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Less swagger in Detroit?
So long, Viper
- By Josh Welton
- September 1, 2017
American manufacturing just lost a bit of its swagger. Fiat Chrysler has pulled the plug on the Dodge Viper. The current-generation Viper was not only a record-setting supercar, but also the last car built in the city of Detroit, a city I like to think of as the emotional heart and soul of the auto industry.
Losing a machine the caliber of the Viper is saddening. For a factory rat like myself, the shuttering of a cutting-edge production facility in the town I call home feels like someone jamming their finger into a gunshot wound. With Conner Assembly (CAAP) closing, the Motor City is now known more for car thefts than car production.
Granted, the Viper has already done a Lazarus act once, but the circumstances this time around are different. The company isn’t recovering from bankruptcy, the current Viper is universally praised, CAAP is a world-class facility, and sales (despite what you may have heard) have been good. And yet, the guillotine falls.
Depending on who you listen to, the reasons for its demise range from new vehicle safety regulations it can’t match, to lower sales numbers, to FCA instead investing in other technologies, to UAW negotiating ploys. I have another theory, but I’m not here to feed rumors, and at this point it really doesn’t matter. The fact is, it’s not merely taking a break like it did from 2010 to 2012. It’s done.
My hope is that the factory itself, however, is not done. The building at 2000 Conner Avenue started as a Champion spark plug manufacturing facility in the 1960s. Chrysler acquired the building in 1995 and moved Viper production there, up the road from what is now known as the Mack Avenue Engine Plant (or just Mack) 1.
At various times over the last 20-plus years, Conner Assembly created Vipers, V10 engines, and one of the wilder production vehicles in the modern era, the Plymouth/Chrysler Prowler.
Despite being hallowed ground for the company’s low-volume, high-profile “halo” cars, CAAP used to be considered kind of a down-and-dirty plant. However, the short, dead period between the fourth- and fifth-generation Vipers allowed FCA to completely upgrade the factory. The 2013 SRT Viper still was hand-crafted, but now in a clean, bright, and thoroughly modern setting.
Robot cells adjusted frames to exacting tolerances before the assembly began. As the vehicle took shape,t progressed step-by-step through stations designed to maximize ergonomics and quality. At certain stages, the cars were tested before moving on, such as when the “go-kart” (running chassis before body) went on the rollers to test brakes; robotic arms checked panel gaps and fit and finish after body assembly; and the “shaker” made sure NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) levels were acceptable. Out of the three cars built daily, at least one would get a complete hands-on quality audit in a bright, white room.
Dodge has always been proud of its heritage and nowhere is that more evident than at Conner Assembly. Winning race cars like the GTS-R American LeMans champion, still covered in dirt and scars earned in battle, and concept cars, like the first 1989 RT/10, are lined up in one section of CAAP.
The Viper is gone, but that doesn’t mean Dodge is done building sports cars, and it doesn’t have to mean Conner Assembly has taken its final bow. In a world in which multiple cars are built on one platform for financial efficiency, FCA’s Alfa Romeo arm and its Giorgio platform are going to provide many future Dodge (and Jeep, and Chrysler) vehicles with their bones. The potential from a performance perspective? “There is access to architectures that will deliver a car of equal weight as the Viper and with significantly improved performance and handling of the kind that Viper provides.” That’s directly from Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.
While Alfa Romeo’s current Giorgio-based sports cars are stunning to look at and theoretically potent, their initial build quality and track durability have been brutally dismal. That’s not what you want as you prepare to push the architecture into all of your brands. How do you flip the script?
I have a thought.
A low-volume U.S.-made sports car utilizing the same platform. The V10 is gone, and you can’t have a V8 Viper, but what about its spiritual successor? Think about a 485-HP 392 engine in a car weighing 1k lbs. less than the current Challenger. Make it rear-wheel drive with a 6-speed manual transmission and assemble it with love in Detroit. Everyone wins: Sergio has his economies of scale, and the technology and experience housed in CAAP will ensure the car’s success. This goodwill creates a bridge between Dodge’s outgoing and very popular LX platform and the new Giorgio-based vehicles.
Conner Avenue would once again put the world on notice.
All images courtesy of Josh Welton, Brown Dog Welding.
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