- 212
- Melbourne, Australia
- Rage028
- Rage0329
I'm certain each of us on this board, in these forums has a dream car. Something we've day dreamed about, imagined driving, collected memorabilia of. For me it has always been a Dodge Viper. Growing up in the 80s, I was probably too young to appreciate Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche. I never fell into the Aussie "muscle cars" either, the sedans and the utes. They too weren't anything special to me. The 90s were different. I got to ride in a 300ZX, one of the first R32 GT-R's in Australia (it made me puke). I didn't grasp at the time how special they were, and how cool it was to have a Dad that worked at Nissan. Hands up if you ever played the original "Road and Track presents" the Need for Speed. You've got to be in your 30s probably to remember some of that Viper TV show too.
Images sent by the Concierge on Flickr in an album (from paint to final assembly)
Push came to shove at the end of 2016. The dream had to become a reality now, or it was never. I did my research, made phone calls, searched on websites. Not about the car, but a legal avenue by which I could own the dream. Fun fact: Foreigners can buy, register, get insurance on vehicles in some states of the U.S. Not Fun fact: Production for the Viper has ended, it stopped just last August. I tried ordering my car in October last year, only to be told that Chrysler had stopped taking orders. When the small window opened in February this year, I got my order through. From order to delivery my car is probably one of the fastest through the process. It's a 1 of 1 GTC. I recieved photos from the Concierge during the painting, and manufacturing process. No one else has the exact same options as I do through the 1 of 1 program. My car was delivered in May, just in time for a road trip with my German girlfriend, who'd never been to the U.S. before.
Delivery day.
Fortunately the Viper is a modestly achievable dream. It's expensive yes, but not if you're working hard (for years), and saving enough money on the side. I'd been renting every manual car I could (when I needed one) in Germany in the lead up to getting the Viper. It helped, a bit. Every Viper signs a piece of paper before leaving the factory that promises it has to scare the **** out of their new owner on first drive. The pedals are a little offset in the Viper, I hit the accelerator instead of the brake while backing it out of the driveway. Fortunately I was feathering the clutch. To register the car, I had to drive a short 1.2 miles. My hands were shaking for 5 minutes after we got there. If you're not a little scared, you're still in your comfort zone, and nothing amazing ever happens in your comfort zone.
"I didn't get the point of spending that much money on a car, until I sat down in it." - Julia.
A Viper is uniquely a Viper. To clarify, it's completely one-dimensional. No other car has been so stubbornly true to it's original ethos over 25 years. A raw honest driver's car. Front-mid mounted engine. Naturally aspirated. 6-speed manual. Mechanical grip. It hasn't been diluted over time, or compromised. Either you're all in, or not. It was hand painted, hand built, hand assembled. The Viper doesn't lie to you, it tells you when you're a bad driver, and challenges you to become better. It resisted having ABS until 2002, it resisted having cruise control, stability management, and traction control. The latter 3 until the 5th Generation car in 2013. I was taking photos of the Viper back in July in a parking lot (carpark). A guy and his girlfriend walked by, he said "I still think the Corvette is better." My honest first thought, she should have dumped him right there. hahaha, kidding... or am I? As of this post, counting all Vipers built, including those that have been wrecked over the years, there's 31,947. Less than the total number of Corvettes built in a single model year. Too often the apples to oranges comparison occurs. The automotive world had lost something special, they're no longer building the last hand built car in America.
Now I need GT: Sport for photoscapes mode AND to practice racing the car
Some of you, like me, probably drove every Viper (or dream car) in Gran Turismo, in every event we could. Or race modified them as we could in Gran Turismo 1 and 2. People long complained that cars in Gran Turismo didn't sound like their real life counterparts. That was/is a bunch of crap. I'm sure they didn't have a decent sound set up, and were probably using stereo sound out of their TV. My Viper sounds exactly like the '13 Viper GTS in GT6. My mother thinks the Viper is too loud. She's just used to her Mini Cooper S I think. Every time I fire up the engine, yeah, it's loud. Loud in a good way. From about 4,000 to 5,000RPM loud, from 5,000 to 6,400 awesome. It's a feature, a characteristic of the car, without it, it'd be like a bear with no fur. It rides a little harsh, even in street mode suspension, you feel what each wheel is doing, and the steering wheel is communicative. If it wasn't loud, and harsh on the street, it wouldn't be a track car now would it?
The trunk holds a lot. Plenty enough for a gentleman and his lady (3 pairs of shoes) on a 1,200 mile road trip.
If you've got a dream car, work for it, get that dream. Don't let anyone dissuade you. It's worth all the hard work. If it's a two seat sports car, better do it before you have kids too. I'm certain neither happiness, nor success can be measured in any even way. But for us GTPlanet people, I'm sure the right car makes us smile, and that's true happiness. I've got a new best friend, he's a social drinker and prefers 93 on tap.
Found a photographer via Instagram, for a photoshoot last week
Images sent by the Concierge on Flickr in an album (from paint to final assembly)
Push came to shove at the end of 2016. The dream had to become a reality now, or it was never. I did my research, made phone calls, searched on websites. Not about the car, but a legal avenue by which I could own the dream. Fun fact: Foreigners can buy, register, get insurance on vehicles in some states of the U.S. Not Fun fact: Production for the Viper has ended, it stopped just last August. I tried ordering my car in October last year, only to be told that Chrysler had stopped taking orders. When the small window opened in February this year, I got my order through. From order to delivery my car is probably one of the fastest through the process. It's a 1 of 1 GTC. I recieved photos from the Concierge during the painting, and manufacturing process. No one else has the exact same options as I do through the 1 of 1 program. My car was delivered in May, just in time for a road trip with my German girlfriend, who'd never been to the U.S. before.
Delivery day.
Fortunately the Viper is a modestly achievable dream. It's expensive yes, but not if you're working hard (for years), and saving enough money on the side. I'd been renting every manual car I could (when I needed one) in Germany in the lead up to getting the Viper. It helped, a bit. Every Viper signs a piece of paper before leaving the factory that promises it has to scare the **** out of their new owner on first drive. The pedals are a little offset in the Viper, I hit the accelerator instead of the brake while backing it out of the driveway. Fortunately I was feathering the clutch. To register the car, I had to drive a short 1.2 miles. My hands were shaking for 5 minutes after we got there. If you're not a little scared, you're still in your comfort zone, and nothing amazing ever happens in your comfort zone.
"I didn't get the point of spending that much money on a car, until I sat down in it." - Julia.
A Viper is uniquely a Viper. To clarify, it's completely one-dimensional. No other car has been so stubbornly true to it's original ethos over 25 years. A raw honest driver's car. Front-mid mounted engine. Naturally aspirated. 6-speed manual. Mechanical grip. It hasn't been diluted over time, or compromised. Either you're all in, or not. It was hand painted, hand built, hand assembled. The Viper doesn't lie to you, it tells you when you're a bad driver, and challenges you to become better. It resisted having ABS until 2002, it resisted having cruise control, stability management, and traction control. The latter 3 until the 5th Generation car in 2013. I was taking photos of the Viper back in July in a parking lot (carpark). A guy and his girlfriend walked by, he said "I still think the Corvette is better." My honest first thought, she should have dumped him right there. hahaha, kidding... or am I? As of this post, counting all Vipers built, including those that have been wrecked over the years, there's 31,947. Less than the total number of Corvettes built in a single model year. Too often the apples to oranges comparison occurs. The automotive world had lost something special, they're no longer building the last hand built car in America.
Now I need GT: Sport for photoscapes mode AND to practice racing the car
Some of you, like me, probably drove every Viper (or dream car) in Gran Turismo, in every event we could. Or race modified them as we could in Gran Turismo 1 and 2. People long complained that cars in Gran Turismo didn't sound like their real life counterparts. That was/is a bunch of crap. I'm sure they didn't have a decent sound set up, and were probably using stereo sound out of their TV. My Viper sounds exactly like the '13 Viper GTS in GT6. My mother thinks the Viper is too loud. She's just used to her Mini Cooper S I think. Every time I fire up the engine, yeah, it's loud. Loud in a good way. From about 4,000 to 5,000RPM loud, from 5,000 to 6,400 awesome. It's a feature, a characteristic of the car, without it, it'd be like a bear with no fur. It rides a little harsh, even in street mode suspension, you feel what each wheel is doing, and the steering wheel is communicative. If it wasn't loud, and harsh on the street, it wouldn't be a track car now would it?
The trunk holds a lot. Plenty enough for a gentleman and his lady (3 pairs of shoes) on a 1,200 mile road trip.
If you've got a dream car, work for it, get that dream. Don't let anyone dissuade you. It's worth all the hard work. If it's a two seat sports car, better do it before you have kids too. I'm certain neither happiness, nor success can be measured in any even way. But for us GTPlanet people, I'm sure the right car makes us smile, and that's true happiness. I've got a new best friend, he's a social drinker and prefers 93 on tap.
Found a photographer via Instagram, for a photoshoot last week
Still, she's my dream car, I guess I'm lucky my dream car is cheap. Ah well, Volvo 850 T5 has to be next! Mini-V10 sound, here I come!
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