First Generation Vipers

Back in 1989 the concept for the Viper was debuted at the Detroit Auto Show by Carroll Shelby & Bob Lutz.  They presented an insane V-10 roadster & suggested that it may be built as a Dodge.  There were a lot of skeptics who figured that this insane car would never happen.

But in 1991, it was born.  One of the most incredible supercars.  The Dodge Viper. 

Lamborghini was responsible for the 8.0 liter pushrod cast-iron V-10 engine.  This engine has 400 horsepower with 450 ft. lbs of torque under its long fiberglass hood.  It was able to go 0-60 in 4.4 seconds and completed the ¼ mile in 13.1 seconds.  And the top speed was 164 mph.  Very impressive.

What made it all the more impressive was that it was a very basic car, a driver’s car.  No ABS, no electronic aids.  And the radio, not really worth mentioning since you can’t really hear it above the roar of the engine.  What the Viper is great at, is pure & simple, go as fast as you dare fun.

The first generation Viper RT/10 is from 1991-1995.  The second generation started in 1996 when they added the GTS coupe to the line up.  And the second generation had 415 horsepower with 488 ft. lbs of torque in its V-10 engine.  It went 0-60 in 4.0 seconds with a top speed of 185 mph.  The Viper was proving to be quite a car.

But the creators of the Viper knew that it had to be raced.  It was what it had been born to do.  And race it did.  The Viper won the GT class of the FIA GT championship in Europe from 1997-1999, 2001 & 2002.

The third generation Viper, 2003-2008, came out with a new body style, thanks in part to SRT (Street & Racing Technology).  It lost the roundness & huge one piece hood for a more conventional hood.  The engine also went through some changes.  It was beefed up to a 8.3 liter V-10 that produced an incredible 504 horsepower with 525 ft. lbs of torque.  It could now go 0-60 in 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 190 mph.  And there was still no electronic aids other than ABS.

The fourth generation Viper, 2008-2010,  increased the engine to an 8.4 liter V-10 that produced in insane 600 horsepower with 560 ft. lbs of torque.  It could go from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 202 mph.  And once again, no electronic aids.

After 2010, the Viper went out of production.  Was that to be the end of what was an incredible supercar?  Nope.  The Viper has returned in 2012. 

The Viper that we own is a 1994, first generation Viper.  And it is just incredible.  There is so much power in the first generation Viper that it is hard to imagine how driving one of the newer Vipers feel.  Will there ever be another car like the first generations of Vipers?  No, never again.  The main reason is that they were very simple.  No drivers aids, just hit the gas & go.  You have to really drive one of these cars.  I’m sure that the new Viper is just as incredible but it has the electronic aids due to changes in the laws.

 

I think that in describing the Viper from 1991-2010, Tanner Foust said it best on Top Gear.  “It feels like it’s trying to kill you.”  But if you love just pure speed, then the Viper is the car for you.

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The Lamborghini Miura

A little over a year ago, we brought a new collie puppy into our home.  We had to make the big decision on what to name her.  Since we are huge car fans, we wanted her name to reflect our love of cars.  But it had to be something special.  After a lot of thought, we named our new collie puppy, Miura.  She is named after the first Lamborghini ever built, the Lamborghini Miura.

The Lamborghini Miura was built in Italy between the years of 1966 and 1973.  The car received its name from the Spanish ranch of legendary bull breeder Don Antonio Miura, whose bulls had a strong attack instinct. 

The Lamborghini Miura is considered by some to be the trend setter in high performance, two-seater, mid-engine sports cars.   There was only 763 cars built.  One very interesting fact about the Miura is the overall size of the car.  The length of the car is 171.6 inches with a width of 69.3 inches, but the height is only 41.5 inches, which is as tall as my 5 year son.

There are a couple of different models of the Miura.  The early ones as known as P400 & there were 275 produced between 1966 and 1969.  They had a V12 engine mounted transversely and produced 350 HP.  This car was a huge success for Lamborghini despite its at the time steep $20,000 USD price tag.

The next model known as P400s or the Miura S was introduced at the Turin Motorshow in 1968.  Engine changes were good for an additional 20HP.  There were 338 produced between December 1968 and 1971.

The last and most well known Miura was the P400SV or the Miura SV.  The engine changes gave an additional 15HP to up it to 385HP.  The SV model is easily identified from the previous models because of its lack of “eyebrows” over the headlights & the wider fenders.  There were 150 Miura SVs produced.

On January 5, 2006 a Miura Concept was presented at the American Museum of Television and Radio.  The Concept made its official debut at the North American International Auto Show two weeks later.  It’s the first design by the new Lamborghini chief, Walter de’Silva and commemorates the 1966 introduction of the original Miura.  Lamborghini though has denied that the concept will return the Miura to production.  Personally, I would love to see the Concept be produced but I do understand that they considered the concept a celebration of their history.  But how awesome would that car be?!

I have never seen a Lamborghini Miura in person and though I would love to, highly doubt that I ever will.  It has been a dream car for me the more I read and look at this car.  It is amazing to me what this car can do.  It was the first SuperCar.  So thank you Lamborghini Miura for starting the world of SuperCars.  What a wonderful world that is!

Dawn