Save The Viper

Save the Viper campaign is underway. I am sure that the automotive students and faculty are not the only ones that will find destruction of the Dodge Viper distressing. As motor enthusiasts we are all about the preservation of historical cars and never wish one to come to it end. 

These student have put together petition click here to join in. 

Below is an article concerning the impending demise of this historical car. 

MAR 6, 2014, 3:50 PM

by

RACHEL KATZ

Automotive students and faculty at a community college in Washington are distraught after learning that their beloved 1992, one of a kind, $250,000 Dodge Viper has been ordered destroyed by the car's manufacturer, Chrysler.
"It's like taking a family pet, putting it in front of kids and destroying it," Norman Chapman, automotive professor at South Puget Sound Community College, told ABC News.
The car was donated to the Tacoma, Wash., college eight years ago by Chrysler for students in their automotive program to use the car as an educational tool.
"We destroy cars all of the time, but that's usually because they have lost their educational value," Chapman said. "This here is kind of unique and the students are definitely up in arms about it. It has around 600 horse power and it will go 200 mph really easy. It's definitely a race car. There are no frills in it, but it's definitely a speed machine."
In addition to the students' use of the car, it is also used for promotional purposes to attract high school students to the school program.
"It's a much beloved car on campus," Dean of College Relations Kellie Purce Braseth said.
The Viper model is so rare that Jay Leno once tried to buy the car from Chrysler, but they would not sell it to him because the car is not street legal.
An e-mail was sent by Chrysler to Chapman earlier this week simply telling the school that, "Chrysler Group LLC will be eliminating all Dodge Vipers from its educational donations fleet."
The school has two weeks to destroy the car and present the proof of its destruction to Chrysler.
School officials say that Chrysler has not said why they want the car destroyed, but that a contract signed when the car was donated by Chrysler states that the school is responsible for having it destroyed if Chrysler wants to eliminate the fleet.
"I have no idea. That's pretty secret there, but the contact that I talked to said it was for liability reasons," Chapman said. Chapman also said that it was rumored that similar cars had "gotten loose" at other schools and involved in accidents.
A statement from Chrysler said, "As part of the donation process, it is standard procedure -- and stipulated in our agreements -- that whenever vehicles are donated to institutions for education purposes that they are to be destroyed when they are no longer needed for their intended educational purposes. With advancements in automotive technology over the past decade, it is unlikely that these vehicles offer any educational value to students."
"Chrysler Group has no record of any legal proceedings involving Dodge Viper vehicles donated to educational institutions being involved in accidents and product liability lawsuits," Chrysler said.
The school's Viper is a pre-production car and its VIN number indicates it was the fourth vehicle off the production line and one of the first hardtop Vipers made.
Students have started an online petition to save the Viper and maybe have it preserved in an automobile museum, but Chapman says there is no way to save the car unless there is some sort of presidential pardon or the governor's support.
"Chrysler Group fully understands and appreciates the historical significance of the Viper and is very active in preserving many of its legendary models and designs for historic purposes however, none of these vehicles fit into this category," Chrysler said.


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That Elusive Barn-Find

Article by Steve Favill posting Feb 26, 2014

Do you dream about discovering a forgotten classic in some corner of a dusty garage?  Only ever happens to other guys, right?

Think again!

About twenty years ago now, I was collecting my older son from his friend's house, about a third of a mile from my own just outside of Milwaukee, WI. The house was, and still is, rather run-down and poorly maintained, being occupied at the time by the boy's divorced mother.

The garage is situated at the end of a dirt driveway at the front of the house, with the house being set back behind and above the garage.  Two old-fashioned doors are set with a number of small windows, all of them dirty and one of which was broken.  The opaque plastic that was taped up to cover it had come away.  I had to walk across the front of the garage to access the entrance to the house.

I do not know of any car enthusiast who will walk past a garage without looking in if the opportunity was there. Not that I would open the doors, or clean a window so that I could see in, but if there is a missing window, and you are walking past it, I would defy anyone to resist a quick peek.

What I saw made me stop in my tracks, and go back for a proper look. It was a steering wheel. It sat in the cockpit of what was obviously an open car, but quite what was not really apparent until my eyes adjusted to the gloom inside the garage.

The wheel was large, white, with four spokes and a Jaguar's head on the boss. The car itself was white, or used to be, and from the shape of the car, buried under old sheets and debris, it had to be an XK series.

This first view I had of the car

I went to the house, collected my son, and mentioned, as casually as I could, that I had noticed the car in the garage, and was it a Jaguar? Yes, came the reply, it was, and would I like to take a look at it?  Silly question…..

She unlocked the doors to the garage, which had obviously not been opened for some time, and there, under a few sheets and a lot of clutter, sat the car. I knew enough to recognise that this was an XK120. As you can understand, a little surge of adrenaline kicked in. I asked if I could pull the things off the car, which was okay with her, and I began to "take a look". There was no rust, anywhere, on the body. The spats that covered the rear wheels were off the car, leaning against the far wall. There was rust on plenty of other things in that garage, but not on the car itself. Was this one of the alloy bodied cars? Not saying anything I made a mental note of the Chassis, or VIN number, 670010.

As found in the garage

I asked her who this car belonged to, and was told that the car her ex-husband’s.  He had nowhere else to store it. The car had been left to him by his father, who was the second owner, and the car had been brought on a trailer to Wisconsin from New Jersey. The New Jersey plates were still there. The car, which hadn’t run since before the old man had died, was then partially stripped, at which point the son had lost interest, and left things where they were. Then came the divorce, etcetera.

I asked if he might want to sell it, in the hope that he didn't know what he had.  She said that he knew it was special, but that he might want sell it.  He had, apparently, been making plans to drop a V-8 in the car and making it into a hotrod……

I went home and dug out my books. Sure enough, the chassis number corresponded with an alloy-bodied 1949 Jaguar XK120OTS. I can still remember the thrill at the time. Here was something that I had only dreamed about, and it had happened, but it was obvious that I was getting out of my league, and if this car were to be saved I would need to give the chance of ownership to somebody who could do it justice.

I called a guy that I had known for a couple of years, who already had an extensive collection of British cars and who, I knew, was looking for another car.  After explaining what it was that I'd found he grew very quiet, and told me that he'd be down here as soon as he could.

That weekend he drove down, not being able to leave any earlier due to business appointments, and he was as excited by the car as I was. Having put the two parties together, I stepped back and let them get on with negotiations.

My friend the enthusiast finally bought the car, and it was obvious that the owner had not known just how special that car really was.

The XK120 has now been totally restored, no expense spared.  I have seen it, and it is gorgeous!  The new owner, following that restoration, won every prize possible on the JCNA show circuit, and has since been driving it regularly in classic events including two trips with the car to the UK.  I am thrilled that the old girl found such a good home.  I could not have afforded to restore it to this standard, and for such an early, important car as this no other course of action would have been right.

This is the car as it is now

Fully restored and now being driven

What a difference money and a lot of attention to detail can make!

If you keep your eyes and ears open you never know what you'll find.  If it's happened for me then it can happen to any of us!  The "before" shots were taken the day that I went to help the new owner drag the car out of storage.  The "after" shots were taken in the summer of 2010.


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