If you had to think of one word to describe this 1997 Dodge Viper you see above, what would it be? Beastly? Monstrous? Frightening? Aggressive? Intimidating? I wouldn't be able to think of any word for the simple fact that this car makes me speechless. I mean, look at it!
If Bruce Wayne and his alter ego was a gearhead that wanted to frightening the living bejesus out of his enemies then this is the car he's build.
The rest of the car is pretty much dwarfed by this. What you're looking at is a stroked 510 CI Viper V10 featuring two Bullseye Power Borg Warner T-4 80mm turbos with a MoTeC M800 Engine Management System that was calibrated by Shane Tecklenburg. The result? Roughly 2000 horse power at 12 psi. No biggie.
The intake is the visually dominating piece of the engine bay (apart from the two giant turbos), its a CNC manifold that was designed by Marc "Koz" Kozeluh of Twins Turbo and Steve Hall of Hall Engineering and Design.
An engine producing so much power also produces so much heat. The engine was lined with gold in select spots as well as with the inside of the engine cover.
The interior is as spartan and utilitarian as you can get. It's border-line race car, but still has heat shielding and carpet! Remember boys and girls, this fire breathing dragon is still a street car.
Though, what sort of streets this car was designed for, I want to know.
Fabrication done by Twins Turbo Motorsports and Andrew "Serge" McClelland. This is a car that you have to see in person to truly appreciate. the quality of the welds is one thing, but the creativity that was employed on certain aspects of the car is another.
For example, right under the exhaust sits a panel that can be easily removed with a few screws. That panel gives easy access to the pedals, their adjustment and their respective master cylinders. Most people wouldn't even think about that!
I'm not quite sure which look I prefer more, the car with the hood on, or the car with the hood off. Either option makes the car look extremely intimidating.
The body was painted by the now defunct West Coast Choppers.
An amazing set of red ghost flames adorn the whole car.
This was a real challenge to photograph as the red flames and the dark red hue of the car went completely black when not directly lit.
Back in September, the car was in attendance at the Mojave Mile event. It was easily the fastest car out by doing a pass of 222.7 MPH! You can see a video of the run here. The Mojave Mile was the first of many events this car will be going to. It's got its sights on the Texas Mile next.
If you're in attendance at SEMA this week, be sure to stop by the K&N Filters booth to check out this beast.
-Linhbergh