In the 1980’s, the Chrysler Corporation recovered its financial footing through Lee Iaccoca’s K-Car program and acquisition of AMC/Jeep, two master strokes that helped revitalize the company from its Malaise era woes. In 1986, Iaccoca brought Bob Lutz from Ford, who insisted on a new sportscar program to revive the golden days of the all-American street racer, a true successor of the Shelby Cobra. With Tom Gale at the helm of the project, a prototype was shown at the Detroit Auto Show in 1989, taking the general public and the automotive press by storm. Chief engineer Roy Sjoberg enthusiastically assembled a skunk-works team for a production model, and by 1990, Iaccoca had approved the funding, persevered by Carrol Shelby himself. In 1991, a pre-production model became the pace car for the Indianapolis 500, and by 1992, the new Viper started deliveries to dealership across the United States.

With clear inspiration by the Cobra, the E-Type, and even the Ferrari 250GTO, the long-nosed Viper sported an 8-litre engine from Dodge’s truck division, transformed into an aluminum powerhouse by the craftsmen at Lamborghini, owned by Chrysler at the time. The early cars (SRI) were relatively spartan and free of luxuries, yet they produced a crushing 400 horsepower. Over the years, with the 1996 evolution to SRII (1996), ZBI (2002), ZBII (2008) and VXI (2010), power increased to a formidable 640hp out of 8.4 litres, positioning the Viper as an more democratic, affordable competitor to European exotics.