I’m about to do something I know I shouldn’t do. I’m going to ignore my own advice.
ACC’s Dodge Viper GTS ACR has been a staple in the garage since we bought it. It was minty fresh when it rolled off the enclosed carrier at ACC headquarters in 2014, bought for $42,500 with just 1,200 miles from new. After a new set of tires, I took it on several high-speed distance runs — first 200 miles to Brothers, OR, where I rattled it over gravel washboard on the way to an auction of dead Imperials in the high-desert brush, then 540 miles through Oregon and California back roads on the way to Reno for that year’s Hot August Nights event. It proved to be every bit the monster that the car world has made it out to be — but one that behaves until poked. And I did poke it.
I spent a bunch of time tooling around town in that car, too. My then 3-year-old daughter Katie fell in love with its rumbly V10, and I made it a point to pick her up from her daycare in it every few months just to see her smile and to irritate the other dads in their minivans.
I’d lusted after Vipers since they were first introduced, and it only got worse once I started drag racing my ’66 Caprice and had those wide-set taillights regularly blow past me at the 60-foot mark. First- and second-gen Vipers don’t look like anything else, and they certainly don’t sound like anything else, either, with a low-pitch growl that instantly pops out among cackling V8s. As I’ve written before, they’re the poster cars of a generation — especially the coupes — and that will give them staying power in the collector-car market well into the future.
In with the old
Our Viper has been fantastic, but ACC has done most of what it was looking to do with it, so now it’s time for us to move on to something else to suit a different need — specifically, something that actually has a few needs we can address in our “Wrenching” columns. The Viper never really fit that bill, as it’s a modern car that has only required oil changes since we bought it. So as of this writing, the ACR’s posted on eBay — it likely will have sold by the time you read this.
I know I should be the one to buy it. The trouble is I just don’t have room for it in my life at the moment — or maybe I should say it’s the Viper that doesn’t have the room. Now that I have two young daughters, buying a fun car with only two seats just won’t work — especially when the one that currently sits in my garage has more than enough room for everyone to enjoy the tire-smoking fun.
But I can’t escape the thought that I’m going to regret passing on what is basically the Shelby Cobra of my generation — and more specifically, the one I blasted to Reno at 90 mph in and used to introduce my car-loving daughter to the concept of a manual transmission. The fact that I’ve been calling out Vipers as solid buys for two years doesn’t help, either. I know better than to let this one go. Do as I say, not as I do, right?
In the meantime, ACC is on the hunt for another car — preferably a Ford. I’d love to find a 1965 or ’66 Mustang that’s in good, generally original condition but showing some needs here or there. Ideally it’ll have a 289 and a 4-speed, along with a Pony interior and original paint. Drop me a line at [email protected] if you know of a good one for sale — or if you’re interested in the Viper. I’ll be watching the auctions in Scottsdale to see if I can find what I’m looking for there, too.
Transitions
The ACC garage occupants aren’t the only things changing around here.
It’s hard for me to imagine, but with this issue, ACC is now six years old. We’ve covered a lot of cars in those 37 issues of the magazine, written up by some of the best writers in the American car world.
Jay Harden isn’t a new voice to ACC — he’s actually been a part of the team here at ACC since before our first issue went to press. Last month, however, he took on a new role as Editor at Large, filling the space left by Colin Comer, who has moved to another full-time responsibility.
Jay’s a hot-rodder, a talented writer, and an all-around great car guy — this month I sent him to SEMA to get his take on the event, which you can read on p. 46, and I spent a rainy Friday with him tearing the carpet out of his Chevelle to show you how easy replacing it with a new kit can be — and how much of an impact that simple job makes once the interior is all bolted back together. Check it out starting on p. 32.