Supercar.Superbuild.S01E07.Dodge.Srt.Viper
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00:00In a failing city, a dying supercar is on the ropes.
00:09When Detroit's automotive-based economy goes south, the last true muscle car from
00:14the Motor City is laid off.
00:16Those were dark days.
00:17The economy deteriorated and we were left without a Viper.
00:21In the depths of despair and the middle of bankruptcy, a former designer is thrust into
00:26a moment of choice.
00:28It was a strange time.
00:30Cars like this are not natural when you're rebuilding a car company.
00:33The solution is simple.
00:35Put pen to paper and redesign an icon.
00:41What could be a better symbol of resurgence than bringing back the Viper?
00:45The result, a clandestine project hidden in plain sight that culminates in a machine known
00:51the world over simply as the Viper.
00:57It's the peak of a 20-year-long quest for American speed, a massive 8.4-litre V10 roaring
01:24loudly to the tune of 640 tyre-torching horsepower and 600 foot-pounds of frame-wrenching torque,
01:39all of which rockets the machine to a top speed of over 320 kilometres an hour.
01:48But as of April 2009, the fifth generation of the Dodge Viper was permanently grounded.
01:54The company went through a bankruptcy and we were left without any prospect of doing
01:59a new Viper.
02:00The 2008 financial crisis affects carmakers around the globe, forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy,
02:07including their Dodge division, which manufactures the Viper.
02:11Chrysler was in financial troubles, the economy was bad.
02:14The automakers were struggling.
02:15They were running out of cash.
02:17There was talk of bankruptcy.
02:18I actually lived in Detroit during all the bankruptcies and the mood was just awful.
02:23A bad mood made worse when Chrysler kills the Viper.
02:27I can only imagine that the reason that Chrysler killed the Viper is because it just wasn't
02:31selling anymore.
02:32It had run its course.
02:33You have to understand the company was going through so much at the time, it had so many
02:36other priorities.
02:37Ralph Gilles, a former head designer, is thrust into the CEO role for Dodge's SRT performance
02:43division.
02:44We were building new plants.
02:45We were fixing older cars, really trying to become a relevant car company.
02:48At the same time, develop a future.
02:50If there's one person in the entire automotive industry that PR people never want in front
02:55of a camera, it's Ralph Gilles, because he curses like a sailor, but he tells it like
02:59it is.
03:00Tasked with raising the spirits of a now beleaguered company, Ralph decides the best cure is to
03:07dream big, supercar big.
03:10The depths of the worst times to the darkest hour, we actually gave a sketch assignment
03:14and had a lot of the designers kind of doodle on what the next Viper could look like.
03:18At least they could dream, and they could look beyond the bankruptcy.
03:21What better elixir than having a job like that?
03:23So the designers were sketching these beautiful, passionate things, and it was gorgeous.
03:28So gorgeous, in fact, that Ralph Gilles is compelled to do something financially irrational,
03:34yet emotionally satisfying.
03:37He greenlights a secret project determined to bring the Viper back.
03:43There was a room in the back of the design studio that was under lock and key.
03:47Designers would sneak back there and work on Viper concept, because it wasn't an approved project.
03:51I remember the first time Ralph called me, he said he wanted to put together a proposal,
03:55keep it really quiet.
03:57Nobody had signed off on this.
03:58They actually went so far as they built a whole, real, full-sized model, all under Ralph
04:03Gilles' direction, and completely without the boss' knowledge.
04:06I think Gilles was genius in saying to the guys, all right, look, let's just have some
04:10fun, let's see what happens.
04:13Like all good spy thrillers, before you can have a clandestine project, you need a codename.
04:18The term that we had been using in our meetings and in the hallway was, hey, we've got to
04:22keep this below the radar.
04:23And Dick said, why don't we call it F-117, because that's the stealth fighter.
04:28A stealth project for a very rowdy machine.
04:32We call it a war room, where we kind of write down, here are the things we want the new
04:39car to be like, and here are the things we don't want to lose about the old car.
04:42The Viper didn't happen initially through corporate channels.
04:45In typical Viper fashion, the first element discussed is speed.
04:50We wanted to actually reduce the aerodynamic drag so that we could achieve a top speed
04:54of 206 miles an hour.
04:58Three hundred and thirty-one kilometers an hour would make Project F-117 the fastest
05:03production Viper ever.
05:11But to do it, the iconic body needs to be completely redesigned.
05:15It was purely driven by what the wind tunnel was telling us.
05:20So to hit our top speed target, a lot of the front end design, we had to change.
05:26The team decides to add some more muscle.
05:29We felt like we were toughening it up a little bit.
05:33There's a lot about the car that harks back to another era.
05:35I mean, it's a simple, unfettered, uncomplicated machine.
05:41New CEO Ralph Gilles embraces a harsher facade.
05:45It's meant to be flexing its muscles.
05:47When you behold a Viper, you see the tension in the system.
05:49So we wanted the car to feel heroic.
05:54To save weight, the new body would be made from aerospace-grade carbon fiber, a proper
05:59material for a project named after a fighter jet.
06:04But redesigned bodywork and materials alone don't get you over 330 kilometers an hour.
06:11The covert team would also need more power.
06:17Lots more power.
06:18When you achieve speeds in that realm, you have to add a lot of horsepower to go faster.
06:27To build a better afterburner, Ralph turns to the wily old veteran of Viper engines.
06:33For the past 20 years, Dick Vinkels has continually found more power for the V10 power plant.
06:40Ralph had kind of challenged us for horsepower.
06:43Dick and his team squeeze another 40 horsepower out of the engine.
06:47Yet they also reduce its weight by almost 12 kilograms.
06:52The engine's outrageous.
06:53You know, at 8.4 liters, 512 cubic inches, nobody's doing engines that big.
06:58In the world of supercars, power-to-weight ratios are everything.
07:06More power and less weight translates into only one thing.
07:13Faster acceleration.
07:14It's about motor.
07:15I mean, this car has a motor strapped to a transmission and a rear-wheel drive, a bunch
07:19of seats and airbags.
07:21The proposed upgrades to the fifth-generation Viper would give it a ratio rivaling million
07:26euro exotics, but at a tenth of the price.
07:32Yet high performance alone isn't enough in the rarefied air of the supercar world.
07:37If you think of the original Viper, we spent all the money on the horsepower and going
07:40fast, and it was really an engineering-led exercise.
07:43You go to today, and that isn't good enough.
07:47In 18 years of production, the Viper averages 1,500 units a year.
07:52The expectations for the new Gen 5 machine are set at 2,500.
07:57We've always been a low-volume producer.
07:59The Viper's best year was 3,000 cars.
08:02To be more successful, the new machine needs to appeal to a wider audience.
08:06The biggest challenge that Viper faces is trying to appeal to people who are used to
08:11more, shall we say, traditional supercars.
08:15Two very different constituencies must be courted.
08:18Business owners and drivers who historically don't care for the Viper.
08:23We spent time interviewing competitive owners, people that wouldn't buy a Viper if their
08:27life depended on it.
08:28If you lose your core base and you fail to attract new customers, that could be the real
08:33danger for them.
08:35The perception of the Viper is a crude, raw sports car.
08:40What makes a Viper a Viper is the rawness of it.
08:43That's always been the appeal of the car.
08:45You get a big engine, manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, and it was up to you to
08:50make it all work.
08:51For years, the raw, back-to-basics feeling was a selling point.
08:56You have to remember it didn't have windows, didn't have air conditioning back in the day,
08:59so it was a pretty interesting car to own.
09:02And that's what people like about the Viper.
09:05The modern supercar landscape is different.
09:08Drivers have evolved.
09:10They want more technology.
09:13More comfort.
09:14And more performance.
09:16To succeed, Team Viper will have to walk a very thin line.
09:20We obviously wanted to mature the car.
09:22We didn't want to lose that edge that the Viper has.
09:27It's a battle for the soul of the machine.
09:30We knew we had to take the car to the next level in terms of refinement, quality, materials,
09:36finish.
09:39Do you continue to be raw, or cave along the cutting edge?
09:44We've got a lot of the modern accoutrements, but we haven't lost the soul of the vehicle.
09:48The result is a Project F117 presentation.
09:52We took one of our favorite sketches, we developed it, we kind of had the new car sitting in
09:56the middle of the dome, we had the leadership surrounding it.
09:58The team of engineers and designers stand by as the future of Viper is decided.
10:03We were sitting in a very small board meeting, and Ralf Gilles made a very impassioned plea
10:10to sell the car, but that wasn't enough.
10:12It's one of those vehicles, until you really see it and behold it, you don't understand
10:16how special it is.
10:17So we pulled the drapes off, and the reaction was pretty incredible.
10:21One look gives the new Viper life.
10:24It was an absolute surprise for them.
10:26They walked around, they looked at it, and they said, we have to do this.
10:30Look at it.
10:31We cried.
10:32You'd worked so hard to get it done, you couldn't help it, you know.
10:35We had a nice little celebration.
10:38Gilles' secret project pays off, but a grim reality still remains.
10:43How can a car company, riddled with financial woes, in a city devastated by economic collapse,
10:52recreate a supercar icon?
10:57It's dawn in the Motor City.
11:00A place that's had hard times, but is bouncing back.
11:06Team Viper is one of the reasons for the resurgence.
11:09They've just been given the green light to resurrect an icon.
11:12But first, they have to rebuild the once storied program from the ground floor.
11:18Our staff at the time was very, very small.
11:20It was a handful.
11:21You could count the number of people working on the Viper on one hand.
11:25We needed at least more than 10 times that just to get started.
11:29They bring the Conner Avenue assembly plant back to life.
11:34It's the last car factory within the Detroit city limits.
11:37In the case of Conner, that was a commitment.
11:39We had a choice.
11:40We could have moved it out to another plant, but we decided to leave it there because we
11:43believe that's part of the story.
11:44We're very proud of the fact that Viper is the only car being built in Detroit.
11:48That is the center of the American car industry for so long.
11:52And this car is such a throwback to old American muscle car-y coolness that it just makes sense
11:57for it to be built in Detroit.
11:59In 2009, when the Viper ceases production, the plant's condition quickly deteriorates.
12:07We had a good year before production of the new car to fix the place up.
12:10And that's exactly what we did.
12:11We brought the crew back about eight months early and started refurbishing the plant.
12:15Frankly, I had to chase the raccoons and pigeons and things out of here before we were actually
12:19bringing people in here.
12:22To build the new car, the team needs to finalize its design.
12:26When you get approval to go, you don't have all the questions answered.
12:30A lot of design work, a lot of engineering work, and a lot of problems to be solved.
12:35With Viper's parent company still recovering from bankruptcy, the budget is tight.
12:40We've got a certain amount of money, a certain amount of time.
12:42We try and get the best bang for our buck and make the car really something special.
12:49Time is counting down.
12:54The machine is made up of over 3,700 unique parts.
12:58The most important are the ones you can touch.
13:01The Viper's impervious to trends.
13:03It will remain a Viper, and that's what a Viper's about.
13:06It's a finger in the face of convention.
13:08It's a finger in the face of society, basically, and how society might change.
13:12The Viper's not going to change.
13:14They start by reinventing the Viper's interior.
13:17When the Viper first came around, it wasn't about the interior in the car.
13:21The truth is, in the last 20 years worldwide, the supercar market has changed a lot.
13:29Designer Tomei Jovanowski is the man tasked with bringing the Viper's interior into the
13:33modern era.
13:35This is a very iconic vehicle, so with that in mind, redesigning an icon is always a big
13:40challenge.
13:41The emphasis is put on one thing, leather, and lots of it.
13:47We wanted to almost revolutionize the interior, but still have a little bit of the feel of
13:52the first vehicle.
13:5390% of the new Viper's interior is wrapped in leather.
13:58We can customize it, so the owner can make it as unique as they possibly want.
14:06Combined with the exterior options, customers can choose from over 300,000 combinations.
14:13With only 26,000 Vipers ever made, that gives owners a high chance of having a one-of-a-kind
14:18machine.
14:19We wanted the new car to be as close to a custom car to the individual as possible.
14:24The top-to-bottom redesign also gives the team a chance to incorporate the latest technology.
14:30It takes 30 computer modules, 5.8 million lines of code, and over one and a half kilometers
14:37of wire to power the Viper's electronics.
14:40I think that's one of the beauty of the Viper is its simplicity, makes it a lot more timeless.
14:44So the way we approached it is to have all the technology, but give it almost an analog
14:49feel.
14:50After years of avoiding new technologies, the team decides to give the reborn Viper
14:55a 21-centimeter screen for driver information.
14:59It sounds pretty basic, but Team Viper has its own twist on the instrument panel.
15:05An illuminated, snake-faced tachometer when you reach high RPMs.
15:11A big part was to have a vehicle that will still look good 10 years from now, or 20 years from now.
15:16While the interior design is an easy upgrade, evolving the machine's exterior is a more
15:21challenging task.
15:26Viper engineers modify the body for performance and make minute changes inside a secret wind tunnel.
15:37The two-story building features a 6,300-horsepower fan that helps Viper engineers seek the perfect
15:44aerodynamic shape.
15:47Swoopy, sexy curves are kind of A, more American, and B, I think easier to do in a wind tunnel.
15:53I respect the SRT guys for giving it as many curves as they have and making it this complex
15:58shape that's still sultry, but doesn't lift off the ground at high speeds.
16:05Wind tunnels are a chance to see not only how air actually moves around the vehicle,
16:15but also how the air moves through it.
16:18All the ducts you see on the Viper, all the scoops, all the vents are all functional.
16:21We spend a lot of time in the wind tunnel to shape the ducts so they not only look good,
16:25but they work well.
16:29All of the vents are actually working.
16:32It takes a lot of aerodynamic know-how to get a car to not take off at 200 miles an
16:36hour, so to keep it on the ground.
16:40Cutting-edge aerodynamics and an extreme power-to-weight ratio allow the Viper to achieve tremendous
16:46performance figures.
16:48But not every driver can safely reach those levels without some help.
16:52A major goal was to introduce the modern stability control in a way that allows people who haven't
16:58experienced the extremely high limits of a Viper to kind of get into it slowly, experience
17:04it and find out, wow, this car's not going to kill me.
17:07It's fun.
17:10Modern stability control assists drivers so that they can push the limits safely.
17:19Stability control is basically a computer that watches everything the car's doing.
17:23It's looking at all four wheels.
17:24And if you start to spin any tires or you start to get sideways at all, it can apply
17:28individual brakes to straighten the car out.
17:31When the Viper first started production in 1992, the mere idea of electronic driving
17:37aids fought the back-to-basics approach.
17:40Now it's mandated by the government.
17:43To sell a modern Viper, engineers have to add it to the machine.
17:49Team Viper's solution is as rebellious as it is simple.
17:53You can dial it back when you want to.
17:54You can turn it completely off.
17:56Drivers have an option of which kind of Viper they'd like to drive.
18:03Raw or refined.
18:10You can turn it completely off and go do donuts all day long and have a grand time
18:13if you want to.
18:19Some high-performance upgrades require computers.
18:23Others aren't that technological.
18:26The cross-brace, which is now becoming an iconic detail of the new car, has actually
18:30come straight from a race.
18:34The cross-brace increases the body's rigidity by 50%, significantly improving the vehicle's
18:40handling.
18:43The race car terms that the car just feels so stable and so solid like a race car.
18:48All that work on the track means nothing if the car doesn't look sexy.
18:53This car evolves, but it evolves in a way that you don't necessarily see.
18:56It evolved by becoming more powerful.
18:58It evolved by becoming better driving, better handling, better brakes.
19:01They improved all of that stuff.
19:03But it remained very much a Viper.
19:06And the Viper is sort of its own thing.
19:08When it comes to getting a top-of-the-line paint job, the Viper utilizes a factory like
19:13no other in the world.
19:18We had to find the perfect facility that was wide open, that would fit the equipment that
19:23we needed and have the room that we needed for all the people here, because people are
19:28what makes this paint job great.
19:35In a city wrecked by economic downturn, the perfect facility was in the last place you'd
19:41expect, a former discount store.
19:44We found a former retail space.
19:49The 11,000 square meter space is home to 115 craftsmen who prep and paint up to six Vipers
19:57a day.
19:58When we launched the Viper, it came in one color, and that was red.
20:03Today we have upwards of nine, possibly ten colors at any given time.
20:08There are very few shapes in the automotive world that you can paint any color, no matter
20:11how outrageous.
20:12And the car still looks good.
20:13The Viper's one of them.
20:18It takes 150 man hours to paint a single car.
20:23The Viper has one of the world's highest paint specifications that are out there.
20:27The only way to really achieve the colors and the finish is by people.
20:33We find some of the world's best car painters from the custom world, from the concept car
20:37and show world, and people who are huge enthusiasts that have that kind of talent and craftsmanship
20:42and attention to detail that you just can't get through any kind of automation.
20:46The idea there is, first of all, get the paint quality to be show car level.
20:50There's a multi-coat, completely buffed out paint job.
20:54I would say today that nobody offers paint quality like we do.
20:59Once the bodywork is done being painted, it's ready to head to the Conner Avenue Assembly
21:04Plant, a factory that was once left for dead, but like the Viper itself, has now risen from
21:12the ashes of economic disaster.
21:14We've invested over $12 million in refurbishing the plant.
21:17It looks unbelievable.
21:20The 16,000 square meter factory is rebuilt by the same employees that now work on the
21:25line.
21:28During the factory renovation, each station is customized for comfort and efficiency.
21:32It was very exciting for them.
21:33It's almost like they got to renovate their own home before moving in.
21:36The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant is back in business.
21:43Team Viper hopes that they've developed a world-class car.
21:53The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan has just come back to life, along
21:58with it, the Viper.
22:03A small team within the SRT program has worked tirelessly designing and engineering the rebirth
22:09of this American icon.
22:14The employees in this plant are really passionate about this car and about this plant.
22:19The people here are amazing.
22:20They're more like family.
22:21Some of them live there.
22:22It's their life.
22:23It's all they know.
22:24They've been there for over 20 years.
22:25The process starts with the machine's beating heart, the engine.
22:26It's an evolution of the engine.
22:27It's really evolved over the years.
22:28The Mammoth V10 has been roaring to life for 20 years.
22:29If you would have told me back in 1991, that engine that we'd struggled to get 400 horse
22:30out of was going to be making 640 horse one day, I'd have said you were crazy.
22:31The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan has just come back to life, along
22:32with it, the Viper.
22:33A small team within the SRT program has worked tirelessly designing and engineering the
22:34mammoth V10.
22:35The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan has just come back to life.
22:36The mammoth V10 has been roaring to life for 20 years.
22:37If you would have told me back in 1991, that engine that we'd struggled to get 400 horse
22:43out of was going to be making 640 horse one day, I'd have said you were crazy.
22:46The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant is the only Chrysler facility in the United States that
22:56still builds its own engines.
22:57There is actually 2 engines at Chrysler.
22:59They rely on old hotrod principles of guys working on an engine, guys bolting it together
23:02and being responsible for that one engine.
23:03responsible for that one engine and that's something unique in the automotive world.
23:07The V10 is a staple of the Viper and doesn't have a lot of gizmos on it,
23:12but the way the engine makes its power is what's beautiful.
23:17The source of that power starts coming to life
23:20when the massive engine block is moved to the line.
23:28The enormous crankshaft is installed.
23:33It's rotated by the engine's pistons.
23:41Those 10 pistons are assembled next to the line
23:49and then installed by hand.
24:03The craftsmen attach the oil pan,
24:19a massive aluminium flywheel,
24:23the first of its kind in a Chrysler product.
24:25Aluminium flywheels, that's something that the hot rod industry has used for years
24:30as a way to decrease the weight and get faster acceleration out of the car.
24:42Finally, the cylinder heads.
24:48While the engine continues being built,
24:53the Viper frame is being prepped for assembly.
24:56It starts in a state-of-the-art automated station referred to as Netform and Pierce.
25:02When it goes into the Netform and Pierce, it'll measure the frame
25:05and it'll make all the necessary adjustments on how the frame is built.
25:10We've added robotics, which is something that the people at the plant were like,
25:12what are these things? You know, they've never seen a robot before.
25:17But other than the initial robotics, the rest of the plant is still handmade.
25:20The sophisticated robots create mounting points which are accurate to within a tenth of a millimetre.
25:26That's less than one-eighth the thickness of a standard credit card.
25:33The frame will begin its journey down the main line,
25:36where 30 stations will train the robot to perform the tasks it's meant to do.
25:41When the frame first hits the line, it receives the differential,
25:45it gets a lot of the pieces that are hard to install later.
25:50The wiring harnesses, the fuel bundles, the brake lines, all of those things.
25:55The smaller pieces are installed with precision to make room for the engine to be assembled.
26:00The frame will be built in a state-of-the-art automated station
26:03where it'll measure the frame and it'll make all the necessary adjustments on how the frame is built.
26:07The smaller pieces are installed with precision to make room for the 8.4-litre engine
26:13and its massive six-speed manual transmission.
26:16It's probably the biggest naturally aspirated engine you can find.
26:19I mean, the thing is just an absolute monster.
26:25Most cars, the engine decks from beneath the car.
26:28Viper, it actually comes up from above and it is an amazing thing to see.
26:33Decking a car is an old Detroit auto term for installing the engine and powertrain.
26:39Adding the motor and transmission doubles the weight of the car at this stage.
26:43And this motor that is almost bigger than the frame,
26:47and you almost are amazed that the thing can fit.
26:51The transmission has to deal with 640 horsepower and,
26:54more importantly, 8.4-litre V10 worth of torque.
26:58So if you have a dainty little transmission with a dainty little shifter,
27:00it'll just rip it apart.
27:10To accompany the massive drivetrain, 355mm Brembo disc brakes are installed,
27:20followed by performance shocks.
27:22This car is probably too firm for a lot of drivers,
27:25but if you're the guy that goes to the track,
27:26you'll appreciate why it's got a crisp ride.
27:29Workers add the custom engine covers and the cross-brace.
28:00To get the wheels set correctly,
28:08craftsmen use something you won't find at the local tyre shop.
28:12This is one of the most unique machines in the world.
28:14It's a contact aligner.
28:16It does all four wheels at the same time,
28:18and this is what sets the alignment for the vehicle to be an actual racing-type vehicle.
28:23Now it's time for custom-engineered tyres.
28:34A quick bit of petrol, some fluids and an airbox so the machine can breathe.
28:49The vehicle is a rolling chassis.
28:50You could literally drive the vehicle without any panels on
28:53and go down the road and everything because it's a hot rolling chassis.
28:57In most car factories, the dyno machine is at the end of the line,
29:02but not inside Conorav.
29:04The Viper will stretch its legs for the first time
29:07and hit speeds over 100km an hour.
29:11We're inside the rolls booth.
29:12This is where we test the vehicle for full drivability,
29:16for quality and for braking, for shifting.
29:20All of the aspects of the car will be tested.
29:37It's time for a quick ride to final assembly,
29:40where the naked chassis transforms from a 300km per hour dune buggy into a real car.
29:48It starts with more handwork as the wrapped leather trim pieces are installed.
29:58Italian leather seats.
30:03The leather-wrapped emergency brake.
30:10Finally, the Viper's carbon-fibre skin is set in place.
30:14When you see the skin go on, when you see the bright colours go on,
30:17it's amazing. It's almost like a model car.
30:21They add the roof,
30:31the quarter panels.
30:34All of the aerospace-grade panels are fit precisely.
30:40If a panel doesn't fit correctly, it comes here to station 270,
30:48where they check for dimensional accuracy using a robot-controlled laser.
31:03The car is a hand-fit car.
31:05We slow the production process down. It's a 70-minute cycle if you're lucky.
31:10It's the only car still made in Detroit.
31:15And they assemble it the slowest way possible.
31:28The finishing touch is the redesigned badge.
31:32It's the last of 3,700 pieces that make up the machine, all of which are now inspected.
31:39Right now, we're at the very end of the final assembly line.
31:42The car is completely built at this point, and it will be going from here to final inspection.
31:53These robots go in and measure the gap and flush, how the car fits.
31:59It scans a laser stripe on the vehicle, and then another camera measures the way the line
32:04bends, and then the computers can extrapolate
32:07the way that gaps in the flushes are actually performing.
32:182,650 liters of recycled water are used to check for leaks.
32:27That's the same amount of liquid as in an eight-person hot tub.
32:35So, finally, every millimeter is looked over by a man
32:55and a machine.
32:57Workers get one last chance to ensure the Viper is perfect.
33:05It takes approximately five days to make a Viper from start to finish.
33:12Viper's built like a model car, and it's really neat to see it come together so quick.
33:17And it reminds me of that, you know, that incredible feeling of being able to build
33:21together so quick.
33:24And it reminds me of that, you know, that incredible feeling when the car's coming together.
33:30You don't need to do these cars.
33:31They're not necessarily profitable, but they show the spirit.
33:34And that's what the auto industry always was about, you know,
33:36is about proving who you are, proving your mettle.
33:40It's the gladiator side of a car company.
33:42On a brisk January day in Detroit, Michigan, 1989,
33:48Chrysler unveils a radical new concept car.
33:53The results will change both Ralph Gilles' life and the American auto industry itself.
34:00I think everyone was thinking, holy s**t.
34:02They were back on the map.
34:04Everyone was noticing them.
34:05And you look at the thing and say, you know what?
34:06I'm going to do this.
34:07I'm going to do this.
34:08I'm going to do this.
34:08I'm going to do this.
34:09I'm going to do this.
34:10I'm going to do this.
34:10I'm going to do this.
34:10I'm going to do this.
34:12Where did this come from?
34:13At the late 80s, Chrysler wasn't in a great spot.
34:16And they needed something to sort of build up the engineers to tell the world that there
34:19were car guys alive at Chrysler.
34:21And they came up with this.
34:24So I'm a student going to school.
34:26I came to Detroit to be a car designer.
34:28And I went to the 1989 Detroit Auto Show.
34:30I'll never forget when I saw the Viper there.
34:32Just blew everybody away.
34:33It was something that nobody expected.
34:35It stole the show.
34:36You know, it was like 10 people deep surrounding the turntable, just staring at the car.
34:41The concept car was the original Viper RT10.
34:45Originally, it was the RT10.
34:46But there's no emotion in a bunch of letters.
34:49Viper.
34:50It tells you right out of the way, it's going to bite you.
34:52It's rough and gruff.
34:53It kind of looks sneaky.
34:54It always did.
34:55At the time, you have to understand, you know, for Chrysler, this was a pretty amazing moment
34:58to have something so radical to be seen.
35:00It purely was an exercise by a bunch of enthusiasts inside Chrysler that said, hey, let's show
35:04the world that our mojo is still there.
35:06And they never intended to build a car.
35:08But they did build it, because fans around the world forced them to.
35:12Of course, you know, letters came.
35:13People were waving checks, and the company was compelled to do it.
35:17One of those letters is from Graham Henkel.
35:20When I was a 24-year-old engineer coming home, getting my automotive news out of the mailbox,
35:24there on the cover is this sleek, sexy sketch of this black Viper, rumored to be the new
35:30sports car from Chrysler.
35:31And oh, my God.
35:32Fast forward to today, where Team Viper is hoping to recreate that same buzz and restore
35:37one of the most prolific American supercars ever made.
35:47It's not just a sports car.
35:49It's the most extreme, most exaggerated version of a sports car you can possibly get.
35:57When you hit the gas pedal, you're like, oh, my God.
36:01When you hit the gas, that thing lifts up and takes off in a straight line.
36:05You're just looking at the world rushing past you and these big old fenders sticking up.
36:10You can't not smile.
36:14The interior is a lot nicer than the original one.
36:16It's still not what you'd call up to the standards of, for example, a Ferrari or some
36:21of the other cars.
36:21But the Viper is not that expensive, either.
36:24At just under €73,000, half the price of any Ferrari or Lamborghini, the SRT Viper
36:31is one of the most affordable supercars.
36:34This is the most over-the-top American car you can possibly buy.
36:40It's got the fattest tires in the back.
36:45It's got a huge, hulking V10 under the hood, 8.4 liters worth.
36:53Look, it's the ultimate ACME rocket strapped to the back of Wile E. Coyote.
37:01The crankshaft itself is about the size of your leg.
37:03This is just a massive car on a massive scale.
37:06And there's really nothing more American than that.
37:10The Viper blasts from zero to 100 kilometers an hour in just 3.3 seconds.
37:17That's two-tenths of a second better than the previous generation.
37:20The machine's top speed of over 320 kilometers an hour
37:24is a remarkable 14 kilometers per hour faster than its predecessor.
37:29This car does not want to coddle you.
37:30It doesn't want to take you to dinner.
37:32It wants to strap you down and beat you mercilessly.
37:38That's what makes it so much different than anything else.
37:40It's quick.
37:41It's really, really quick.
37:42And it's basically held back by traction because, I mean, it's got 640 horsepower under the hood.
37:49The Viper is still one of the quickest cars on the road.
37:53Current generation Viper will hang with any supercar.
37:55Matter of fact, it has records all over the U.S.
38:00The generation 5 Viper breaks the track record at the infamous Laguna Seca Raceway in California.
38:20We wanted this to be America's supercar.
38:29An American supercar with a totally manual transmission.
38:33Thank God for it.
38:34I mean, paddleships might be faster around a track and might be easier to sit in traffic with,
38:38but American muscly sports cars should have a manual transmission because it makes you work for it.
38:45In the case of the Viper, it wants you to break your kneecap.
38:47It wants you to break your wrist.
38:50The generation 5 machine is the most modern and the fastest Viper to date.
39:02SRT will go on and on about their seats being comfortable and the interior being nice.
39:06This is not about that at all.
39:08It's about going out for a two-hour drive on a weekend, on a nice day,
39:12and then being exhausted by the time you get home.
39:20It's just staggering.
39:21The hood is ridiculously long.
39:22The proportions are ridiculous.
39:24It's got the short deck, the long hood, the ridiculously huge tires.
39:28The car is all ridiculous.
39:29I mean, a superhero would drive this car.
39:31This is totally the Batmobile.
39:34A supercar for a superhero that started life as a back-to-basics racing machine.
39:40He's raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and as the car developed, it became better and better to drive.
39:46But it remained very much a Viper.
39:48Viper is sort of its own thing.
40:09When the Viper debuted in 1989, no one saw it coming.
40:36Since then, it's survived the ups and downs of the United States auto industry.
40:51And along the way, helped to redefine the American high-performance automotive landscape.
40:58But the core of the car's soul is a very simple machine.
41:06And the Viper isn't really high-tech.
41:13It's an old-school, huge American engine.
41:19With rear-wheel drive and a stick shift, it's simple.
41:22That's part of its beauty.
41:24It's part of what makes it American.
41:26The car's been refined over the years, and this one is the most refined Viper ever.
41:30But there's still that rawness to it.
41:35It's a car that should never have been born.
41:41A machine that survived an economic collapse
41:47and exists purely due to a group of dedicated designers and engineers
41:53who wouldn't let their clandestine supercar dream die.
41:59Not many cars are actually built in Detroit anymore.
42:01Most of the factories are out in the suburbs.
42:06It's a point of pride to be able to say that our coolest car
42:10is being built in Detroit, in the Motor City.
42:27But when you have the ability to take the car to the limit
42:30and you realize how much capability it has, there's nothing like it.
42:36And that's the beauty of the Viper.
42:44It's as irresponsible as you were at 17.
42:46And it hasn't grown up, and it's never changed.
42:48And it probably never will change,
42:49because it's one of those things that will never mature.
42:54It's been a long trek to get here,
42:56but Ralph Shields and his team of designers, engineers and craftsmen
43:00have battled the odds to resurrect an American icon.
43:06It kind of scares you to death on the street.
43:08And I think that's the point.
43:10You want to be scared, you want to be exhilarated.
43:11And then the big secret is you get it to a racetrack
43:14and it's actually a pussycat.
43:15It doesn't do anything you don't want it to do.
43:22This is a stand-in for a mistress.
43:24It's a stand-in for drinking too much.
43:27It's a stand-in for overconsumption,
43:28because the car itself is about overconsumption.