The future of the Dodge Viper brand has remained in question over the last few months, but the iconic American sports car has been given a stay of execution as the franchise has been handed over to Fiat. It was believed the Viper brand could remain with the ‘bad’ Chrysler in bankruptcy, but the hand-built super car has emerged from Chapter 11 along with the good parts of Chrysler.
However, the Viper isn’t necessarily safe in the hands of Fiat. Chrysler failed to sell the Viper line with a price tag of $10 million, and there is little to suggest Fiat would have an easier time selling the franchise. Devon Motor Works was reportedly the only Viper bidder, submitting a bid of just $5.5 million.
More than likely, Fiat will simply wind down the Viper brand. Fiat owns Maserati and Ferrari and sees the Viper as a competitor to its high-dollar sports cars. As such, Fiat will likely kill off the Viper to eliminate the competition.
If Fiat does decide to ax the Viper, it will be a sad day in the automotive world. The Viper has been a motoring icon since it was introduced in 1992 and the latest ACR version of the Snake currently hold the unofficial Nurburgring lap time record of 7 minutes 22 seconds. Hopefully Fiat can recognize the obvious differences between the Viper and a Ferrari and keep the V10-powered icon in Chrysler ’s lineup.
