Quote:
Originally Posted by Idaho2018GTPremium
GM released the 375 hp ZR-1 for sale in early 1990. I'm curious how that's GM scrambling to match a Viper that wouldn't go on sale until Jan. 1992? I would think the Viper was in response to GM's ZR-1, but I don't recall exactly since I was a kid less than 1 decade old (a kid that was really into cars).
All I know is I loved both of those cars back then.
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Since I'm almost 60, I do remember. And like all cars, including the C-8 now. Word had been out amongst car lovers even before the motor shows in 1989 when the Prototype Viper hit the audience and the magazines. So when Dodge came out of nowhere and hit the general public of America with a base model exotic looking car with a 400 horse V-10 that sported serious lines and 275/335 tires. Yes, Chevy took note and got off their butts and started working. And that war started the best comeback for performance cars in the USA. Because up till then the Vettes only "competition" was from a Mustang that had a few hundred horses at the most and looked God awful with the worst body lines ever drawn on paper, a freakin AMC Pacer had better body lines (OK, maybe that one's a tie). And as GM tried to keep up with the Viper, and it was always GM trying to keep up with the viper IN THE POWER DEPARTMENT, performance of all cars got better and better. The car industry realized that power sells. Then Ford started to get their stuff together, with a GT coming out also. And as each kept trying to make their flagship car better, the general public kept getting better performance cars. Literally, I just bought a new car that has exactly twice the HP as when I was selling Toyota's Flagship Supra back in 93 (and that was considered a badass car back then), and almost 3 times the Hp as when I sold camaros in 95 (If my memory serves me correctly the 1LE packed camaro had 275hp). That's my perspective of how it all unfolded. When the Viper came out, the performance world from the manufacturers changed drastically. But Chrysler couldn't capitalize and follow through. They didn't evolutionize like the Vette, so they became like the dinosaurs, extinct. And look at the Vette now, poised to take on the exotics at 1/3rd the price.
By the way, I used to live in Boise. Absolutely love it there; America's best kept secret.