This 2,300 Horsepower Viper Would Make Bo and Luke Duke Proud
It’s not the Dodge you were expecting, but nonetheless here is a Viper all dressed up in General Lee duds to satisfy your retro wishes.
1. A New General Lee for a new generation
I’m sure if Bo and Luke were still around making runs and escaping Boss Hogg they’d trade their Charger in for this Viper without thinking twice. Why do you ask? I’m pretty sure their decision would be an easy one once they’d see the Garret 3794 twin-turbochargers hooked up to the V10 that’s pushing out a hefty 2,300 horsepower.
2. Straight outta Texas
The car was built by Calvo Motorsports in Austin Texas to attest to the engineering that goes on at the shop and to showcase their tech by destroying all comers on wheels. At the last event that they ran the car, they were able to hit the 2,300 horsepower marker with the Viper guzzling race fuel and running on 18-inch wheels. After seeing what the Viper is capable of with some tuning and aftermarket parts it really does make us sad that the wondrous car is no longer in production.
3. Keeping things ice cold
At Drag 965 Pump Gas Invitational the Viper along with all of the cars was required to run on only on plain white bread pump grade gas. This put the car down to a still monstrous 1,607 horsepower and riding on smaller 15-inch wheels to balance things out. Take a look at that open port in the hatch area, that's where ice chunks must be dumped into the cells in order to keep the air flowing into the intakes as cold as possible between each and every run. The key for this car to make so much power on plain old pump gas is cooling the intake. The Calvo team went through 560 lbs of ice that day to keep the Viper cool enough and safely away from detonating.
4. A gladiator out for blood
The races were broken down into brackets with things beginning at a rolling start ahead of a green light start. The event was held at the Caldo Mills Municipal Airport and is the perfect location for high horsepower to make drag racing runs down the runway. The General Lee Vipers turned in consistent runs measured at 190 mph! The foes that fell at the orange monster’s feet were a C6 Vette, a fellow Viper, and a Lamborghini Huracan.
5. All good things must come to an end
Sadly, our titular hero falls to a twin-turbo LP 570-4 Gallardo Superleggera who got the jump on the Viper a bit at the light when the light changed. However, it was still a fine day for Calvo Motorsports and an accomplishment that they should be proud of with everything that their Viper did.