4th of July or Mopar Week Day One

This past friday Dodge halted the production of its iconic Viper. The Viper is just another model lost in the Chrysler/Fiat merger that will be sorely missed. And what is a better day than the Fourth of July to honor a bankrupt American car company that is now part of an Italian small car conspiracy. After 20 years of production and a few model changes the viper still maintained a beautiful V10 roar and Nordschleife killing lap times. In memory of the Viper and every other Dodge/Chrystler/Jeep/Plymouth this week is officially Mopar week here at What Your Dad Drove.

I really wish the final Viper wasn't so damn ugly.

Rather than ghastly copper on gold, I was always fond of the "Ketchup and Mustard" color scheme found on some earlier RT/10 and GTS models. I had one in this color only it was a a 1:64 scale hot wheels car, I found it much better than a Jeep Wrangler (another Mopar icon) for running away from a T-Rex a la Jurassic Park. When my Dad decided to paint his bad-ass Datsun 240Z he painted it Viper blue, when we went to the dealer that my dad worked at to got get the car we took a peak at some of the new Vipers for sale, I don't think a bigger impression has ever been made on a 3 year old.

Granted your dad probably didn't drive a Dodge Viper. But he would have.