New Viper in the garage

[hemi steve]

Thanks to all who helped in my Viper quest by answering all of my questions. Yesterday I was all set to drive to another state to check out a car that had all of the earmarks of being the "one". When I got up I went to my usual internet car selling sites and WHOA, there is a brand new listing of the perfect car 40 minutes from my house. My wife told me to get in the car and go see it before it's gone. I went and found a terrific 2001 Gen II GTS in Race Yellow (no stripes). The car has 6000 miles on it and after an hour of a near microscopic examination I could not find a single thing wrong with it. The under side is spotless. I ran my hand over the inside of the rear wheelhouse looking for evidence of tire smoke residue from burnouts.....my hand was totally clean. The car is a two owner car and has fresh tires (code 4219), new hoses & belt, fresh fluids, and is fully documented. the owner framed the original title (copy of course), the window sticker, the original shipping order and the thank you node signed by the end of the line craftsperson in the Conner Ave. Assembly plant. I've got all of the receipts for maintenance and the shipping invoice and inspection sheet from when the car was shipped from its first home in Ohio to Michigan. There's more documents but suffice it to say it's pretty well documented. Unlike many cars for sale, the car is bone stock.... except that when the owner put the new tires on it he bought a set of Gen V Sidewinder II wheels (18" fronts and 19" rears) in Hyper Black. They look amazing on the yellow car. I bought the car right then. Needless to say, I'm really happy with it.

Steve20200318_163845.jpg20200317_145608.jpg20200318_144954.jpg

[gfviperman]

Congrats!!!
50K miles on my 2002GTS ...Drive It!!!
Nice selection of Mopars in the garage!!
What is under the cover???

[AviP]

Nice garage.

[hemi steve]

It's a 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo SE #167 of 250 with a single clutch 6 speed E-Gear tranny. 5 liter 10 cylinder 520 hp all aluminum engine Pearl white / White & black inside. 9200 miles. Carbon ceramic brakes and Superleggera scorpius monoblock wheels. It's a very different driving experience from the Viperrw_800 (2).jpg

[Loud]

Congrats, sweet looking car.

[outnumbered]

Car looks fantastic with those wheels.

[capevettes]

Congratulations. You got a very nice, unmolested 01 GTS with excellent maintenance and documentation, and you saved a ride. When I bought my 01 Sapphire GTS I was planning to drive 500 miles to look at one in Pa., but one popped up 60 miles from my house. Same story, too nice to pass on. Looks great with your nice fleet. Enjoy the new ride.

[hemi steve]

It was really nice to find a good car so close. It's actually the first time in almost 40 years. If you want a good car where there are limited numbers of cars available, you gotta be ready to open the search to the entire country. I was all set to fly to Atlanta to look at a couple of cars. Then the Covid-19 virus made flying a risky thing for a guy of my age so I reluctantly had a PPI done without me being there.

A couple of PPi stories for your amusement:

I am not a big fan of PPI's without being there. When I sold my Countach a couple of years ago the buyer who lived in Louisiana flew his "PPI guy" into Detroit from Florida. The PPI guy rented a car and drove to my house, took hundreds of pictures and left. He never got in the car or heard the engine run. I was shocked. I can't imagine the total cost to the buyer for a crap s**t PPI.

In the case of my Atlanta PPI the guy did a decent job and debunked the owners claims of having a perfect car. He found the recent paintwork that covered damage the owner said wasn't there, a bad crack in the center console, dry rot on the front tires, oil leaks that the owner said weren't there and used his OBD II reader to find stored codes, an odd discrepancy of a couple of hundred miles between the odometer and the PCM and an issue with the long term fuel trim numbers suggesting a lack of maintenance. I didn't want a car with issues so I walked away.

When I bought the Prowler I was set to fly to Tennessee to go over it until I spent a lot of time on the phone doing a live video PPI of the car. That and the fact that the owner was a well known and respected member of a Prowler forum and was so enthusiastic about all of the smallest details about the car and its history. I bought that car without an in person inspection. The car turned out to be better than its description.

When I bought the Hemi Cuda from a consignment dealer in Columbus Ohio I had a very well known Hemi expert friend in Chicago on my phone telling me what to look at and what questions to ask the dealer and seller. Everything worked out well and I think having a subject matter expert on the phone can be a good way to go.

I've got other car and airplane buying story's but I think I'll quit now before I get thrown off of the forum.

Steve

[ACR-ISH]

Congrats!

[Mopar'er no car]

Congrats...

Now all you have to do is make it official by joining the VOA, Motor City Viper Owners will take great care of you!!

Hope to see you at Woodward!!

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Congrats Steve, Great Score.

FYI those SW2 G5 Wheels are 'MATTE Black,' not Hyper Black..... MATTE is a great look. And yes, matte is a misnomer because the OE wheels are actually a soft semi-gloss satin-black, not a true matte

Consider black center caps with PETE logos? Black lugnuts?

You also might want to swap your yellow-on-yellow emblems to black. really POPS.

Big guy? As with the reject car, do Consider the console support wedge too, so you dont crack your own console pushing yourself up and out! Happens more frequently as they age...

JonB@PartsRack.com

[Hoonin88]

Safe to assume yours will not be hooned??

Gorgeous car btw.

[hemi steve]

JonB
So if these are matte black what do hyper black wheels look like?

Hoonin88
Ok, I'm not tuned in yet...what is hooned??

Steve

[hemi steve]

Ahaa..I just found a picture of the difference...they are indeed satin black in spite of the fact that they are pretty darn shiny...my mistake. Thanks for the education.
Steve

[01sapphirebob]

JonB
So if these are matte black what do hyper black wheels look like?


Steve

Here is Hyper Black...

[TP_ GTS]

Nice find! GOOD luck with the new toy.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Ahaa..I just found a picture of the difference...they are indeed satin black in spite of the fact that they are pretty darn shiny...my mistake. Thanks for the education.
Steve

Mopar Trivia:

HYPER Black wheels are not black AT ALL!
MATTE Black wheels are not MATTE at all !
The partial part # with 18 is for the 19" Wheel
The partial part # with 19 is for the 18" wheel.

Early On, MANY wheels were mis-boxed between MFR and Mopar. Some MoPar sets of 4 contained mismatched color wheels. We had a customer early on who's dealer installed a mis-match, and customer's wife noticed days later!

[hemi steve]

Great trivia!

As a kid a friend bought 2 different wheel designs for his car. He put one design on the left side and the other design on the right side. He had seen a car at the drive-in like that and thought it was so cool and funny. The stuff we did as kids...............

[hemi steve]

On the subject of trivia.....
Where on earth did the name Sneaky Pete for the Gen I and II cars come from??
Steve

[Steve-Indy]

Congrats on your new ride !!

As a fellow 01 owner, I would encourage you to consider obtaining the IPSCO P/S pulley and bracket kit before an emergency arises. Also, you might want to source as spare water pump...another well known issue for 01's.
JonB can certainly send these items your way...with just a little persuasion.

[hemi steve]

Steve
Yup, I'm aware of the problems and will probably order the stuff shortly when it gets a little warmer in the garage...I'm an old guy and my hands don't work as well in the cold anymore.


Steve

[1BADV10]

Nice collection hemi steve. That sublime cuda looks familiar to me. My mopar collection included a 1970 j5 sublime cuda with a flat black lift off six pack style fiberglass hood and a black trunk spoiler (looked just like yours). I sold that car a few years ago. gotta love them old mopars!!

[Drummerviper]

Mopar Trivia:

HYPER Black wheels are not black AT ALL!
MATTE Black wheels are not MATTE at all !
The partial part # with 18 is for the 19" Wheel
The partial part # with 19 is for the 18" wheel.

Early On, MANY wheels were mis-boxed between MFR and Mopar. Some MoPar sets of 4 contained mismatched color wheels. We had a customer early on who's dealer installed a mis-match, and customer's wife noticed days later!

When is your book coming out?

[hemi steve]

1BAD..
The car is so raw with the big roller Hemi. The "Six Pack hood" is necessary to clear the very wide cross ram carb setup. I previously had a '70 Challenger with a 511 hemi. That engine had a pair of Quick Fuel 4bbl carbs on an in-line manifold. I had a T/A style scoop on that car that I think looks much better. Sadly that car along with my blown '32 highboy roadster were destroyed in a garage fire. I really like the lift off hood when you want to work on anything in the engine room. It's not ideal for car shows though. Many guys will just set the hood on the roof. I just can't live with that fearing a gust of wind blowing the hood off into the car next to mine with the $25000 paint job. I made a set of 20" high standoffs that get pins on top and bottom. It's safe but a little goofy looking in my opinion. BTW FJ5 is Lime light on Plymouths.

Steve

[ACRSNK]

Congrats very cool