Dodge Viper

The weapon used by this task force is an assault vehicle that masquerades as a Dodge Viper. This is a commonly used, yet fanciful term, implying that an ordinary latex or oil-based paint has the same properties as true, fired enamel. Viper was an action-adventure TV series about a special task force set up by the federal government to fight crime in fictional Metro City, California. Some paints are called "enamel paints". The show ran for four seasons, with the roadster appearing in the first three seasons, then replaced by the coupe in the fourth and final season. This produces tiny specks of both colours; although the eye can be tricked by grinding colors together to an extremely fine, flour-like, powder. NBC created Viper which was a TV show in which the Dodge Viper itself starred. Different enamel colours cannot be mixed to make a new colour, in the manner of paint.

Since it is not legal to drive the Tomahawk on public roads, the few that were sold through Neiman Marcus were sold as "rolling sculptures.". Enamel can be either transparent, opaque or opalescent (translucent), which is a variety that gains a milky opacity the longer it is fired. Bernhardt said four wheels were necessary to handle the power from the engine. The last creates delicate shades ranging from pure violet through wine-red and warm gray. Each pair of wheels is separated by a few inches and each wheel has an independent suspension. Color in enamel is obtained by the addition of various minerals, often metal oxides cobalt, praseodymium, iron, or neodymium. The Dodge Tomahawk can reach 60 mph in about 2.5 seconds, and has a theoretical top speed of nearly 400 mph. Some techniques of enameling:.

The Dodge Tomahawk was driven onto stage by then-COO Wolfgang Bernhardt in full riding leathers. According to some sources, the word enamel comes from the High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail. A motorcycle carrying the Viper V10 was introduced at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, MI. Enameling was a favorite technique of the Art Nouveau jewellers. Production of the truck continues in 2006. The bright, jewel-like colors have also made enamel a favored choice for designers of jewelry and bibelots, such as ancient beads, the fantastic eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé, enameled copper boxes of Battersea enamellers, and artists such as George Stubbs and other painters of portrait miniatures. The trucks begain production in 2004 as a standard cab manual transmission only, with the quad-cab automatic following in 2005. Other practitioners include the ancient Greeks, Celts, Russians, and the Chinese.

The engine valve covers still read "VIPER" so it is indeed a Viper truck. The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to pottery and stone objects. The package also includes a long list of other performance and styling modifications. Enamelling is an old and widely-adopted technology. It is available in either regular cab or quad-cab, short box with the Viper's 8.3 L V10 and either a Tremec T56 manual transmission or the 48RE four-speed automatic. The durability of enamel has given it many functional applications, including: early 20th century advertising signs, interior walls of ovens, speckleware cooking pots, exterior walls of high quality kitchen appliances, cast iron bathtubs, storage silos on farms and process equipment such as chemical reactors and tanks for the chemical and pharmaceutical process industries. A Dodge Ram SRT-10 is currently also being produced. Disadvantages are its tendency to crack or shatter when the substrate is stressed or bent.

After a few one-off entries in the Spa 24 Hours, from 2006, the Viper Competition Coupe will race in Europe fulltime for the first time, joining the new FIA GT3 Cup with the Italian team Racing Box. Vitreous enamel has many excellent properties: it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant, durable, can take on long-lasting, brilliant colors, and cannot burn. In 2004 Samuel Hubinette used a Competition Coupe with modified axle for the Formula D in which he won the title before the car were barred by the end of the season (due to the fact FD would adopt D1 Grand Prix regulations from the following year which had already prohibited the car from competing) and were replaced by an SRT-10 the following season. Also, an "enamel" is a decorative object, usually very small, having an enamel coating, such as a piece of champlevé or cloisonné. The Viper Competition Coupe sees action in the highly competitive SCCA Speed GT World Challenge. Vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals. Pricing is approximately US$129,000. It is often applied in a paste form and may be transparent or opaque when fired.

It is not sold through dealers and is purchased from Dodge directly as, essentially, a very expensive race car component. The powder melts and flows to harden as a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. The "CompCoupe" comes equipped with a full roll cage, a racing fuel cell, and other racing-related equipment. In a discussion of art technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The power and torque ratings have been improved, but the vehicle has been stripped of anything not essential for racing, such as the interior body panels, instrumentation, air conditioning, and stereo system which lightened the car by 380 lb (170 kg). Counter enameling, not strictly a technique, but a necessary step in many techniques, is to apply enamel to the back of a piece as well - sandwiching the metal - to create less tension on the glass so it does not crack. As of 2003, a special Dodge Viper SRT-10 Competition Coupe that is not street-legal is available from Dodge for race car drivers, picking up where the GTS-R racing variant left off. Sgrafitto, where an unfired layer of enamel is applied over a previously fired layer of enamel of a contrasting color, and then partly removed with a tool to create the design.

In addition to the race cars, 100 street versions of Dodge Viper GTS-R were made, which was rated 460 hp (343 kW) and 500 ft·lbf (678 N·m) of torque[1]. The stencil is removed before firing, the enamel staying in a pattern, slightly raised. When the checkered flag dropped on the 24th hour of the longest day in racing, Viper GTS–R racers finished first and second in their class to become the first American car to win at Le Mans in three decades, and the first–ever production–based American car to grace the winner's circle. Stenciling, where a stencil is placed over the work and the powdered enamel is sifted over the top. In 1998, Team Viper returned to Le Mans to set new track records in practice. A 3D type of enameling where a sculptural form is completely or partly enameled. Oreca switched to the prototype class in 2000, but customer Vipers continued to be the most competitive in the series. Ronde bosse, French for "round bump".

The next year, Team Viper (who now switched services to Oreca) switched to the GT2 class and proceeded to dominate, winning five titles in the FIA GT Championship between 1997 and 2002. It has a stained-glass like appearance. The car made its competition debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Canaska Racing in 1996, then the 24 Hours of Le Mans, when a GTS-R finished tenth overall in its very first run for glory. Plique-à-jour, French for "braid letting in daylight" where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to champlevé, but with no backing, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. Using such production engine components as the block, cylinder heads, and crankshaft, Team Viper engineers were able to extract 700 hp from the normally 450 hp second generation 8.0 L V10 engine. It is a form of Grisaille. However, rumors and pieces of information exist that suggest that the next generation Viper, codenamed ZC, will be introduced in the 2008 model year and will have an 8.4 L engine producing 700 hp. Limoges, named after the town in France where it was invented, is the technique of "painting" with an especial enamel called "blanc de limoges" over a dark enamelled surface to form a detailed picture, often human figure.

After the introduction of the C6 Corvette, the Viper's position as the top American supercar under six figures began to fade. Grisaille, French term meaning "greying", where dark, often blue or black background is applied, then limoges or opalescent (translucent) enamel is applied on top, building up designs in a monochrome gradient, paler as the thickness of the layer of light color increases. The third-generation Viper has been sold in Europe since 2004, the first model to be sold as a Dodge, as part of Chrysler's new sales strategy for the European market. Cloisonné, French for "cell", where thin copper, silver or gold wires form walls which separate different areas. The new coupe looks much like the previous Viper GTS and retains the "double-bubble" roof shape of the original, along with the original GTS's tail lamps, for an added homage to the original Viper coupe. Champlevé, French for "raised field", where enamel is fired around raised fields of metal, leaving the metal exposed. It shares many of its body panels with the convertible but takes its side and rear styling cues from the Competition Coupe (see below). The surface of the metal is decorated with a low relief design which can be seen through translucent and transparent enamels.

The new Viper SRT-10 Coupe (no longer called the GTS) was introduced in 2005 at the Detroit Auto Show as a 2006 model. Basse-taille, from the French word meaning "low-cut". The initial model was a convertible. The engine has been enlarged to 8.3 L which increased output to 504 hp (375 kW) and 525 ft·lbf (711 N·m) of torque. The new Viper SRT-10 was heavily restyled with sharp, angled bodywork.

The Dodge Viper underwent a major model change in 2003, courtesy of DaimlerChrysler's Street and Racing Technology / SRT) group. Starting in 2000 model year, the car has cast pistons that are not as strong when adding boost or nitrous. The 1999 model was the last Viper that has forged pistons from the factory. The second-generation Vipers were exported to Europe, where they were sold as Chryslers.

In the first six years of production almost 10,000 Vipers were sold. The car also won its class in the Le Mans 24 Hours from 1998 to 2000. Dodge contracted French racing team Oreca to build a racing version of the Viper known as the GTS-R in the FIA GT Championship's GT2 category, where they won the series in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002 (the last two with Larbre Competition). Vipers can be seen participating often in drag racing, road racing and drift racing.

Indeed, the Viper's performance has made the vehicle popular for both amateur and professional racers. An interesting feature of the coupe was the "double bubble" roof contours; two small humps to accomidate drivers wearing helmets. A coupe model, called the GTS, was also introduced in 1996. A number of third party firms have modified the car to boost performance.

Second generation models increased engine power, improved suspension, and reduced braking distances; the 1996-2002 Viper GTS had a 450 bhp (336 kW) engine, which could complete the quarter mile 0.7 seconds faster and increased top speed by 35 km/h (22 mph) or so. Despite this, in straight line performance, it completed a quarter mile in 12.9 seconds and had a maximum speed of 264 km/h (164 mph). Typical of American performance-car design, it had a front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels; it was also heavy with a curb weight of 1,488 kg (3,280 lb) and lacked many modern driver aids such as traction or anti-lock brakes. The body was a tubular steel frame with resin transfer molding (RTM) fiberglass panels.

The engine produced 400 hp (298 kW) at 4600 rpm and 450 ft·lbf (610 N·m) of torque at 3600 rpm, and thanks to the long-gearing allowed by the torquey engine, provided surprising fuel economy at a claimed 21 mpg US (11.2 L/100 km) if driven sedately. However, Chrysler was uncertain about the Viper's production costs and sales potential and so declined to provide the budget for the modification. Some within Lamborghini felt the pushrod two-valve design, while adequate for the truck application for which the engine was originally created, was unsuitable for a performance car and suggested a more comprehensive redesign which would have included four valves per cylinder. Originally designed as a truck engine and based on the Chrysler LA engine, Lamborghini, then a division of the Chrysler Corporation, revamped Dodge's cast-iron block V10 for the Viper by recasting the block and head in aluminum alloy, and giving the engine a significant power boost.

The centerpiece of the car was its engine. It first debuted in 1991 with three pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Stealth, and went on sale in January 1992 as the targa-roofed RT/10 Roadster. The first prototype was tested in December 1989. Most saw claims to kinship with the Cobra as a marketing exercise, although Carroll Shelby was involved in the initial design of the Viper.

While there are some who insist that the iconic AC Cobra was a source of inspiration, the final version of the Viper was far too large and heavy to seriously claim any direct lineage with the compact and lightweight vehicle. The Viper was developed as a modern take on the classic American muscle car. . Viper production began at New Mack Assembly in 1992 and moved to its current home at Connor Avenue Assembly in October of 1995.

The Dodge Viper is a two-seat sports car, the most powerful production car made by Dodge. Crash (2005) featured a black Viper ACR. Banlieue 13 (2004) briefly featured an early-production Viper RT-10. Michel Vaillant (2003) featured a racing edition Viper GTS-R.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) briefly featured a yellow Viper SRT-10. The Ninth Gate (1999) also featured a Viper RT-10 in a car chase. Inspector Gadget (1999) featured a blue Viper GTS being broken into. RPM (1998) featured a red Viper RT-10 in a car chase.

The Nutty Professor (1996) featured a red Viper RT-10 being driven by the protagonist. 1997 FIA GT2 Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ World Championship. 1998 FIA GT2 Driver’s and Manufacturer’s World Championship. 1998 FIA GT2 - First and Second Place 24 Hours of Le Mans, first American car to win at Le Mans in three decades, and very first "production american car".

2004 SCCA SpeedWorld GT - Drivers Championship. 2004 World Speed Record - Dodge SRT-10 Ram - 154.587 mph flying kilometer. John Lingenfelter Memorial Trophy.