speechless I turned to my father and back to the family friend as much for confirmation that the keys were real as expecting to receive the required lecture on safety. I received neither; only a quick nod from my dad and the gas card being shoved into my palm from our friend with the directions that I was not to bring it back on empty.

I could continue with the story from this point forward but I literally wrote two 1500 word essays about this experience in college and could more than likely turn this story into a chapter in a book of experiences I have with this car.

I will leave you with this image: I cranked the car, took two deep breaths and then signaled and pulled right out of the parking lot onto the local 4 lane road. I eased it into 1st then into 2nd as I pulled away from the new shop. I made it about 100 yards away when I let out a sigh of satisfaction and relief followed shortly by a Han Solo esque "YAAAAHOOO". I would like to say that I eased it out of 2nd gear and responsibly pulled away in 3rd gear but I didn't...

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The rest of the story is still a topic of discussion between me and my now wife. (I ended up marrying my highschool sweetheart...not the same girl from the 2nd story above)

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

I loved guys like you when I was growing up...men like you are literally the reason why I love, respect, and want a 96-97 B/W above any other car still to this day. I was about 11-12 years old when the Gen II debuted and I fell in love with it immediately. I have 3 viper stories of my own that I will share even though I am not YET an owner.

Thanks for the compliment! Before I bought mine, I used to say if I ever got one, I'd be a cool Viper owner. I wasn't going to be one of those "hey don't touch my car!" people. I bought it at 23 after a failed engagement. The gf-suppose-to-be-my-wife got fat, but the Viper is still beautiful! I'm often asked how many people have rode in it in the 7 years I've had it. I can only guess, but I'd say around 300? Old, young, male, female, Playmate models, politicians, you name it. Once you get yours, you'll see how truly life changing these cars can be. You meet friends you'll keep for a lifetime and have more fun/memories that only a winning lottery ticket could match Your story about driving the 02' ACR was great! You still live in the Atlanta area?

I'm sure you saw, but there's a 97' b/w GTS in Dalton, GA for $27k! PM 1Tony1 for details. Or PM me as I've seen it and driven it.

 

[Whitten]

I am indeed still in Atlanta, I actually was very interested in getting wheels off the ground on "the" big purchase up until I found out my wife is pregnant with our first. The baby hasn't derailed anything, it has just put me into a holding pattern until the financial dust settles.