http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/chrysler-orders-93-rare-early-vipers-to-the-crusher-170043330.html?vp=1
Old Vipers donated to tech schools ruled too dangerous. Chrysler wants to crush them to avoid liability....
Had an '85 Grand National in my high school shop meet the same fate in the mid 90's
Our early Neon ACR prototype/sorta met a similar fate.
they should follow the lead of donating them to a rally or car control school as ford did with the grey market fiesta movement cars
Don't pretty much all pre-production cars meet this fate? It sucks that they're Vipers, but it is what it is. It's happened to other interesting vehicles many times. Just thank the DOT/EPA.
I'd be nice to see them sold for "off road" use only. (racing and so forth)
I don't get it. It's right in the contract that the cars have to be destroyed if Chrysler say so, at any point.
You don't like it, don't sign it.
SlickDizzy wrote: Don't pretty much all pre-production cars meet this fate? It sucks that they're Vipers, but it is what it is. It's happened to other interesting vehicles many times. Just thank the DOT/EPA.
It'd not so much DOT/EPA as much as the cars were donated as unsaleable for whatever reason. (I know Keith Tanner has acquired a Miata by this method, or at least I read that here somewhere) The car then can not be sold to anybody, ever, except as scrap. To sell it as a vehicle would be negating the premise on which it was donated in the first place.
It's a touchy situation for all involved. We received a few pre-production cars from a certain manufacturer who regularly handed out cars. Then I got the call: no more.
Why? Oh, one of their pre-production cars--sold to a racer to become a race car--showed up for warranty work at a dealership. What? How?
End result: end of the program.
A good friend of mine had a pre-production car from the same said manufacturer as keith's. It was turned into an SS racer by the regional director for the south central region.
There wasn't a VIN number in sight on that that chassis. They took every one off that thing.
The preproduction TR8 coupes were set free, all 150 or so of them.
Even the GRM Mini that Scott Lear drove at SPMP (and I'm sure elsewhere) went back to BMW, likely to be crushed.
sure would be a shame for those Vipers to suddenly get stolen and just disappear without a trace before they could be crushed..
I remember seeing one of those TV collector car auctions around the same time that GM was about to go into bankruptcy. They had a whole bunch of stuff from GM's collection that they were making perfectly clear couldn't be titled, registered or driven in the US. They were prototypes, preproductions, and one off show cars.
Most of them were sold to Caribbean or South American bidders.
"Certificate of origin? We don't need no stinkin' certificate of Origin!"
MoPar used to let them go.
(1970 Challenger)
My tech school in GA used to have a couple Vipers...then one of the instructors wrecked one. They were both gone by the time I went to school there.
sethmeister4 wrote: My tech school in GA used to have a couple Vipers...then one of the instructors wrecked one. They were both gone by the time I went to school there.
And that's why we can't have nice things.
The car we have at FM wasn't pre-production, it was a normal production car that got accidentally damaged before being sold and thus couldn't be sold as new. Big difference from a liability standpoint, every piece of the car had been through the normal DOT/NTHSA safety process. They usually end up at driving schools, tech schools or given to racers. I seem to recall we had to sign something saying we wouldn't sell the drivetrain, and it has no MSO. There's absolutely no way to tell by looking at the car.
Actually, we DID have a pre-production 1999 years ago when I think about it. After about a year, it got smooshed.
While it sad to see cool cars crsuhed, no matter the reason i have to add this:
I completed the GM ASEP program and they had provided us with 4 Sky/Solstices. None could be ever sold, and the end of the life meant crushing.
I would never want a car like that, maybe even for racing. haha
The stuff that gets messed up on those cars by reckless students can be scary, not only that the cars have quirks because they are usually test cars for the factory before they are donated to schools.
Is it bad? Yeah. Is it the end of the world? nope. (maybe not crush em but museum them?)
Working in the industry it seems perfectly reasonable to me, I’m surprised anyone would bitch about it. Pre-production means lots of non-certified, tested signed off parts. Fine until someone gets in an accident and a creative lawyer traces a part to not having been signed off and sues FIAT into oblivion.
I berkeleying hate lawyers.
While I haven't seen it with my own eyes, two co-workers have watched pre-production and off-spec BMWs get shredded at a local metal yard. BMW sends a rep with them and the metal yard has a super duper agreement that nothing will be sold off the cars. Which is odd because this is simply a metal recycling yard, not a salvage yard.
I went to one of the Eurofair shows at BMW years ago and they had the Z-3s available for the autocross. They were telling people they didn't care if you abused the car,because they we going to the crusher (our client)on Monday.
N Sperlo wrote: I berkeleying hate lawyers.
Everyone hates them until they need them.
I move we keep the Vipers and crush the lawyers. Win-win.
When I used to work for Mitsubishi, I saw many EVOs meet the crusher. I shed a tear for each one. I tried like hell to get one to turn into a after work race team rally/autox car. They wouldn't go for it.
Odd update posted to the above article:
UPDATE: Chrysler told Yahoo Autos this afternoon that while it did not have any records of crashes involving Vipers donated to trade schools, the cars involved did not have historical significance. It also said it regularly expected vehicles donated to schools to be destroyed once they had lost their educational value, which the cars in question had given their age. The full statement:
"Approximately 10 years ago, Chrysler Group donated a number of Dodge Viper vehicles to various trade schools for educational purposes. As part of the donation process, it is standard procedure — and stipulated in our agreements — that whenever vehicles are donated to institutions for education purposes that they are to be destroyed when they are no longer needed for their intended educational purposes.
With advancements in automotive technology over the past decade, it is unlikely that these vehicles offer any educational value to students. Chrysler Group fully understands and appreciates the historical significance of the Viper and is very active in preserving many of its legendary models and designs for historic purposes however, none of these vehicles fit into this category.
Chrysler Group has no record of any legal proceedings involving Dodge Viper vehicles donated to educational institutions being involved in accidents and product liability lawsuits."
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