1996 Dodge Viper GTS Race Prepped But Street Driven
I was a Dodge dealer from 1987 to 2009. When the Vipers came out, they were a revelation. Here we had initially a super car accelerating vehicle that could be had for not much more than the price of a deluxe pickup truck. The V10 was magnificent and pulled incredibly strong and outran virtually everything under $250,000 from the introduction of the Viper from 1992 to 1995. However, the original generation of Vipers were not much more than a magnificent engine in a kit car. Many off the shelf items such as parts from a Dakota pickup truck were used. Handling was marginal, fit and finish was poor. There were no available roll up windows and the hard tops were after market and the factory soft tops would come apart above 100 miles an hour. Still, for the price they were a bargain.
In 1996, the GTS coup was introduced and like the Model T, it was available in any color you wanted, as long as it was blue with a white stripe. They only made a few GTS coupes and every one of them was billed as an Indy pace car. You could purchase the Indy pace car stripes and attach them if you wanted to but it was more than just a Viper with roll up windows. The suspension has been completely revised. The brakes improved, the weight lightened, the horsepower increased, the body was significantly stiffer, and was finally a world beater in handling, braking and straight line performance. As a dealer and the owner of this vehicle from new, I read everything there was to read about the car. It was lauded in both automobile magazine and car and driver as one of the best track prepared vehicle ever produced. To own one of these and not race it on a closed circuit course, was almost a waste of the machine. At the time, I was racing Neons in SSCA-SSB. I had a two car team and we were traveling all over the country pounding those Neons around. I decided to get out of racing competitively and just do club events. We took this Viper off of the delivery truck, put it in the shop, and turned it into what at the time was the fastest club car in Denver in those days. Here is a list of the items modified or changed on the vehicle and I am doing this from memory so it may not be completely comprehensive.
Front to back: clear bra added to bottom of nose to try and prevent scrapes, hosed ducting was applied to the front brakes, the front factory Brembo units were put on the rear wheels and Baer 6 piston brakes applied to the front with three piece rotors. The rear brakes were left in place along with the new front calipers applied so it appears to have two sets of calipers on it. The original calipers only operate the emergency brake. The brake system had individual proportioning valves applied to it so we could set it up for different tracks and the brake fluid changed out to super high performance racing brake fluid. Also, banana shaped scoops were either purchased of fabricated and used as rear brake cooling ducts. Front wake modifiers were applied in front of the rear wheels to draw more air through the radiator, A/C condenser combo. The radiator has been replaced with a custom unit, the thermostat was modified with a unit out of a diesel truck, and a cooling system high point was established different from factory and a bleed valve installed. A auxiliary radiator with electric fan on it (re-tasked transmission cooler) was installed at the center body shield that goes over the drive shaft and wired in with a thermostatic and manual switch. The engine, we disassembled the top end of it, ported the heads, both exhaust and intake, put a 7 angle valve job on them, and installed a higher ratio rocker arm giving more lift on the intake valve than stock. Also the heads were just slightly cut and the compression ratio rise is negligible but it’s there. The intake manifold was port matched and extrude honed. Larger throttle bodies were applied, a custom airbox, and non-convoluted tubes supply air from the airbox to the throttle bodies. The exhaust system is a pair of Edelbrock two piece headers (the only ones available in that day) custom made super thick copper header gaskets and flange gaskets running without catalytic converters directly to a Borla muffler (that’s right, this car will not be street legal however all of the parts removed come with the car including the catalytic converters, in fact you get the original cats and a brand new set of cats) I believe that the exhaust tips are Borla custom also but I am not sure. For the transmission, we installed an aluminum fly wheel and a super duty clutch. Also, a custom shifter with a carbon fiber shift knob. The rear axle ratio was changed from the factory 3.55 to the ratio it should have always had of 3.73 and the appropriate box fitted to the speedometer to correct it. To top off the modifications, we installed an electric hatch release, the well worn 4 point system that you see on the drivers seat, a radio mount in the back for talking to the crew chief, tinted the back glass, chromed the factory wheels and center caps (they were not available in chrome in 1976) and applied more clear bra all over the place. When it became available about a year later, we put a Mopar performance computer in it.
What’s wrong with the car: Driving this car is like firing a magnum revolver. Until you pull the trigger three or four times it scares you to death. There are no electronic devices not even ABS to save you from yourself. If you keep your right foot planted to the floor and you don’t know what you are doing, this nasty B*tch will pitch you into the ditch and possibly kill you. Last dyno reading was 610 horsepower at the crank. This car is nothing more than a racecar with an air conditioner but you can drive it every day.
The car has been campaigned extensively at club events and pissed off many Porsches in its day so as pictured, there is some damage to the lower front face shot from parking bumps and dips. The gas cap cover has its original protective coating peeling off and there are a few pits and chips here and there but for as much butt as this car has whipped, it is in surprisingly good shape. Wheels are not scuffed, and with the right person, the original set of racing wheels will come with it.
Who am I? My name is Dave. I have been restoring cars for 35 years. My first collector car was when I was 15 years old. I've had three major collections and now it's time to sell my last one. My personal taste run to the eclectic.
I have picked out or restored these vehicles to be some of the finest in the world of these types.
I was a Dodge dealer for 27 years, selling 1600 to 2000 cars a year - that was my business.
These cars are my passion.
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