The mid to late 1980s was a fairly dark era in the history of the American Muscle Car. This period in history saw the introduction of a 4 cylinder economy engine into fabled performance cars such as the Mustang and the Camaro, and in the case of Chrysler Corporation, vintage performance car names had been slapped on imports built by Mitsubishi. While Chrysler Corporation still had some fairly quick cars with their popular turbo cars, such as the
Daytona and Laser, these vehicles were a far cry from "muscle cars" with their 4 cylinder engines and front wheel drive configuration. The only vehicle which had not been compromised since the muscle car days was the Corvette, and with only 230-240 horsepower, they were a far cry from what they once had been. Recognizing a gap in the market and the need for a Chrysler Corporation muscle car in 1987, then-President Bob Lutz contacted the head of Chrysler's Advanced Design Studio, Tom Gale, and discussed the possibility of creating what would be a modern day AC Cobra. This would be a car that would embody every aspect of high performance, whether on a drag strip or a road course; a car that would go down in history as being one of the all-time great American Muscle Cars. It took only a few months for Gale and the people at Chrysler Design to come up with a clay model and from that, a concept was designed, and that concept was displayed at the 1989 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
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The public and the media loved the new concept when it was displayed, and due to the reception that it received, Chrysler chief engineer Roy Sjoberg was given the green light to begin development on a production car based off of this concept. While the changes are obvious when you put a first year production model Viper next to the original concept
Dodge Viper
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Dodge Viper
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Dodge Viper
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