The last Dodge Viper has rolled off the line at the company’s Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit.
The bittersweet moment occurred yesterday as FCA’s Head of Design, Ralph Gilles, traveled to the plant to say his goodbyes. The noted designer documented the event on Instagram and took a handful of photos of the production facility as well as the last two Vipers.
In comments on the post, Gilles said the “The Gen5 had a great 5 model year run and the Viper platform, which has not changed that much over the years, had a great 25 year run!” He also stated the model “sold well over the last couple of years” and the company had a “great mix of mostly ACRs in the last 15 months.”
The Viper’s fate was sealed by new federal safety standards which require vehicles to be equipped with side curtain airbags. As Gilles explained, the “new ejection mitigation regulation airbag … simply won’t fit in our package.”
The 2017 Viper was priced from $90,495 and came equipped with an 8.4-liter V10 engine that produced 645 hp (481 kW) and 600 lb-ft (814 Nm) of torque.
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So long… #ViperA post shared by @ralphgilles on Aug 16, 2017 at 6:38am PDT