It has been nearly a decade since Dodge killed the Viper, discontinuing it after the 2017 model year. It was a unique American sports car that the automaker had to discontinue for safety reasons, and the chances of its return are next to nonexistent.
On the latest episode of The DriveCast, a podcast from The Drive, SRT head Tim Kuniskis said the Viper has "reached the end of its lifecycle." He added that a modern Viper would likely have to ditch the manual transmission in favor of an automatic or dual-clutch gearbox.
Kuniskis praised the fifth-generation Viper’s styling, calling it "one of the most beautiful cars ever built" with "absolutely astounding" track capability that allowed it to "hold its own against anything in the world." But he also admitted that the Viper wasn't exactly perfect.
One issue that Kuniskis mentioned was the car’s inability to meet a new ejection mitigation rule because "you would have to put airbags as a driver right over your ear."
The Viper's Follow-Up
While Dodge might have zero plans to resurrect the Viper, the company is preparing to launch something entirely new—the Copperhead. It won’t be a sports car, like the Viper. Instead, Kuniskis said the new model would be a "hyper muscle car."
The Copperhead is expected to share a platform with the new Charger, featuring lots of vents on the hood and behind the rear wheels. It also has a massive hood bulge and an equally massive rear wing.
We expect Dodge’s new "hyper muscle car" to pack a supercharged V8 engine with over 700 horsepower. It’s unclear when the new Copperhead will launch, but it should be soon.
Gallery: 2016 Dodge Viper ACR
Motor1’s Take: The Dodge Viper is a sports car that could only truly exist at a certain time in history. Kuniskis is right that a modern version would have to adopt a ton of technology to compete, and that would dilute what the Viper was all about.
