Filed under: New York Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Design/Style
The 2013 SRT Viper stole the New York Auto Show this week with its 640-horsepower 8.4-liter V10 and the promise of even better tire-melting performance. It's the crown jewel in Chrysler's Street and Racing Technology brand headed by Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of SRT, Senior Vice President of Chrysler Design and the man most credited with resurrecting this beast.
Discontinued in 2010, the Viper was always a brutal and unforgiving car. It was the baseball bat of supercars.
Gilles and his team walked a narrow line refining the Viper to the point of Italian Boss Sergio Marchionne's acceptance, but still remaining true to the car.Autoblog got a chance to sit down with Gilles and ask him five questions. Always the gentleman, Gilles answered six.
Before, the Viper was brutal, it's transmission tunnel heated up so much, the sparse cockpit turned into a crock pot. It did not even offer stability control, now required by law, meaning one wrong move, one slip of the clutch and the Viper would be wrapped around a light pole faster than an airbag deployment.
Even getting out of the Viper, with its side-mounted exhaust pipes, could be a challenge, giving the car one last chance to leave its mark, literally, on your calf.
Autoblog got a chance to sit down with Gilles and ask him five questions. Always the gentleman, Gilles answered six.
AB: The new design is pure Viper, but it seems to have some influence from those Italian super cars. What's the percentage of the Viper that's American, percentage that's Italian?
Gilles: Maybe five percent Italian. The seats, the seats are the same supplier as Ferrari. It's all American. Done inside, done outside, it's all all American.
Continue reading Five Questions with Ralph Gilles about the 2013 SRT Viper
Five Questions with Ralph Gilles about the 2013 SRT Viper originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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