"Mr. V10" Dick Winkles retires

**daytonprowler** · 02-23-2015

"Mr. V10" Dick Winkles retires.

http://driveviper.com/forums/threads...394#post114394

A special day for me. Dick and Herb signing my '93 RT/10.

**1ststrike** · 02-23-2015

We are going to miss him! Hopefully now he will have time to enjoy his Hellcat!

**ACRucrazy** · 02-23-2015

Good luck and enjoy the retirement Dick! Thanks for giving all something that is special in the automotive world!

**JonB ~ PartsRack** · 02-23-2015

BronzeStatue.jpg The BRONZE STATUE that was created to honor Dick at/by Team Viper, in recognition of the 'impossible' task of extracting 600+ HP from the Gen 4 engine. Forget the fact that it looks more like "Mr. Bill" than Mr. Winkles. His personalized plate "MY600HP" was truly 'personal' since it IS his 600 HP!!!

Dick was part of the ORIGINAL 1988 Team Viper under Roy Sjoberg.
Dick was a crew member at the 1991 Indy 500, where he and Team Viper delivered TWO prototype 1992s (as a last minute change from StealthTT) as Official Pace Cars, and Carroll Shelby was the celebrity OPC driver.

Dick delivered Jay Leno his first BLACK Viper back in 1993.....and brought Jay a Gen 5 to test in 2013. Of course, Jay rememberd him!

Dick has so MANY other anecdotes in between it could (and should) fill another Viper Book. But he's probably too humble to write it.

Best Wishes Dick Winkles.... Viper owners from 1992-2015 are better off for your tenure at Team Viper. Thank You.

JonB

**J TNT** · 02-23-2015

Thank you Mr. Winkles for being a great asset to the Viper community ! And being very approachable !
Enjoy your retirement , and look forward to seeing you at Viper events !

**mauricev10** · 02-23-2015

Thanks for all you contributed to the Viper. He's the last of the original Team Viper engineering team!

**ViperSmith** · 02-23-2015

Wow, thats a loss for the Viper world.

**Stretch** · 02-23-2015

Congrats Mr Winkles!!!!

My favorite memory was last summer in Detroit at NVE1 when we were standing around after the dinner at the museum. I was talking to Tom about cruising later that evening and he said well maybe we can stop by Woodward Ave briefly. I said that'd be great I've never been over there. He looked at me with these crazy eyes and said That's it, I'm going to go get Dick to take us over to Woodward, you have to go immediately. Ten minutes later I was following that bright orange gen 4 out of the museum parking lot with a group of Vipers heading towards Woodward Avenue. We spent a couple hours hangout out over there and it was awesome.

**Venomm1** · 02-23-2015

Dick

All the best in your retirement. I am sure there will be days when you will miss being in the middle of the action. Well; maybe a couple of days. I have always been entertained during some of your stories and I will personally remember some of the laughs.

On behalf of the Viper Club of Ontario; safe driving and we will see you again.

Thanks for all you have done for our cars.

John Malatesta
VCO President

**VYPR BYT** · 02-23-2015

Awesome! !!!!

**99RT10** · 02-23-2015

This is a sad day for the Viper family. You are irreplaceable to the Viper community Mr. Winkles. Congrats on your retirement, but don't stray too far from the family. Might I invite you to join the AL/TN and Carolina clubs in Gatlingburg, TN on May 28th?

**Simms** · 02-23-2015

Big shoes to fill! He is a major part of viper history.

**Canadian venom** · 02-23-2015

Originally Posted by Stretch

Congrats Mr Winkles!!!!

My favorite memory was last summer in Detroit at NVE1 when we were standing around after the dinner at the museum. I was talking to Tom about cruising later that evening and he said well maybe we can stop by Woodward Ave briefly. I said that'd be great I've never been over there. He looked at me with these crazy eyes and said That's it, I'm going to go get Dick to take us over to Woodward, you have to go immediately. Ten minutes later I was following that bright orange gen 4 out of the museum parking lot with a group of Vipers heading towards Woodward Avenue. We spent a couple hours hangout out over there and it was awesome.

I was there too and it was great, there is no better way to spend time on Woodward than with Mr V10 himself and a bunch of Viper freaks

Happy retirement mr V10 !!

**Vprbite** · 02-23-2015

I had no idea about his license plate. What a cool sentiment to get to have on your license plate. "My600HP" is just awesome.

It am fortunate enough to have a piece of Viper Hissstory signed by Mr Winkles himself.

image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg

He really should write a book. That would be so awesome. Imagine all the epic stories he must have.

Enjoy your retirement. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy our Vipers.

**plumcrazy** · 02-23-2015

Thank you Mr Winkles !

**Coloviper** · 02-23-2015

Class act he was! Will always remember him and the mules in Idaho Springs in 2012. At dinner, I thought he was going to drink Tommy Knockers out of their draft root beer after the 4th refill. Unfortunately it was non-alcoholic and he did not loosen up to give us details on future products. Good times!

**EZ 2B Green** · 02-23-2015

Congratulations Dick! I’m sure we will see each other again. It was cool to hang out with you on Woodward after the NVE1 activities.

**01sapphirebob** · 02-23-2015

Mr. Winkles,

Thank you very much for all you have done. You truly are a "rock star" in the Viper community. You were always willing to take the time to answer questions, sign anything that was put in front of you, or just hang out with folks. I always felt honored to have you down to our parties.

You were gracious enough to sign my RT/10 at one of our parties. This was actually right before my wife called me and said I need to come home as she was going into labor. LOL One of the fastest trips home from Columbus in thr Viper in my life.

You were also kind enough to sign my GEN IV vert as well.

Thanks again for all you have done for the Viper community. I hope we see you around. Don't be a stranger!

**Schen** · 02-23-2015

Congrats on a well deserved, well earned retirement Mr. Winkles! Thanks for everything you've done for Viper! You and everyone else that has worked on this 'project' has left an everlasting mark in the world of automotive history!

--RS

**gfviperman** · 02-23-2015

Thankx for all your help over the years.

You are a ambassador to Viper and Chrysler ....

Now ... really enjoy the ride!!!

**Fatboy 18** · 02-24-2015

Congratulations on your retirement

Thank you for the outstanding power plant, LOVE MY V10

Mark,

**Nine Ball** · 02-24-2015

Dick,

Congratulations on your retirement, and 34 years! It would be great if you were an active member here, to share your knowledge about Vipers - now that you aren't some Corporate guy.

Tony

**FLATOUT** · 02-24-2015

Originally Posted by Nine Ball

Dick,

Congratulations on your retirement, and 34 years! It would be great if you were an active member here, to share your knowledge about Vipers - now that you aren't some Corporate guy.

Tony

Agree it would be wonderful to have him here. I met Dick last year at the IMSA COTA race for the first time. Extremely nice and humble guy. He had a conversation with me about third party tuning software and the Mopar Controller for the Gen V. Great guy and there from the very beginning.

Your presence will be truly missed.