Don t sell it Drive it

[Bruce H.]

I suspect most Vipers get sold because the owners simply don't enjoy them enough, which for most means they don't actually drive them enough. Other than the odd owner that daily drives one, many owners tend to need a specific reason to drive them. Car clubs like the VOA and others create appealing opportunities with others who are in the same boat, and all meet with others where they're very successfully solving the same problem!

While virtual contact via social media definitely fills some needs, there is no substitute for in-car and in-person club sociability and fun where life-long friends with like-minded owners are made. So if you're thinking of selling because you can't think of a good enough reason to keep it, check out your local Viper club first and get involved by attending events...or even helping to create them! That's a better solution than selling!

Edit...and if you don't want to drive it, track it! There's lots of clubs and organizers that run high performance driving schools and track events. I became a very avid track rat with BMW-CCA when I became bored looking at my collectables parked in the garage. And they still continued to increase in value as I tracked them!

[RT SERPENT]

Well said!!!!

[efnfast]

Are you sure most arn't sold because they don't sound as good as a V8

[V10Sidepipes]

I respectfully disagree. If you want to sell it, sell it. Doing so today is most likely better than waiting till tomorrow…

If you bought it as a status thing, sell it.

If you bought it as an investment, sell it.

If you don’t drive it and don’t enjoy just looking at it, sell it.

If you need a car club to convince you to keep it, sell it.

[Bruce H.]

Fixed this one for you..

If you think driving or tracking it with Viper friends might be what you need, try a local club experience, otherwise might as well sell it.

And to add another...

"If you're bored not driving your Viper, replacing it with a different sports car you won't drive either likely isn't the answer."

[13COBRA]

^^^ haha

[V10Sidepipes]

And to add another...

"If you're bored not driving your Viper, replacing it with a different sports car you won't drive either likely isn't the answer."

I’ll agree with you on that

[capevettes]

I never needed an excuse to drive. I drive one, or more, of my cars EVERY SINGLE day of the year as long as it's not raining or snowing. I do it for the sheer pleasure of driving. Events are fun, but I just enjoy the ride.

[GTS Dean]

This coming Sunday - barring rain - I'm doing a 500 mile round trip in my '96 GTS to see the IndyCars at TMS. That's 875 miles in a day. I've gotten very handy over the years at changing alignments and shock adjustments from aggressive street, to long highway, to drag strip to full-tilt road course configuration and it doesn't happen with just the push of a button. I'll have to admit that sometimes this car frustrates me, but most times it brings me pure joy and exhilaration. It brings other people joy just seeing it as well!

[Bruce H.]

I never needed an excuse to drive. I drive one, or more, of my cars EVERY SINGLE day of the year as long as it's not raining or snowing. I do it for the sheer pleasure of driving. Events are fun, but I just enjoy the ride.

This coming Sunday - barring rain - I'm doing a 500 mile round trip in my '96 GTS to see the IndyCars at TMS. That's 875 miles in a day. I've gotten very handy over the years at changing alignments and shock adjustments from aggressive street, to long highway, to drag strip to full-tilt road course configuration and it doesn't happen with just the push of a button. I'll have to admit that sometimes this car frustrates me, but most times it brings me pure joy and exhilaration. It brings other people joy just seeing it as well!

Right on, guys...pretty sure we won't be seeing any For Sale posts from you guys!

I've put ~10,000 miles on mine over the last 3 summers up here mostly doing Viper events, which is more than I put on my daily driver! Completely addicted to driving it, and oddly enough, I'm sure the 2100-2300 rpm drone-zone has almost completely disappeared. Maybe changes in the catalytic converters or mufflers due to use...or my hearing is shot!

[mikesax]

I never needed an excuse to drive. I drive one, or more, of my cars EVERY SINGLE day of the year as long as it's not raining or snowing. I do it for the sheer pleasure of driving. Events are fun, but I just enjoy the ride.

Couldn't agree more- up to 68,000 miles on my 15- my 2 17's have about 18,000 and 5,000 respectively! EVERY SINGLE mile has been/is just as enjoyable as the day I got them!

[Mbccenter]

Great post. If it was not for the club I would maybe put 200 miles a year on. Great friends that go way beyond the car.

[capevettes]

Couldn't agree more- up to 68,000 miles on my 15- my 2 17's have about 18,000 and 5,000 respectively! EVERY SINGLE mile has been/is just as enjoyable as the day I got them!

Excellent Mike! My friends think I'm out of my mind. They ask where I go and if I have a destination??? My destination is me behind the wheel, driving wherever I feel like driving. Sounds like you have the "sickness" and understand it.

[Policy Limits]

The parts manager at my local Harley Davidson dealership daily drives a Gen 1 Viper. It has 80k on it. He is my hero.

[mikesax]

Excellent Mike! My friends think I'm out of my mind. They ask where I go and if I have a destination??? My destination is me behind the wheel, driving wherever I feel like driving. Sounds like you have the "sickness" and understand it.

Yup- once I was "bitten" about 14 years ago that was it- the Viper "fit" me perfectly! Driving my Vipers daily is my SANITY- going "nowhere" in a Viper is the best therapy I know of! BTW-having seen your AWESOME garage over the years- got to let you know through the 90's I had a couple vintage VETTES in my garage! My first was a Nassau Blue 66 327/300 convertible-followed up by a TOP FLIGHT 71 LT-1 convertible in Warbonnet Yellow! Drove them A LOT too- LOVED them both! If not for "lack of space" in North Jersey I'd love to get another LT-1( you can't beat a chrome bumper solid lifter C3 corvette IMO)! The C2 and C3 VETTES are both TIMELESS IMO! Every time I see one on the road I SMILE- to me they NEVER GET OLD!

[Bruce H.]

Loving the enthusiasm...spread the word. It just seems criminal to me how often and quickly Vipers get sold and resold by those who obviously must not have driven them. Or maybe they did and didn't like them, assuming that's even possible! If they were bought for a collection, amount of driving enjoyment wouldn't have been much of a factor.

Excellent Mike! My friends think I'm out of my mind. They ask where I go and if I have a destination??? My destination is me behind the wheel, driving wherever I feel like driving. Sounds like you have the "sickness" and understand it.

Yup- once I was "bitten" about 14 years ago that was it- the Viper "fit" me perfectly! Driving my Vipers daily is my SANITY- going "nowhere" in a Viper is the best therapy I know of! BTW-having seen your AWESOME garage over the years- got to let you know through the 90's I had a couple vintage VETTES in my garage! My first was a Nassau Blue 66 327/300 convertible-followed up by a TOP FLIGHT 71 LT-1 convertible in Warbonnet Yellow! Drove them A LOT too- LOVED them both! If not for "lack of space" in North Jersey I'd love to get another LT-1( you can't beat a chrome bumper solid lifter C3 corvette IMO)! The C2 and C3 VETTES are both TIMELESS IMO! Every time I see one on the road I SMILE- to me they NEVER GET OLD!

[TrackAire]

I'm the odd one here.....I couldn't give two shits about driving my Viper on the road. But on the track it is a completely different story and where I really, really enjoy the Viper driving experience. Tracking the Viper actually minimized my desire to drive it on the road.

What makes me happiest about owning a Viper that I essentially don't drive on the road except to an occasional cars and coffee? Having it 9 feet up in the air on a four post lift in the middle of my work and getting to look at it 50 to 100 times a day. To me my Viper is like art, I just can't get enough of the way it looks. If I had a big enough office with the right kind of structure I'd drain the fluids and mount it to the wall. My two favorite cars to just look at are my Viper and my Hummer H1.
Two polar opposites in form and function but both so pleasing to my eye.

And it's not like I don't like to drive....I love driving on the road, doing road trips or just driving for the sake of driving to clear my mind or just explore.

[Bruce H.]

I'm the odd one here.....I couldn't give two shits about driving my Viper on the road. But on the track it is a completely different story and where I really, really enjoy the Viper driving experience. Tracking the Viper actually minimized my desire to drive it on the road.

Hey George, I thought your track car was a Corvette...or do you track both? Guys I track with Corvettes continue to struggle with cooling issues of all kinds and marvel at the Vipers ability to track hard all day, day after day. You can really tell where the designer's priorities were, and when you mentioned viewing it on a lift, I thought you were going to say that's where you can also see it!

I just think it was incredibly generous of them to make the Viper road legal so all could enjoy

[Cost4133]

some people, like myself, just like to change things up. While the viper was my dream car all my life, and i love it; will i keep it forever? i might get bored with it and decide i want a 911 turbo. And then 2 years later maybe an aston.

[Simms]

I'm the odd one here.....I couldn't give two shits about driving my Viper on the road. But on the track it is a completely different story and where I really, really enjoy the Viper driving experience. Tracking the Viper actually minimized my desire to drive it on the road.

What makes me happiest about owning a Viper that I essentially don't drive on the road except to an occasional cars and coffee? Having it 9 feet up in the air on a four post lift in the middle of my work and getting to look at it 50 to 100 times a day. To me my Viper is like art, I just can't get enough of the way it looks. If I had a big enough office with the right kind of structure I'd drain the fluids and mount it to the wall. My two favorite cars to just look at are my Viper and my Hummer H1.
Two polar opposites in form and function but both so pleasing to my eye.

And it's not like I don't like to drive....I love driving on the road, doing road trips or just driving for the sake of driving to clear my mind or just explore.

I'm with you. I'm in the seat of my Comp Coupe more than two ACR's.

[Bruce H.]

This is true, and there's nothing wrong with that...like they say, variety is the spice of life!

When I ordered mine I planned to sell it before the end of the 3 year Canadian factory warranty. Wasn't ready to part with it then so I bought the 4 year extended warranty and planned to sell it before that expired. So I bought a 911 Turbo S a few months before selling the Viper, just to be sure, and damn it, I still couldn't part with the Viper!

The Turbo S is awesome, and a great daily driver that could be enjoyed trouble-free until the next need to scratch the itch..it just doesn't tick the same boxes or appeal to the same side of the brain for me. So many have sold their Vipers only to miss them and buy another, and I know a few that even bought their exact car back a year or more later! It seems they're a pretty hard act to follow.
..

some people, like myself, just like to change things up. While the viper was my dream car all my life, and i love it; will i keep it forever? i might get bored with it and decide i want a 911 turbo. And then 2 years later maybe an aston.

[ViperNC]

I was just having this conversation two days ago with my younger friend who is in town for the next few weeks before he goes back to work in Baghdad (Contractor bad ass protecting political types). He used to be all about the Z06 and over the years I slowly swayed him towards the Viper. Now he is all about the snake. When he is in town we always take the Viper out for a drive in the country twisty roads and this time we took a new route which I found not that long ago which has some amazing new pavement that carves, twists, and turns through some decent elevation in the middle of nowhere. You can really push the Viper out there without too much fear of getting a ticket. Not track pace, but definitely high spirited pace. For the first time, I let someone other than me drive the 9.0L and he had a blast. I was talking with him while he was driving about how the car is always fun to own and drive, but better when he is around because it really does add to the ownership experience when you have a close friend who shares the same passion. He'll own a Viper one day and likely I'll still have mine at that time as well. Anytime the thought of selling comes to mind I just go drive it and that thought is gone the moment I fire up the Viper.

[13COBRA]

I'm the odd one here.....I couldn't give two shits about driving my Viper on the road. But on the track it is a completely different story and where I really, really enjoy the Viper driving experience. Tracking the Viper actually minimized my desire to drive it on the road.

What makes me happiest about owning a Viper that I essentially don't drive on the road except to an occasional cars and coffee? Having it 9 feet up in the air on a four post lift in the middle of my work and getting to look at it 50 to 100 times a day. To me my Viper is like art, I just can't get enough of the way it looks. If I had a big enough office with the right kind of structure I'd drain the fluids and mount it to the wall. My two favorite cars to just look at are my Viper and my Hummer H1.
Two polar opposites in form and function but both so pleasing to my eye.

And it's not like I don't like to drive....I love driving on the road, doing road trips or just driving for the sake of driving to clear my mind or just explore.

100%. After driving on the track often, it's pretty uneventful to drive sports cars on the road.

[Hawk]

I couldn’t agree more I drive my car 90% on the track. Since I started tracking it I have lost the desire to drive it on the road, its just not the same! Now I spend time trying to figure how to shave fractions of a second per lap rather than washing it and waxing it in the driveway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yanvkh7vIgA

[TrackAire]

Hey George, I thought your track car was a Corvette...or do you track both? Guys I track with Corvettes continue to struggle with cooling issues of all kinds and marvel at the Vipers ability to track hard all day, day after day. You can really tell where the designer's priorities were, and when you mentioned viewing it on a lift, I thought you were going to say that's where you can also see it!

I just think it was incredibly generous of them to make the Viper road legal so all could enjoy

Hi Bruce,
Yes my main track car is a 2003 C5Z06 that is hyper modified in the suspension, brakes, cooling upgrades, lowered weights but the engine is essentially 100% stock for reliability and cooling. Other than pesky GT3's, Viper ACRs, other Z06's, etc it holds its own pretty good against modern hardware. The 2014 and up C7's had some real cooling challenges, mine with just aero mods and a stock radiator can run Thunderhill in 95-100 degree temps and stay below 220 degrees. It does have an aftermarket oil cooler so those temps never get over 256 degrees.

I tracked a lot in 2022....and saw a lot of good hardware get totaled. On my last track day of the year we lost an uber build C6Z06, a new Supra, a 911 and a Mustang GT350. It was a rare but bad day on the track (thank you Sonoma!!). I'm very concerned about wrecking my Viper and not being able to find parts to fix it correctly. You never know when you'll hit somebody else's oil, etc and into the wall you go. So the Viper is for special track days but the Vette is the disposable weapon of choice. Wreck a Vette and you can essentially get another roller in 24 hours to start swapping parts on. It really bothers me mentally thinking that finding Viper parts is becoming an occupation of its own. As I get older, that's the kind of stress that drives me crazy since I'm a bit of a control freak and perfectionist.