Not too long ago, we highlighted ten cars that pack a V10 engine under the hood. This time, we’re turning our attention to the final rear-wheel-drive V10-powered production car with a manual transmission. Three pedals once defined skill behind the wheel, and as more enthusiasts rediscover that connection, demand for analog performance icons continues to grow.
The model in question isn’t from Europe or Asia. It is American, more specifically, it’s the 2017 Dodge Viper ACR, a car that ended one of the boldest chapters in U.S. performance car history. We reported back in 2015 that Viper production at the Connor Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan, would end after 2017. That news came directly from a United Auto Workers (UAW) contract update, which confirmed no new product was planned for the facility. By August 2017, it was all over.
More than 30,000 Vipers had been built at this location since 1992 across five generations, each hand-assembled. Ralph Gilles, then Head of SRT and FCA Design Chief, shared images of the last two cars off the line: a yellow Viper ACR (American Club Racer) with black racing stripes, the final customer car, and a red Viper GTS that now resides in the company’s heritage collection.
The fifth-generation Viper returned in 2013 under Gilles’ leadership, engineered as a direct rival to the C6 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. After MotorTrend’s Laguna Seca laptime favored the Corvette, SRT’s engineers went back to work. Within weeks, they developed the Time Attack or TA to reclaim the record, and two years later, the ACR became the ultimate response.
Under its hood, the legendary 8.4-liter naturally aspirated V10 with 645 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, routed through a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual that sends power exclusively to the real wheels.
Its Extreme Aero Package produces 1,781 pounds of downforce at 177 mph, not too far away from Porsche’s 992.1 GT3 RS’s 1,895 pounds. The 74-inch fixed carbon wing, aggressive chin spoiler / rear diffuser, and vented fenders served a purpose. Bilstein coilovers allowed ten-way adjustability, while spring rates doubled over the Time Attack 2.0. With carbon-ceramic Brembos, lightweight BBS racing wheels wrapped in stickier Kumho tires, the ACR could sustain over 1.5 g through corners.
As a car meant to dominate on the race track, non-essential bits like the radio were stripped out. The Viper ACR was light, tipping the scales at just 3,392 pounds, and in the hands of Randy Pobst, it lapped Laguna Seca in 1:28.65 in 2016. With track-focused hardware, it went on to set thirteen production-car lap records at various circuits across the nation, including Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta, and Virginia International Raceway, among others. It holds a Nürburgring time of 7:01.3.
For its final year, Dodge built five special editions: the Voodoo II, 1:28 Edition, GTS-R Commemorative, Snakeskin Edition GTC, and Dealer Edition. Each was serialized and hand-finished. Production ended in August 2017, marking the end of a 25-year legacy.
While a manual gearbox continued to live on in Dodge Challenger models, the Viper stands apart as one of the most significant cars in Mopar history. It was the only American performance car, powered by a naturally aspirated V10, and clean, low mileage examples continue to trade at a premium today.
Images: Dodge
