Last Dodge Viper rolls off the line, gets custom paint

As we bid the current iteration of the Dodge Viper goodbye, we are being reminded of its awesomeness by the availability of special editions and other goodies. And now we have for you the final Viper to roll off the assembly line, and of course it got some special paint.

What you see here is a Viper covered in House of Kolor bronzed gold paint with copper colored stripes. SRT's Bob Soroka was kind enough to airbrush those stripes with layouts of race tracks that are of significance to the Viper.

The car itself is a coupe, factory customized for owner D'Ann Rauh. D'Ann and her husband, Wayne Rauh, own the world's largest private collection of Vipers. The car also features special stitching in the interior.

Press Release

Dodge Celebrates the Ultimate Factory Customized Viper
July 1, 2010 , Auburn Hills, Mich.
Dodge Brand President and CEO Ralph Gilles (right) and plant manager Shelly Brown Gordon (third from right) welcomed more than 400 hundred loyal Viper owners at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit today to present the ultimate factory customized 2010 Dodge Viper coupe to proud new owner D'Ann Rauh (second from right). Rauh and her husband Wayne from Arp, Texas, own more than 40 Dodge Vipers - the largest personal collection of Vipers in the world.

A member of the Mid-South Viper Club of America, D'Ann Rauh worked exclusively with the Dodge Design team to select the personal touches she wanted on her car. The custom bronzed gold exterior paint was supplied by House of Kolor. The custom interior features various leather appointments, which were crafted by Tony Spampinito from Venzano, who has worked with the Rauhs on previous Viper projects.

Bob Soroka, from Chrysler Group LLC's Street and Racing Technology team, airbrushed layouts of Viper-significant race tracks into the custom-painted copper stripes applied by Prefix. The five-spoke forged-aluminum wheels are custom painted in dark graphite.

Members from both the Motor City Viper Club and the Viper Club of America participated in the celebration.

Rauh's Viper is the last of the current-generation Vipers built at the plant. Dodge has created more special-edition Viper models for the 2010 model year than all other model years combined. Production on the Dodge Viper started in 1992.

Video: Birth of a Dodge Viper ACR-X

This video by Chrysler shows just exactly how a "normal" Dodge Viper becomes an ACR-X, the track only model. While the job is done at the same facility that produces the built-from-the-ground-up Viper Competition coupes, the ACR-X is retrofitted with race goods after it is assembled.

The list of goodies is long: roll cage, brake cooling ducts, racing fuel cell, fire suppression system, and huge brakes. All of which make the ACR-X track ready, almost from the showroom floor.

Video: Ralph Gilles discusses the future of the Dodge Viper

While everyone anxiously awaits some news regarding the future of the Dodge Viper, there has been much speculation about what the brand will become. Will it be reborn as a purpose built sports car or race car? Will it retain much of its current traits and stay similar to the current car?

While Dodge CEO Ralph Giles takes the time in this video to discuss the current Viper and its pending retirement, he does not clue us in to any future Viper news. He does, however, acknowledge that demand for the outgoing 2010 Viper is very strong, and Dodge is considering building more ACR-X models to meet demand. Gilles also tells us that consumer demand is shaping decisions for the future of the brand.

Dodge to end Viper production in July 2010, new car in 2012?

At a recent Chrysler business plan meeting, CEO of the Dodge car brand Ralph Gilles dropped some big news. After going back and forth on what to do with the Viper brand, Chrysler has decided to end production of the car in July 2010. 500 final cars will be built, that according to Gilles, will be the most special Vipers built to date. The explanation given was that Chyrsler wants to preserve the value of current Vipers by not continuing the current generation indefinitely.

It's not time to mourn the loss of the American supercar just yet, however, as Gilles also announced that an all new car is in development with a target release date of 2012. And this new Viper will be getting a little input from Chrysler's Italian colleagues (see: Fiat, Ferrari). All we can hope is that they retain the Viper's distinct American personality.