It’s almost a relief to know that FCA is going to kill off the Viper instead of softening up the supercar for the tastes of the drivers who complained that the car was too hard-core for them. No automatic or manual-matic ever found their way into the Viper. Even with stability control, the car had a reputation for humbling even the most cocky driver…or, at the least, reminding them of the physics that are involved with a highly powerful car that was never designed to tolerate fools. No matter the generation, no matter how old or new, you know it’s a Viper: tons of engine, two seats, a shifter, three pedals and all the adrenaline your glands could ever produce were waiting for you. It’s nice to know that it wasn’t diluted down into an everyman’s supercar that just anyone could get in and feel comfortable with. Not everybody feels safe in a Viper.

The racing versions will be missed, as well. Vipers fought with Corvette for the right to wave the red, white and blue banner in racing series the world over, and they often succeeded. They ran LeMans, GT racing and even won over the cold heart of Jeremy Clarkson, who could barely hide his lust for one. But the one thing that usually ended the fascination with the slithery, sexy beast was the exhaust note. One of the best lines I ever heard written about the Viper, written by Car and Driver’s Michael Austin during a tirade about how the Viper was a track-only toy and nothing more, described the sound as, “the exhaust sounds like a tuba having sex with a vacuum cleaner”. 19Bozzy92 recently captured a Viper GT3-R going out for a workout at Monza, and we don’t hear any kind of auditory wrongdoing, vulgar or otherwise. What do you think?