| Viper Inspired by Naked Woman Symbol of Chrysler Comeback
Bobby Cerchione's motivation for spending $95,000 four years ago on his second Dodge Viper was simple. Sullivan, the product analyst at AutoPacific, said he expects dramatic changes to the Viper's interior. The Viper will continue to be a small-production model, with researcher IHS Automotive estimating 2013 production of less than 2,000 units. The alternative to the government's rescue was Chrysler's failure and messy liquidation, said Van Conway, chief executive officer of the restructuring firm Conway MacKenzie in Birmingham, Michigan. "If the government doesn't do a bailout, simple math -- Chrysler shuts down," Conway, who owns two Vipers, said in a phone interview. "Let's just say sexy is back," Cerchione, who attended the invitational, said of the Viper's fresh look. "It was just a big bruiser of a motor that made lots of noise and scared the crap out of Grandma when you took her for a ride," he said in a phone interview. "Chrysler building the Viper again is their way of saying 'We've got enough extra bandwidth that now that we're going to bring out the cool stuff,'" said Janni Cone, who along with her husband, Henry, have owned four Vipers since 1997. It's got the curves in all the right spots. Viper probably will remain the most expensive model in Chrysler's lineup. "It will bring in those bankers now," he said. "It was a pretty crude car inside before," Sullivan said. With Viper's sleek design and upgrades inside the cabin, the car will bring in "a whole new group of buyers," Cerchione said. They're back. "Just like with Mac and Apple, with Coca-Cola, when you've built a fan base, it's almost one of the most important things you can do if you can pull it off," he said. Viper's reputation still was "a little bit blue-collar" for a halo car, Janni Cone said, in part on account of its bare-bones interior. "That's just another momentum builder where somebody else has confidence in the city of Detroit to make that sort of investment," Dave Bing, the city's mayor, said in a March 21 interview. Chrysler has shared few details about Viper ahead of its unveiling to reporters tomorrow at the New York auto show. |
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Viper Inspired by Naked Woman Symbol of Chrysler Comeback
