First SRT Viper Rolls Off the Assembly Line, Owner Paid $300,000 for it [w/Video]

Thursday, January 10, was a historic day for Chrysler as the first SRT Viper rolled off the production line at the Conner Avenue Assembly plant and was handed over to his owner, Scot Thomas, by Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Thomas was the winning bidder for the #001 Viper at last year’s Barrett-Jackson auction. The 40-year old, who lives in Oklahoma, is the president of the APMEX precious metals company and paid US$300,000 for the car, the proceeds going to the Austin Hatcher Foundation for pediatric cancer research.

The event also marked the restart of operations at the Conner Avenue plant that was idled in July 2010. After the decision to build the new Viper was taken, the 400,000 square-foot factory was refurbished so that it could be Chrysler’s new halo sports car.

“A year ago, Conner had the worst score in the company on an I.T. audit”, said head of Viper Operations Doug Quin. “At the next audit, after 12 months of focused attention and sheer determination, Conner scored 94 percent, the highest score in the company.”

Despite the state of the art machinery, hand assembly is still a part of the Viper’s creation as there are 150 specially selected employees who participate in the manufacturing process.

Daily production has been increased from eight to 12 cars, with each operator completing between 100-200 elements during each 32-minute cycle.

The Viper team dedicated the final line to former Chrysler Group vice president, and avid Viper supporter, Dan Knott who passed away last year.

They did so by unveiling a plaque with the quote “Today, we are a real company again”, a statement Knott had made on August 22, 2010, when the new Viper program was green-lighted by the company.

You can view an image gallery and a video of the celebration and handing over of the first production Viper right after the break.

By Andrew Tsaousis

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