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1989 Dodge Viper VM-01

Dodge Viper VM-01, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-01, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989 - R/T 10
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989 - R/T 10
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989 - Interior
Dodge Viper VM-02, 1989 - Interior
Dodge Viper RT-10 - Design Sketches
Dodge Viper RT-10 - Design Sketches
Images: DaimlerChrysler
Rating:  59    -6    +65
Viper VM-01 (R/T-10)
Brilliant concept cars were an effective means to Chrysler's image-propping ends during one of their many brushes with extinction. After enjoying a thrilling weekend drive in his Autokraft continuation Cobra, Lutz directed Gale to create an update with Chrysler touches. The Corvette ZR1 was looming and Lutz wanted Chrysler to deflate that balloon by any means possible.

Months later, the media gathered at Chrysler's Highland Park, Michigan, design dome found a low, menacing form hidden under a drop cloth. When the cover was whisked away, jaws dropped and the room's pressure momentarily fell as every attendee inhaled in synch.

What Gale had created was a flame red phallus on wheels - long of hood, short of deck, low of profile. Like the production design the followed, there was room under the exaggerated front end for a large and powerful V-10 engine. Header pipes rippling like tensed muscles from the fender vents dumped hot exhaust to atmosphere just ahead of the wide rear tires. This was a pure roadster with no targa bar, roll up windows, or nod to weather protection. The assembled scribes were stirred by Chrysler's boldness but skeptical if this radical departure from behavioral norms could survive beyond the concept phase.

The walls creaked, the roof moved when the Viper rolled onto a Cobo Hall stage with guttural undertones to make its public debut at January's North American (Detroit) Auto Show. A low targa bar had sprouted on the deck but Tom Gale's suitably aggressive sculpture was for the most part intact.

The response from show goers was overwhelming. Some posted deposit checks even though there were no production plans. That spurred Lutz to quickly breathe vitality into Chrysler's cobbled up concept.

Hundreds of engineers descended upon a meeting established to recruit a handful of chassis, powertrain, and manufacturing experts needed to move the Viper to production. Lutz gave the team a $50-million budget and a three-year gestation period.


Представленный на автосалоне в Детройте 1989 года Dodge Viper Concept поражал неприкрытой агрессией. Тогда мало кто верил, что машина практически без изменений пойдёт в серию спустя всего 3 года.

Концепт Viper фирмы Chrysler, был разработан по заданию вице-президента компании Роберта Лутца (R. Lutz), который боготворил «суперкары» (в его личной коллекции — уникальная AC Cobra Daytona середины 60-х) и взамен утреннего бега трусцой предпочитал «прохватить» на служебном Lamborghini Countach со скоростью 140 миль в час. Итак, чтобы понравиться руководству, Viper должен был как минимум соответствовать уровню итальянского суперкара и одновременно напоминать АС... Если говорить о стиле, то молодой дизайнер фирмы Крейг Дэрфи (С.Durfee) с блеском показал, что, несмотря на жесткие рамки аэродинамической оптимизации, вполне реально создать волнующую форму. Пластический ключ Viper имеет успех, и вскоре его основные черты переносятся на всю гамму Chrysler от семейного седана Intrepid и вэна Voyager до пикапа Ram и джипа Durango. Примеров подобного подхода к стилю в истории автомобильного дизайна ранее не наблюдалось. Тем более, что речь шла вовсе не о форме облицовки радиатора, а о пластике в целом.
Source: Don Sherman "Dodge Viper Farewell" - www.automobilemag.com; Н. Розанов, Журнал "Автомобили" 12-1998
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Н. Розанов, кандидат искусствоведения.
Журнал "АВТОМОБИЛИ", 12-1998
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