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The Dodge Viper’s long tenure is coming to an end. Instead of redesigning the car to comply with new safety standards taking effect on September 1, Fiat Chrysler has decided to cease production of the iconic vehicle after 25 years. According to a report from Automotive News, the Conner Avenue facility in Detroit, which has hand-crafted every Viper since 1995, will shut down operations on August 31.
The Conner Avenue plant was originally a Champion Spark Plugs manufacturing site, but Chrysler acquired it in 1995 and shifted Viper production from the Mack assembly plant shortly thereafter. In addition to the Viper, this facility also produced the Plymouth and Chrysler Prowler, and has been assembling the Viper’s V-10 engine since 2001. With over 80 employees, it stands as FCA’s smallest plant in North America.
FCA plans to reassign Conner Avenue workers to various positions at other facilities to avoid layoffs. However, they will not find another place where cars are constructed and painted by hand as they were for the Viper. Many employees have opted to stay through periods of slow sales instead of transferring to other locations, taking pride in their work on the Viper. Last year, only 630 Vipers were sold, a decline of 8.7 percent from 2015. The low sales figures, along with the considerable effort required to integrate larger side curtain airbags— a challenge that has similarly affected the availability of the Grand Caravan—significantly influenced FCA’s decision to end Viper production now.
While the Viper has continued to exist, models such as the Challenger Hellcat and Demon have effectively taken its place in the high-performance segment. Although these newer models are impressive in their own right, they cannot replicate the unique V-10 growl or the Viper’s prestigious racing heritage. While we recognize FCA’s rationale for discontinuing the Viper, its absence will undoubtedly be felt..
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