Did FCA go overboard with Special Editions this year

[Boosted Motorsports]

Want to have an open discussion about the last year for Viper. I'm trying to soak up as much info as possible to stay up to date for when I grab a GEN V ACR in the next few years. It seems like there are so many "Special Editions", "1 of 1 program", "Dealer editions", Trim levels, "True" ACR, GTC ACR.

It all gets pretty diluted and I feel like every single one of these cars is nearly different anyways. Kind of takes away from the uniqueness of having a "Special Edition" when someone can say that they configured their own special edition by making a 1 of 1.

Should be interesting to see where this all goes for holding value and which car to buy and which ones get deemed as less desirable or lower value for whatever reason. A potential buyer new to Viper must have their head spinning trying to keep track of trim levels and editions right now...

[ViperDC]

Nothing wrong with more options.

[Martin]

I think they made just enough of the special editions - and the nice thing about them is that future buyers know exactly what they're getting. The GTC program is great for the first buyer, but because each one is unique, my guess is that it'll be harder to find buyers who want exactly what you ordered.

Also, the special editions couldn't be customized in any way to my knowledge. So, while I think this is less desirable to the initial buyer (who might have wanted to add the CF interior, for example), it's easier for future buyers to know exactly what they're getting. If someone is looking for a GTS-R special edition, they know what is in it, and they can focus on the history and condition of the car during the decision process.

[BlknBlu]

NOPE, if they were still sitting unsold then yes, but they were gone within hours and in fact started another one that sold out. Funny thing I have noticed on the GENV cars and owners. the GEN IV cars were bare bones and very few options. When the GEN V cars were and are produced they are so many options it is difficult to even keep them straight and now we see complaints on these options. Apparently no one is happy unless there is something to complain about. Besides the vendor issues on the new cars, FCA did a great job in allowing an owner to configure exactly what they wanted including Special Editions for those that can not sort through so many choices.

Great Job FCA

Bruce

[OneofOneViper]

I believe the public has already spoken. All special editions were sold out in days. ACREs have been sold out more than can be produced. You or I may not understand the reason for the demand on particular models but when they sell out it's a clear signal FCA make the correct choice. I think people have drifted into either the SRT is they want the most affordable, the GTC if they want to customize, and the TA if they want the all around best in show. The GTS sold almost nothing last year as the public showed in terms of sales that this is where FCA had an unwanted model.

[Martin]

Hi Bruce - was it possible to customize the special editions? I always thought "they are what they are" and everyone got the same thing. I thought that was brilliant on FCA's part because it standardizes the cars and makes them much easier to buy. I figured that was one reason they sold so fast - people wouldn't get into "analysis paralysis" when trying to figure out what to buy.

I know with my GTC ACR, I spent weeks deliberating over options - and that almost caused me to not get my order in on time.

I'm in the "simple is better" camp - but I'm one of the ones missing the good old days when you could only get one or two colors and the option list consisted of stripes or no stripes It was so much easier to just focus on the performance of the car and not worry that you're going to make a bad option choice.

[BlknBlu]

Martin, you are going to have to find someone smarter than I, but I think they come optioned all the same. When I got my ACR as you know we had about 5 options to deal with.

Bruce

[Martin]

Martin, you are going to have to find someone smarter than I, but I think they come optioned all the same. When I got my ACR as you know we had about 5 options to deal with.

Bruce

After re-reading your post, I realized that I mis-read it... I thought you were saying that people could option the cars any way they wanted, including the special editions. After re-reading it, I see that you were saying that the special editions were for people that didn't want to make choices. My bad (could be chemo brain ).

[Policy Limits]

The special editions aren't special. The manufacturer made a mistake in labeling them as such and a formal announcement will be forthcoming.

[ACRSNK]

The special editions are nice, but they would have been a lot nicer if they did more than paint for the special edition cars. A little more horsepower or something to make the final ones stand out a bit would have been nice. Kind of like GM did with the Buick GNX, which was labeled as the Grand National to end all Grand Nationals. Not only did the car look different than other GN's with its fender flares and wheels, but it actually had a completely revised suspension and higher horsepower motor via a unique to the GNX turbo. Had they done something like that to say farewell to the Viper...now that would have been really cool! Nice paint jobs though.

[Boosted Motorsports]

The special editions are nice, but they would have been a lot nicer if they did more than paint for the special edition cars. A little more horsepower or something to make the final ones stand out a bit would have been nice. Kind of like GM did with the Buick GNX, which was labeled as the Grand National to end all Grand Nationals. Not only did the car look different than other GN's with its fender flares and wheels, but it actually had a completely revised suspension and higher horsepower motor via a unique to the GNX turbo. Had they done something like that to say farewell to the Viper...now that would have been really cool! Nice paint jobs though.

You do bring up an interesting point! It is interesting that there were never any different drivetrain enhancements (HP, Trans gear ratio, or rear end ratio) options right from the base model in 2013 right up to the special edition 2017s. I wonder if they are under some sort of emission regulations that kept them from doing any sort of performance intake or exhaust or even ECU change. It is strange though because even with the Hellcat that car is pretty damn loud stock and makes a ton of HP yet passed EPA standards?

[mjorgensen]

You do bring up an interesting point! It is interesting that there were never any different drivetrain enhancements (HP, Trans gear ratio, or rear end ratio) options right from the base model in 2013 right up to the special edition 2017s. I wonder if they are under some sort of emission regulations that kept them from doing any sort of performance intake or exhaust or even ECU change. It is strange though because even with the Hellcat that car is pretty damn loud stock and makes a ton of HP yet passed EPA standards?

Much to small of a market to invest the millions it would have taken to do power additions so that was never going to happen. any small changes would still have to been run through all the R&D systems which would all cost millions just for a few special editions.

[Martin]

Much to small of a market to invest the millions it would have taken to do power additions so that was never going to happen. any small changes would still have to been run through all the R&D systems which would all cost millions just for a few special editions.

This is my thinking, too. But, back in the Gen II days, at least they added the little things that everyone else was already doing to their cars to "claim" more power (the smooth tubes and K&N filters). Even though it added just a few horsepower, it was enough to make the cars more "special" than the standard cars.

These days, though, it seems like they wrung as much out of the engine as they could without having to re-certify with the EPA, so it probably wasn't super easy to do like it was about 15 years ago.

[V10powerr]

special editions make people feel special- porsche is a master at this. for me, the special paints are not enough but for FCA they were, sold out fast.
good marketing, people want to feel unique and each have their own story and badge and special build number. nike did this with shoes, build your own unique.
so in a nut shell, for a low production car its a an idea that worked for them.

[SharpMan]

Hellcat exhaust out the back. EPA mic test takes reading from the side.

You can imagine the problem.

You do bring up an interesting point! It is interesting that there were never any different drivetrain enhancements (HP, Trans gear ratio, or rear end ratio) options right from the base model in 2013 right up to the special edition 2017s. I wonder if they are under some sort of emission regulations that kept them from doing any sort of performance intake or exhaust or even ECU change. It is strange though because even with the Hellcat that car is pretty damn loud stock and makes a ton of HP yet passed EPA standards?

[ACRucrazy]

I believe the public has already spoken. All special editions were sold out in days. ACREs have been sold out more than can be produced. You or I may not understand the reason for the demand on particular models but when they sell out it's a clear signal FCA make the correct choice. I think people have drifted into either the SRT is they want the most affordable, the GTC if they want to customize, and the TA if they want the all around best in show. The GTS sold almost nothing last year as the public showed in terms of sales that this is where FCA had an unwanted model.

To clarify, the public did not buy all the special editions. The public bought some, dealers bought many to sell.

[bluesrt]

^^^^^^^^^^ you can still get one,plenty out there, they sold out to dealers., not public

[Dman]

To clarify, the public did not buy all the special editions. The public bought some, dealers bought many to sell.

Agreed, if one dealer hadn't bought it out, with 40% unsold still, we'd all still be posting about slow sales, lol. We're in an artificial bubble.

As for spec ed's, I think they nailed it, there are those who want "special" on their car or "limited", this is the only marketing in 4 years that SRT got right, and kudos to them, and congrats to the spec ed buyers as they've gotten something they really wanted.

As for values, lol, when it comes to vipers and my nearly 18 years with them it makes me laugh and cringe, but hey, anything is possible and it's waste of electrons to speculate on the web about it really.

[Track Pack]

In my opinion, they did a GREAT job for the final year (my only gripe is no red/white striped special edition...) Anyone who wanted could have built their very own bare bones base Viper or tricked-out, loaded up ACR-E in ANY color of the rainbow. Any color, style, hood, wheels, aero, brakes, interior, exterior accents, tires, brakes, seat belts, you name it. For those who wanted something with a special or memorable colors/scheme significant to the Viper heritage, there are limited #s of these, also. A year from now (?) or whenever the very last NEW 2017 Viper is sold, I believe we will look back and think they did fine. Those that built their killer/dream 1 of 1 will have no regrets. The special edition owners will love their cars. Some may regret not pulling the trigger later but down the road there will be plenty to choose from on the re-sale market. Our values will do better than most other sports cars and we will all love the ownership experience so in the end, we get what we paid for - a car that history will look back on favorably that will be highly desired 20 years from now and we will all have many incredible memories/stories and experiences with our cars.

[Scott_in_fl]

Amen, brother

[Martin]

That is well said. Despite what I personally feel is a bit of post-bankruptcy disorder at FCA, especially in the Viper unit, the team managed to pull off a good 2017. I think we're lucky to have gotten a Gen V at all - in 2010 I was thinking that I had the first and the last of the coupe-style Vipers, and never thought it would come back. Here we are seven years later and we've got a whole slew of cars available that, no matter what form they're in, are so far evolved from the Gen I and Gen II cars that it's amazing. When you adjust for inflation over the past 25 years, today's prices aren't that bad either - and you get a heck of a lot more car.

I suspect the next big scandal will be when Chrysler goes through another ownership change and the new owner decides to bring back the Viper, better performing, but in a different form. Half of the Viper community will be ecstatic, the other half will be totally pissed off for a number of reasons (take a look at some of the Ford GT owner discussions to see get an idea).

Personally, I kind of hope that people stop crashing their cars so that the gene pool stays healthy, and the manufacturer lets the car RIP for about five years. That's the kind of thing that will bring the owners together, and wash out the owners who think the car is something that it isn't.

[docwviper]

special editions make people feel special- porsche is a master at this. for me, the special paints are not enough but for FCA they were, sold out fast.
good marketing, people want to feel unique and each have their own story and badge and special build number. nike did this with shoes, build your own unique.
so in a nut shell, for a low production car its a an idea that worked for them.

The difference with porsche is it seems all of the special editions have power/suspension enhancements as well....

[docwviper]

Agreed, if one dealer hadn't bought it out, with 40% unsold still, we'd all still be posting about slow sales, lol. We're in an artificial bubble.

As for spec ed's, I think they nailed it, there are those who want "special" on their car or "limited", this is the only marketing in 4 years that SRT got right, and kudos to them, and congrats to the spec ed buyers as they've gotten something they really wanted.

As for values, lol, when it comes to vipers and my nearly 18 years with them it makes me laugh and cringe, but hey, anything is possible and it's waste of electrons to speculate on the web about it really.

Agreed. Also, not all of the special editions are sold out. I know that's what's being said but you can still find several for sale, especially the GTS-R. Some of the editions definitely have been sold out but not all. Ask the dealers and snoop around.

[1ststrike]

I agree and well said!

[Donato]

Back when I was a kid, a buddy of mine put a big chrome Special Edition badge on the dash of his Dodge Neon in addition to some other flashy trim he found at Pep-Boys. I sat in the passenger seat and said; “Is it this really a Special Edition?”, his reply was “IT IS NOW!”, so I guess you can’t really argue about that.

Well anyway I don’t have a Viper yet, so my comments actually mean less than nothing on this Forum, but I’ve been looking for a few months now and I’ve reviewed many, many sales adds, seen a few locally, and I keep up with pretty much everything on this Forum. Now that I know a little more about Vipers, it seems in the history of Viper there were multiple Viper production “sprints” within each model year where there are special/rare/last edition X of X builds and it all just becomes meaningless and convoluted to a point of obscurity, to me at least. Now I know there are truly rare Vipers like the Nurburgring or even the Voodoo edition for example, but every time a seller pitches their car to me like they have this super rare 1 of only 3 built in this color with these options for this year and the other 2 were crashed and this is the only one in the world and that’s why I’m asking this premium… It becomes offensive at a point.

If you were to ask me, you can only hear and read so many stories about how every Viper built is a special/rare/last edition before you become jaded with the Viper brand so IDK if overdoing it this year was really a good thing for Viper down the road as far as collectibility, but again I really don’t know too much about it so take it with a grain of salt and I’m not buying a Viper for reasons of collectibility anyway…