The Dodge Viper has been a beloved American supercar for decades since it was first introduced in 1991 at the Indianapolis 500. Since then, it has grown to have sentimental value in the hearts of many and made the list of “dream cars” to more than a few.
I’ve met more than a few people who grew up with posters of the Dodge Viper on their wall, only to have one sitting in the garage as an adult, and James Raynor is no exception. This year, James bought his fifth-generation Viper, and it may be his coolest one yet.
Love at First Sight
James first saw a Dodge Viper in 1997 as a kid playing tee-ball. He remembers the story in the most patriotic way: “Hat off, hand over my heart for the Star Spangled Banner — I thought I had a grasp on ‘MURICA until a blue and white Viper GTS pulled up.” When he heard the rumble and cam chop of the V10 engine parked on the other side of the fence as the father dropped his son off, James fell in love with the car.
A year later, at the Scholastic Book Fair, he got a poster of the Dodge Viper, like so many kids at the time. He collected die-cast models and Matchboxes, unable to ignore the American supercar’s rising popularity in his dad’s car magazines.
“My dad is a die-hard Corvette guy, and it was pretty cool to watch the Viper GTS-R Duke it out with Corvette’s C5-R. Team Oreca really put the Viper on the map ’97-00 in a few different classes with an impressive pedigree. Really solidified my choice for a hero car at that time,” shares James.
It was love at first sight, but as James got older, there was another moment he remembers solidifying his passion for the car — Underground Racing videos on YouTube. You might not recall the cheesy opening — “This is the sound of the underground” — but you’ve probably heard it in countless fan-made videos and channels showcasing turbocharged Dodge Viper content.
He was in middle school when the third generation was launched, and the 2006 model came out as he was starting high school. In a way, the Viper grew up with him as he did.
Purchasing His First Dream Car
As a young adult, James had acquired his first attainable dream car, a black fourth-generation Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Firehawk with a six-speed manual transmission, which he had originally purchased for $18,500. At 20,000 miles, he realized the car was better left stock for the purists, and instead of adding a turbo kit, he decided it was time to list it for sale.
His friends at the time had some other iconic American cars, a Mustang GT and Camaro SS, both newer cars with better performance, newer technology, and, of course, they were faster. After watching the market for quite some time, keeping track of pricing for some of his favorite cars like the NSX, Supra, and, of course, Viper, he realized it was time for a change.
“I still regret selling that unicorn Firehawk, but I will be a Viper diehard for life,” said James nostalgically. I’ve personally known James for several years and can tell you that he still stays true to his love of the Trans Am Firehawk, often sharing with our friends whenever a well-sorted option is available for sale.
After listing the car for $25,500, it sold in under a month, and it was time for James to get behind the wheel of his dream car — if he could find one for the right price. His driveway wasn’t empty for long, however, because in place of the Trans Am, he purchased a 1999 Dodge Viper GTS.
The American Supercar Gets More Power
With his 1999 Dodge Viper GTS sitting in his garage, he was determined to make it his perfect street car. His days of watching Underground Racing on YouTube turned into a dream that became a reality when he found an Underground Racing twin-turbo kit for sale. He did what any logical car enthusiast would do — he bought the kit immediately.
“I could, in some way, own one of the cars I had long idolized. Not just the car, but a turbo car.” James told us, “One Underground Viper, owned by Garth Weaver featured in December 2006 Turbo Magazine was one of the main UGR halo cars of early YouTube. Garth’s car ran a 7.98 at 183 mph in the 1/4 with an IRS and TT56 6-speed. Back in 2006-2007. That was nuts!”
Fond Memories on the Road and in the Garage
James recalls his first drive in his Viper home from Stage 6 Motorsports in Jacksonville as one of the best nights he’s had. The motorsports company had refreshed the wearable components of the car and installed the turbocharger kit, giving the already performance-oriented car a scary boost in power and bringing it up to nearly 1,000 foot-pounds of torque. The drive home with the car spanned nearly four hours, which was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking, as you could imagine.
But it wasn’t just the driving experience that kept James in love with his Dodge Viper. “My best memories working on the car [were] the ease of maintenance. A true racecar. That was therapeutic- an opportunity to have a garage beer, listen to music and get to enjoy the craftsmanship of the setup. An example being oil lines passing through the frame rails with rubber gaskets around entrance points where the lines snake into the frame. Seeing how they fit two fairly large Borg Warner 64.5/68mm compressors with seemingly no room was always something cool to admire while tackling basic things.”
Time for a Change — Don’t Worry, It’s Still a Viper
Like most cars, James’s Viper began to show some wear and tear with age, and the cost of maintenance and stress of future problems began to weigh down the enjoyment he got from driving the car. The increased torque from the now-boosted drivetrain was causing some major issues. “It just became stressful contemplating if something big let go, I’d have to fix it,” a sentiment car enthusiasts everywhere can understand. Although he loved his second generation, he had set his sights on a fifth-generation car.
Instead of spending more money, he posted the Viper for sale and waited. It took some time, but the car sold for his asking price, leaving him with enough money to get his ‘final boss’ car. After seven years with his second generation, James shared how sad he was and how conflicted he was over the sale, but when the funds for the sale came through, he quickly switched gears to find his perfect fifth-generation Dodge Viper that would take its place.
“I had a really nice Gunmetal Pearl GTS bookmarked with an insanely high sticker price. The car was almost fully optioned out.” When we asked if this was a good replacement platform, he said it “seemed like the perfect forever platform for me. I went to check the listing again and the car had dropped a bit in asking price, so I put a deposit on the car immediately and that’s all she wrote.”
In it for the Long Haul
Although it was a more recent purchase, James claims that the 2014 Viper GTS is a permanent fixture in his garage. Swapping over from a turbocharged second generation to a procharged fifth generation was quite the leap, as many upgrades and changes had been made to the Viper over the years and generations. Still, he wasn’t disappointed with his choice.
Was he ultimately happy with the trade-off? “There isn’t a better platform, contingent on my budget. This car doesn’t really have a performance ceiling. I will say the G2 cars used to make me happy, but now they just remind me I was too poor to own both, so that’s kind of sad. Oh well!” he responded. Although melancholy, James is confident that he made the right decision in the long run.
Have a sentimental or unique car story? We’d love to hear it and share it with our readers. Send us a message to get started.