It’s always a bit sad to see the automotive press fawning over a car that is soon to be gone. I saw it when the 4th generation Camaro and Firebird were about to be axed…for a time in 2002, all you saw were Berger Camaros and final edition this and auction car that. Never mind the heaps of abuse that came prior to…”you don’t know what you got until it’s gone” really plays here, and for the Dodge Viper, those words couldn’t be any truer. What started out as an absolutely batshit insane idea from a company that was busy cranking out minivans by the boatload evolved into the ultimate halo car for a brand that seriously needed one. Never mind the Cloud Cars with that time bomb of a V6, never mind the Ultradrive transmission, never mind the lack of rear-drive anything non-truck until 2005…if you wanted to see power and performance in a package that didn’t bother catering to those who cared less about driving at all, the Viper was your car. And we say “was”, because the ordering banks are shut…Connor Avenue will pump out the last cars and that will be that, the king will be gone.

This has meant that every journalist who hasn’t driven the car (who has the sway to get a shot behind the wheel) is cashing in their favors to crank out some laps. One of those people is Carfection’s Alex Goy, who brings one thing to the table that most others aren’t: Goy dreamed about the Viper while he grew up in Britain. Instead of bounce-passing other cars on a video game like most of us did growing up, Goy is now being turned loose in the Viper ACR…it’s not the fastest by top speed, but this is the most venomous snake that Ma Mopar will turn out. Every Viper has plenty of venom, but this one likes to grip the tarmac like a python that is cuddling up to a dinnertime rabbit. The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel…and judging from Goy’s demeanor and excitement, he seems pretty alive.