The Track Monster

Twenty one years ago, a meeting was being held at Chrysler HQ. In it, then Chrysler President pulled one of his chief designers aside and asked him to come up with a modern AC Cobra. The result was poisonous. Because of its long body, sleek, wide stance and scaled hood, there was no doubt that this monster was snake-like. They tried to call it the Copperhead, but this didn't sound menacing enough. So, it came to be known as the Dodge Viper.

My favorite Jeremy Clarkson quote is meant for that first generation Viper- he said it "handled like it was drunk." The car was fast, no doubt, but it couldn't be taken seriously as a high performance sports car. It had heating problems, cooling problems, and it didn't have suspension. But now, at 21, the Viper has reached maturity.

It's called the Viper SRT-10 ACR (American Club Racer), and it is the car I would have were I asked to save the world. The original 8.0 liter engine has been enlarged to 8.4 liters, hissing 600 horsepower and 560 lb.-ft. of torque, in a 3408 lb. body. It costs less than 1/10 the price of the SLR Stirling Moss while being faster around the Nurburgring than a Ferrari Enzo. In fact, it's the fastest production vehicle ever around the Nurburgring (7:22.1). That includes the Corvette ZR1, definitely faster than the Nissan GT-R and Porsche GT2, and trounces any of the Italians.

While this record will inevitably be broken, I find it incredible that that Viper was able to destroy a car like the Nissan GT-R. The GT-R is the pinnacle of engineering technology, based on the premise than computers can do things more quickly for humans than humans can themselves. The GT-R is about the technology, while the Viper is about the driver. The snake's unique, upright gear shifter commands you to sit up straight and pay attention when driving. You would be able to get away with sloppy driving in the Nissan, but the Viper would bite if you slipped on the throttle. Dodge redirected the heat from the exhaust- a major fault in early generation Vipers- while maintaining the absolutely beast-like sound.

This car is too brutal to drive everyday, but when you need something savage, this is it.