Auto News 5

The 2013 SRT Viper nearly didn't make it. Chrysler put the Viper brand up for sale in 2008, seeing little justification for a 600-hp sports car when the company was fighting for survival. Luckily, there were no takers, Chrysler made it through a government-directed bankruptcy and became a ward of Fiat, and the Viper was saved. A prototype for the fifth-generation Viper was unveiled at a Chrysler dealer conference in September, 2010, and the production model was shown at the 2012 New York auto show in April. Orders for the new Viper begin on November 5, production at the revamped Conner Avenue Assembly plant in Detroit begins in late November, and first deliveries commence in late December or early January. But before final production specifications were approved, Chrysler invited a small group of journalists to GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Michigan, to drive a pair of development cars around the 1.88-mile road course.