The Affordable Viper Alternative Chrysler Buried To Protect A Mercedes
We almost had an American S2000, by the year 2000. As the new millennium dawned, one Detroit automaker was looking to the future. It planned to double down on the success of a recent, legendary halo car with a truly cutting-edge and affordable sports car that would have led its segment full of fast cars. But sadly, it was not to be. A rock star, a German automaker, and a marketing department were the perfect storm that sank this roadster before it got a chance to cruise.
The Viper Had Dodge Halo Car Duty Locked Down
In the late 1980s, a team of engineers at Chrysler asked a dangerous question. What would a modern muscle car look like? The result was an absolute brute of a 1989 concept car: The Dodge Viper.
The Viper was so bare bones that it had a canvas top with zip-in windows—like a Jeep Wrangler. It had no airbags, purely to save weight. It came in at just 3,280 pounds. In total, 712 pounds of that was its 400-horsepower/465 lb-ft V10 engine.
The resulting car could rocket to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds and run the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds. But its huge tires and comparatively low weight also meant it could pull almost a full G on the skid pad. The Viper had a muscle car heart, but was also a roadster that could handle corners. Despite a Detroit personality, it was ready to go toe-to-toe with the world’s best exotics.
Dodge continued to update the Viper for 26 years. The company added some creature comforts, but never compromised on the V10 engine and stick shift transmission. But while it retained its bare-knuckle bruiser personality, its MSRP skyrocketed to $75,000 by 1997. The Viper had the world’s attention and had restored Dodge’s muscle car street cred. But Dodge knew it would need to move downmarket to capitalize on that attention.
Dodge Hatched A Plan To Hotrod The Neon
The plan Chrysler Corporation came up with frankly sounds crazy on paper. It started with the floorpan of a FWD Dodge Neon, which of course had a transverse I4. It stretched the wheelbase 12 inches and incorporated suspension components from the Dodge Stratus and Eagle Talon. Next, it converted the platform into a fun RWD layout with a longitudinally mounted V6. Finally, it fitted a unique roadster body to the floorpan.
The engine in question was an all-new 2.7-liter DOHC V6. It was also based on a transverse-mounted engine design, adapted for longitudinal mounting. This engine family would later land in the Dodge Intrepid, then the Chrysler Sebring, and finally the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger. For the concept car, the little 2.7-liter featured four valves per cylinder, a double-barreled throttle body, tuned exhaust, and was rated for 220 hp. It was mated to a five-speed manual transmission.
This was a dramatic departure from the Viper’s philosophy. That big halo car had a cam in block and just two valves per cylinder. The Copperhead signaled a very new era for Dodge performance.
The Dodge Copperhead Made Roadsters Cool
The all-new Dodge Copperhead concept car debuted in Detroit onstage at the 1997 North American International Auto Show. The most noticeable aspect of the car was the Copper Fire Orange paint. The multi-chromatic pigment paint took 37 coats to apply and appeared to change colors in different lights.
The second most noticeable aspect of the little roadster was how heavily it leaned into the snake motif. Its seats had a snakeskin pattern. Its Goodyear tires had a unique tread that looked like scales. The vein above its front fender vents even looked like a venomous snake’s hood. At the center of the hood, the Copperhead sported a dull copper emblem of a snake’s head.
The Copperhead managed to hang onto much of the Viper’s “in your face” styling while being narrower and smaller—and without a signature V10 engine. It created a bit of brand identity by leaning into many Viper styling cues. Overall, it was a uniquely Detroit take on the roadster formula. And it made the roadster muscle-car cool.
The Copperhead Could Have Been Deadly
Dodge unveiled the Copperhead in 1997 and announced it was targeting a launch for the 2000 model year. The cobbled-together concept managed to get its curb weight down to 2,855 pounds. With its 220-hp V6, its power-to-weight ratio (0.077 horsepower/lb) was near the top of its class. And its $30,000 MSRP would have made it a true contender.
In 1997, the Mazda Miata weighed 2,300 pounds and cost $21,500. Its 1.8-liter I4 gave it a 0.058 power-to-weight ratio.
A better analog for the Copperhead might have been the BMW Z3 2.8. But its 189-hp I6 and 2,950-pound curb weight yielded a sluggish 0.058 power-to-weight ratio. All while setting you back $35,000. The Porsche Boxster and Mercedes SLK230 both made less power than the Copperhead and cost $10,000 extra. The Boxster weighed just about the same, but the Merc weighed 200 pounds more.
The car to beat was the $33,000 Honda S2000, which debuted for the 2000 model year with a 0.086 power-to-weight ratio (240 hp/2,800 pounds)—a figure that actually beat the Copperhead. But perhaps a properly engineered production Copperhead could have beaten the Frankenstein concept car’s numbers. Of course, the Copperhead was set to launch just three years before the third-gen Hemi V8 revolutionized the Dodge brand. A logical next step would have been a 400-hp Copperhead 5.7, which would have been unlike anything else on the road. In recent decades, the Mustang and Corvette proved there’s a market for sporty convertibles. But Dodge had no answer for them. Sadly, the future had different plans for the Dodge Copperhead.
The World Conspired To Poison The Copperhead
The Copperhead could have had a real shot at becoming a legendary roadster with a Detroit personality. But it never saw production.
First, ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons sued Chrysler over the Copperhead name. Was it trademarked for one of his songs? No, he simply called his personal one-off hot rod Kopperhead. Bizarrely, the celebrity appeared to scare Chrysler Corporation enough that the Copperhead name got switched to “Dodge Concept car” in some promotional material.
Second, the Copperhead’s unexpected power-to-weight ratio appears to have worried Chrysler company brass. There was reportedly much hand-wringing about undermining the Viper. It would indeed be hard to justify the Viper’s $50,000 price tag if you can buy 90% of its performance for $30,000.
Finally, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler announced a merger in mid-1998 and made the deal final in November. The new DaimlerChrysler AG did not want anything to compete with its Mercedes SLK. That was bad news for drivers: the Copperhead could have trounced the four-cylinder SLK.
Eventually, the new company did try to sell a badge-engineered SLK stateside. But instead of dusting off the cool Copperhead concept, they decided to go upmarket. The result was the Chrysler Crossfire. The only part of the Copperhead that saw production was its paint code, to cover a 2005 Viper Copperhead special edition.
Dodge eventually did move downmarket to capitalize on the Viper’s reputation with its entire “brotherhood of muscle.” The heavy, Mercedes-based Charger and Challenger were the antithesis of the Copperhead. Today, Dodge is rumored to be reviving the Copperhead name for a “hyper muscle car” due in 2029. Sadly, it’s doubtful this Copperhead will have anything in common with the original concept.
Source: Dodge
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments