There’s a lot to like about the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. After all, we’re talking about a sleek, 563-horsepower super-Benz with functional gullwing doors and a soundtrack to melt your heart. It’s the embodiment of German engineering… or is it? Inside Line cites unnamed sources who say that the SLS AMG actually began life as the next-generation Dodge Viper.

The story apparently goes like this. Dodge engineers were already hard at work on the next-gen Viper, with an aluminum chassis already completed and a new suspension on the way. Mercedes caught wind of the project and decided that the chassis would be the perfect starting point for the upcoming SLS. The two teams reportedly worked side-by-side on the project until Chrysler’s cash crunch caused the Dodge team to focus its resources elsewhere. The end result was a brand-new SLS for Mercedes and a hole in Dodge’s Viper lineup. IL bolsters its account of the Viper-turned-SLS with the fact that early SLS test mules caught by spy photogs were fitted with ill-assembled Viper sheetmetal.

While it’s hard to blame Mercedes for utilizing existing engineering work (it did, after all own Chrysler at the time) to bring the SLS to market faster and cheaper, we’re thinking it would have been nice to have a new aluminum chassis Viper on the streets. Here’s hoping that the 2012 Viper makes us forget about our loss.

[Source:Autoblog]

The current Dodge Viper that we’ve all come to know and love is heading to that faraway automotive graveyard in the sky. Fret not – we have it on good authority that all supercars go to heaven. To commemorate the occasion, Chrysler has announced that it will build a limited production run of 50 Viper SRT10 Final Edition models.

Dodge will build 20 Final Edition Coupes, 18 Roadsters and just 12 ACRs, each dipped in a bath of Graphite Clear Coat with a black center stripe that’s outlined in red. Coupes and ACRs will also get a black windshield surround that the Roadster does without. Capping off the exterior are anthracite six-spoke wheels for the Coupe and Roadster and black Sidewinder wheels for the ACR.

Inside, each car will get side sill badges along with red accent stitching on the black surfaces, plus red painted halo surrounds on the gauge cluster and bright stainless steel screws in center stack bezel. A numbered plaque will be featured on the shifter bezel and the updates will be finished off with Viper Final Edition floor mats.

The well-known V10 powerplant goes unchanged, but with 600 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque it’s not as if the Viper was ever lacking for power. Pricing is unknown, but Dodge says the cars will be available starting this summer. Hit the jump for the official press release.

Dodge Pulls Skin Off 2010 Viper SRT10 Final Edition Models

Auburn Hills, Mich., Apr 6, 2010 - To celebrate the final year of production for the current-generation Dodge Viper, Dodge is building a limited production run of just 50 2010 Viper SRT10 “Final Edition” models.

Available in Coupe, Roadster and ACR (American Club Racer) model configurations, each Final Edition Viper exterior features a Graphite Clear Coat body with a painted black center stripe traced in red. Viper Coupe and ACR Final Edition models include a black windshield surround. All Final Edition models carry unique side sill badges.

The black interior features custom red accent stitching, red painted halo surrounds on the gauge cluster and bright stainless steel screws in center stack bezel. A numbered dash plaque (1-50) is located on the shifter bezel just above the unique Viper Final Edition floor mats.

All Viper Final Edition Coupe and Roadster models will wear six-spoke wheels painted in Anthracite, while ACR models will come with five-spoke Sidewinder wheels in black.

The venerable 8.4-liter (510 cu. in.) V-10 engine remains the heart of the 2010 Dodge Viper SRT10. With 600 (450 kW) horsepower and 560 lb.-ft. (760 N•m) of torque, benchmark performance numbers, (including 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds, quarter-mile time in the mid 11-second range, 0-100-0 mph in 11 seconds flat and a top speed of 202 mph) continue to prove how the serious, race-inspired, street-legal two-seater performs without apology.

This build of 50 Final Edition 2010 Dodge Vipers includes all three model configurations for the first time - 20 Coupes, 18 Roadsters and 12 ACRs. In 2002, a total of 360 Viper Final Edition Coupes (326) and ACRs (34) were built with Viper Red Clear Coat exterior and white stripes.

Production of the 2010 Dodge Viper Final Edition models is scheduled to begin in early summer.

[Source:Autoblog]

Chrysler is dropping more hints about an upcoming unibody pickup that would be positioned below the Dodge Dakota. You may recall that first word of the new small truck came back in November when Fred Diaz, CEO of Chrysler’s newly-created Ram brand, dropped tidbits about the company “considering” a Dakota replacement. We speculated that it could be built on a platform derived from the upcoming Jeep Grand Cherokee/Dodge Durango architecture.

Interviewed at the National Truck Equipment Association’s Work Truck Show in St. Louis this month, Joe Veltri, Chrysler Group vice president of product planning, touched on the subject once again. “We’re thinking of something that will separate itself from the full-sized truck more than what happens today, both in capability, price and size,” said Veltri. While the automaker has reportedly shelved the idea of developing a mid-size truck on a unibody platform (the segment is currently owned by the Honda Ridgeline – its sales plummeted 51 percent between 2008 and 2009), the company feels there is a need for a smaller and more fuel efficient pickup without the unnecessary size or capabilities. According to Veltri, buyers still want pickup trucks but they want better fuel economy. “Everybody has gotten the formula wrong,” he adds. Well, everyone except Ford and the ancient-though-still-small Ranger.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Ralph Gilles, Dodge CEO and Chrysler Group design head, has just wrapped up an address to the Chicago Economic Club that was peppered with several choice quotes and quips. You can read the Chrysler’s PR-filtered version on its Twitter feed, but here are our favorites:

From the true: “Brands and companies don’t die. They are victims of homicide.”

To the sublime: “Viper important to image of “my brand” [Dodge]”

To the ridiculous: “The further away you are from Detroit the less you know the facts about the auto industry.”

To the more ridiculous: “I liken management to X-Men… all have special abilities.”

To the funny/creepy: Ad agency interviewed him before creating Super Bowl spot. “I had to smoke a cigarette,” afterwards, he joked.

To the important: “Fiat 500 on sale in U.S. at end of the year”

That last bit coincides with earlier reports that the Fiat 500 could reach the States as early as this year as a 2011 model. Although the 500’s importation into the U.S. has been fast-tracked, there’s still some question about whether it will meet U.S. crash and safety standards. We expect to have an exact on sale date soon, and Gilles also said that the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is due to go on sale within the next three months.

[Source:Autoblog]

This is a depressing way to start the new year. According to a “source close to the project” speaking with Automobile, plans to produce the Devon GTX have been cancelled due to the Dodge Viper discontinuation.

As a refresher, the 650-hp, Viper-based coupe was unveiled last year in Pebble Beach and was due to go into limited production this year in Southern California. We even had the chance to go for a spin the GTX late last year after one of the prototypes set a lap record at Laguna Seca. Devon hoped to thrust America back on the main supercar stage with the bespoke coupe, but without a source for the chassis and 8.4-liter engine, those plans have apparently been dashed. We’re hoping to get more details directly from Devon, so stay tuned for an update.

[Source:Autoblog]

After setting a new lap record at Laguna Seca the other day, Dodge announced some minor revisions to the all-conquering Viper ACR for the 2010 model year. The snake that swallowed the famed 11-turn race track whole will be treated to some revised gearing and aerodynamics, a new short-throw shifter, the addition of a new color to the catalog and an updated interior to boot. There’ll also be a special edition ACR to commemorate the record-breaking lap time. But in the process, a senior Chrysler executive clarified some rumors that have been circulating regarding the next generation Dodge supercar.

Back in August we reported that the next-gen Viper could get a heart transplant in the form of a Ferrari-developed modular engine. The program spearheaded by Chrysler’s new corporate cousin in Maranello was tipped to form the basis for new engines that would find their way into the bays of upcoming Maseratis, Ferraris and Vipers. But in speaking with AutoWeek, Dodge brand chief Ralph Gilles reportedly put the brakes on the rampant speculation, saying that any collaboration between Dodge and Ferrari on the Viper’s replacement wouldn’t extend beyond some input from the Italian marque on the car’s development. And while that doesn’t necessarily mean the engine programs couldn’t be merged, “Ferrari is Ferrari, according to Gilles, and “Viper is Viper”.

[Source:Autoblog]

There weren’t too many exciting sports cars built in the late Seventies thanks to increasingly stringent emissions requirements, but a few performance vehicles did manage to get produced despite the horsepower-strangling legislation. One of those vehicles was the L’il Red Express Truck built by Dodge from 1978-1979. Easily recognized by its signature exhaust stacks protruding prominently from each side of the bed, the Little Red Truck featured a 360ci V8 and could run the 1/4 mile in 14.7 seconds. That doesn’t seem particularly quick by today’s standards, but L’il Red was actually the fastest American-produced vehicle built in 1978.

As a tribute to the original performance truck, legendary Mopar hot rodder Norm Kraus, better known as “Mr. Norm,” has put together his own aftermarket package that will turn a 2009+ Dodge Ram into the L’il Red Express’ bigger, more powerful grandson. Granted, the new version doesn’t necessarily have the visual impact of the original, but some concessions were made to keep the the basic package relatively affordable. To convert the bed into a stepside and mount the exhaust on the outside, for instance, would have cost seriously big bucks.

So – how does the new one compare? Our friend Mike Levine over at PickupTrucks.com has the answer. Levine managed to wrangle a drive in Mr. Norm’s Red Xpress Truck, as well as an all-original ‘79 with just 16k on the odometer. As you can imagine, Levine found that trucks have come a long way in thirty years, but he still appreciated the unique details that went the original.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

Great news, midsize sedan buyers! The Italian/American brain trust at the helm of the Pentastar has decided to keep the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger around for another two models years. Previously, past owners Cerberus had signaled its intentions to cull the slow selling duo after the 2010 model year, but according to reports, Fiat says that there weren’t really any solid plans to replace the twins and it’s not really feasible to pull out of the segment entirely until its own Italian-bred successors are ready.

Perhaps the automaker’s new owners can find a way to make the platform a bit more competitive for its final two years in production. Next year’s Sebring will see a few minor updates that should at least improve the ugly duckling’s appearance, not the least of which is the deletion of the car’s awkward ribbed hood. Current projections indicate that a more extensive freshening is in the works for 2011 for the Sebring and possibly a wee bit earlier for the Dodge Avenger, which isn’t in quite so dire need of a facelift.

[Source:Auto Week]

Over the past dozen years, the domestic auto industry has worked hard to shrink its brands to more reasonable levels. Gone are Eagle, Plymouth, Pontiac and Oldsmobile and some would speculate that Mercury should have joined the extinction club long ago. Of course, Ford has sold off Jaguar, Land Rover and Austin Martin, while GM is in the process of jettisoning Saab, Hummer, Saturn, and Opel.

However, if Autoextremist’s Peter DeLorenzo is to be believed, the Chrysler portfolio could grow instead of shrink. DeLorenzo says he’s hearing rumblings around Motown that Chrysler could break off the Ram from the Dodge, with the truck line becoming a dedicated brand. Doing so would make Dodge a car outlet, while the Ram brand would be all trucks, all the time, including the Dakota.

We don’t get how this could possibly be a good idea, considering Chrysler’s financial position and struggling sales. Why spend money marketing a new brand, while asking battle-weary dealers to invest in more signage and differentiated floor space? At this point, its just speculation and we’re hoping it stays that way.

[Source:Autoblog]

With all of the recent upheaval at Chrysler, it’s no surprise that the fate of the very cool Dodge Circuit is not exactly certain. In May, Chrysler assured everyone that the program was not DOA, and Chrylser ENVI president Lou Rhodes recently said something similar to Car and Driver. Rhodes even gave C&D a few details about how the program is shaping up.

Chrysler’s plan involves having the vehicle produced by Lotus in the UK (sounds familiar) and then shipped to the U.S. for the electric powertrain. Chrysler’s sales target is 100,000 EVs in order to benefit from economies of scale for all the expensive EV bits. By selling that many vehicles, Chrysler’s efforts could make the Circuit “tens of thousands” of dollars less than the somewhat similar Tesla Roadster. The Circuit is still likely to be Chrysler’s first EV, and could start production next year.

[Source:Autoblog]