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Arm art, courtesy of WV/PA VCA member Bob Zubrickie.

Ginger Kurzejewski, from the WV/PA VCA saw a Corvette that gave her pause. “Here’s a photo that I took at the Northeast Zone Rendezvous at the Pocono Raceway.  This car was lined up to go on the track. Why anyone would put that sticker on their Corvette is beyond me.” All we can guess is that confession is good for the soul.

When Bill Black, of Chambersburg, Pa., displayed his Viper at a recent car show, he decided to put together his own little car event in the back window of his Viper. He explained, “I made an evolution display in the trunk of the car using 1:18 diecast model cars. It shows the various models of the car. The Vipers are (from left to right): RT/10 roadster, the first 1996 GTS coupe, GTS-R Le Mans version, a GTS coupe, a GT2, a GTS 1996-2002 and an SRT10.”

Black added, “There were more than 60 other Vipers at the show I believe. I didn’t win a trophy, but with my Viper and my models on display, we had a great time anyway.”

By Brandi Sliger

The North Texas chapter of the Viper Club of America attended the opening weekend of “Wanted.” The movie starred an incredible red 2008 Viper SRT10 and some actress—I think her name was Angelina Jolie. We had an AWESOME turnout with about 13 Vipers and 30 members in attendance. We had special parking and an off-duty officer keeping an eye on the cars. Thanks to The Studio Movie Grill in Plano, Texas; Officer Tilley and members David and Mary Anne Brown for coordinating this event.

KickingTires.com recently took the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10® out for a week of test-drives. Here is an excerpt: “The Dodge Viper leaves our offices today after a week of me tooling around in the sinister coupe, and sitting at my desk this morning I had to tally up the gas receipts for the week.

“Much to my surprise, the dang thing got 20.17 mpg over the course of 750 miles, which ain’t too shabby. Official EPA estimates put the Viper at 13/22 mpg city/highway, so looking back those numbers aren’t too surprising, but they’re still impressive for a 600-horsepower supercar. A four-wheel-drive 2009 Honda Pilot also is rated at 22 mpg highway, but don’t take that tidbit as a direct comparison, just a fun fact.”

The article continued, “The coupe is an insanely fast car to drive on the street, but I was cautious while ‘testing’ it. If you want to push it, by the time first gear is done the car will have reached or exceeded the majority of legal speed limits. Even being conservative, though, something still doesn’t compute when you say ‘Viper’ and ‘20 mpg’ in the same sentence.”

Time goes by fast when you’re having fun, so the last couple of years must have flown by for the national VCA officers. Or maybe they’re happy just to have survived. Either way, it was smiles all around as they presided over VOI.10 as the last major event of their tenures. From left to right: President Bob Carroll, Vice President George Farris, Secretary Jeff Pilgrim and Treasurer Chris Marshall.

Viper owners have a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which is the quality of the rubber that keeps our Snakes glued to the road. Recently, Ralph Gilles, Vice President of Design for Chrysler had an opportunity to show his appreciation to Michelin by putting a bear hug on its mascot Bibendum—aka the Michelin Man.

Dave Kavanagh, of Ridley Park, Pa., proud member of the W. Virginia/Pennsylvania chapter of the VCA had a rewarding trip to the Chryslers at Carlisle event this year. He ended up with the top bid at a charity auction for the Children’s Miracle Network and for his generosity; he walked away with one of the two mini-Vipers that were on display.

Kavanagh purchased the mini for his grandson Josh, but he needed to make one more adjustment before making the presentation. Prior to giving the mini to Josh, Kavanagh took it to his local body shop to have it painted to match grandpa’s Viper.

By Michael Brett

Several VCA Minnesota members made the trek to the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant (CAAP) to visit with our friends at the Viper plant. The entire staff could not have been more hospitable and informative and they assisted in making our trip a total success. Thank you one and all.

Our route to CAAP and then back home provided several interesting and unique opportunities for ourselves and our Snakes—including traveling across Lake Michigan aboard the SS Badger ferry boat. It was very interesting watching the staff load the ferry with what we thought to be far too many vehicles. Barely enough space was reserved for our Vipers as we were the last to load.

Beyond the semi trailers, we were the only ones given permission to personally drive our vehicles on board. Following a four-hour cruise, we docked in Ludington, Mich., and once again were allowed to drive our Vipers from the ship. Then it was onto Detroit for a visit to CAAP, or as we called it, Viper heaven.

We chose to follow a lengthy route home that took us across the impressive Mackinac Bridge into Michigan’s UP and eventually a visit to Copper Harbor. Just outside Copper Harbor we made the drive up Brockway Mountain for an elevated panoramic view of Lake Superior and the surrounding area.

While setting up for this photo op our Vipers received almost as much attention as the view itself—maybe more. It’s incredible driving machines that generate unimaginable interest and compliments regardless of the destination.