The Viper Club gathered in New York to welcome the new incarnation of the beast after an absence of two years. Chrysler Group actually unveiled two cars: the street legal 2013 SRT Viper, plus the purpose-built, competition-ready SRT Viper GTS-R. The company has also announced that a factory-backed SRT Viper Racing team will return to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in the summer. The road car will be available at the base SRT Viper costing around $100,000 and SRT Viper GTS at $120,000. The all-aluminum, mid-engine 8.4-liter V-10 will deliver an estimated 640hp, that’s plenty for most of us, but the Mustang GT500 would beat in in Top Trumps at 650. As noted below in this blog, by making the Viper a flagship for SRT brand, Chrysler hopes some of its halo car’s glow will reach Jeep and Chrysler. There are also rumours that SRT would be handy badge if Chrysler brings back the Barracuda name now Plymouth is no more. |