Autoblog

Chrysler begins shipping 2013 SRT Viper

Jeffrey N. Ross — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Plants/Manufacturing, SRT

Almost a year to the day after SRT president and CEO Ralph Gilles first introduced - and kissed the fender of - the 2013 SRT Viper at the 2012 New York Auto Show, the high-performance coupe has begun shipping to dealers. The first production cars started rolling off the line at Chrysler's Conner Avenue Assembly plant in Detroit back in January (a facility Gilles lovingly compares to Santa's workshop), but The Detroit News is reporting that the cars just started heading to customers across the US on Sunday.

Two of the first examples destined for driveways include a Stryker Red example that was the very 2013 Viper to be sold (the car was won by Scott Thomas of Oklahoma City at a Barrett-Jackson charity auction for cancer for $300,000), along with a white example headed to Gilles' personal collection. The report says that Gilles took delivery of his Viper and put just 30 miles on it before heading to New York for this week's auto show. What, he didn't drive?

Chrysler begins shipping 2013 SRT Viper originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch new SRT Vipers snake down the assembly line

Jeffrey N. Ross — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:57:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Plants/Manufacturing, Videos, SRT

Official production of the 2013 SRT Viper kicked off this month with VIN No. 001 rolling off the Conner Avenue Assembly plant to a small celebration that included the car's owner and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. Now, The New York Times has released a video and some great pictures showing just what it takes to get the newest Viper from a bare frame and engine to the final product.

The fast-motion video shows various stations along the Viper's production line ranging from engine inspection and assembly to a dyno test of the body-less car (shown above). The video of the birth of these early Vipers is posted below, but be sure to visit the NYT site for a handful of images of the car, the plant and its workers.

Continue reading Watch new SRT Vipers snake down the assembly line

Watch new SRT Vipers snake down the assembly line originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Connor Assembly reopens, first production SRT Viper goes down the line

Michael Harley — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:33:00 EST

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, SRT

Celebrations at Chrysler today, as the company posted the image above on its Facebook page showing a 2013 SRT Viper, VIN #001, rolling out of its Conner Assembly Plant in Detroit. New owner Scott Thomas (pictured with his family standing next to Sergio Marchionne) is understandably pleased.

As you may recall, the 400,000 square-foot Conner facility closed in the summer of 2010 with no immediate plans for it to reopen. However, things changed the following year when the automaker chose to open the plant for the next-gen Viper and implement Fiat's World Class Manufacturing (WCM) production system. (WCM is a methodology that makes employee safety the number one priority, focusing on eliminating waste, increasing productivity, improving quality and restoring dignity to the employees, says Chrysler.)

Completely modernized, the state-of-the-art facility is now tasked with producing the all-new SRT Viper. The sport car's frames arrive from an outside supplier in Kentucky, before spending upwards of six days inside Conner for assembly and finishing before they are ready for delivery. The plant is expected to produce about twelve Vipers each day. Read more of the details in the press release below.

Continue reading Connor Assembly reopens, first production SRT Viper goes down the line

Connor Assembly reopens, first production SRT Viper goes down the line originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrysler confirms next-gen SRT Viper for Conner Avenue assembly

Noah Joseph — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:58:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Plants/Manufacturing, Dodge

Chrysler made a huge splash when it put the Viper into production way back in 1992. But over the course of some eighteen years and 22,000 units of production, we all became used to the idea of having the Viper around. Then it was discontinued about a year and a half ago, and we started missing America's gnarliest of sports cars.

Fortunately the Viper is coming back, and coming back to the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant. The factory had been home to Viper assembly since it was moved there in 1995, but has laid dormant since July 2010. Now that the next-generation Viper is coming 'round the mountain, Chrysler is re-opening Conner Avenue to the tune of some 150 jobs. The re-opening of the facility makes Chrysler, in its own words, the only automaker with multiple assembly plants in Detroit proper.

Intriguingly, the press release after the jump refers to the upcoming new Viper not as a Dodge, but rather as an SRT product. The performance division was recently spun off by Chrysler into its own unit (much like the Ram truck brand was separated from Dodge), with Chrysler's chief designer and former Dodge chief Ralph Gilles at its helm, and the language seems to indicate that the new Viper could be the brand's first product. Color us officially excited.

Continue reading Chrysler confirms next-gen SRT Viper for Conner Avenue assembly

Chrysler confirms next-gen SRT Viper for Conner Avenue assembly originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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