Mark, a world-famous photographer, has worked with TG for many, many years. When you’re not taking pictures, you’re buying cars out of the ordinary. Here, he demonstrates his dependence on the world. . .
There is only one poster hanging in my old room. A poster that was once surrounded by nu-metal bands and Max Power magazine flyers that would no longer belong in a Woke museum.
But as musical tastes changed, those posters began to be removed one by one. All but one; The first poster I hung almost 30 years ago. And the only sign that my delinquent mother never had the center to break.
Clearly, you can see where this leads. The silly red car shown above makes it obvious, otherwise it would be strange if I suddenly said this poster is from The Undertaker. And while I’m not especially sentimental about a car, the original Dodge (Chrysler) Viper RT/10 has been living rent-free in my head ever since.
It was the first car I chose in the first PS1 game I bought, The Need For Speed, in 1996. It was also the first car I don’t forget when I saw Clarkson’s review, and that means it became the default 1:18 scale style for birthdays. “He is the one you love, is he rarely?” Mom and Dad would say. They had bought a newer Viper GTS, but even eight-year-old Mark knew it wasn’t so unreasonable.
Maybe it’s the style? I can’t think of many cars that look more like a Hot Wheels style straight out of the factory. And in a world where a BMW M3 can now be supplied with four-column exhausts, the Viper’s proportions remain downright comical. Then there’s the engine. Its 8. 0-liter V10 is a guaranteed winner of the most productive assets before this word relates to the right craze. By 2022 standards, it would be less offensive to slap David Attenborough with a pangolin than to launch a car with an 8. 0-liter engine.
Anyway, the Viper was the first car that made me think “Phwoar, those car stuff is fine. . . isn’t it?” It had side exhausts, no roof and no traction control. It has been widely reported as a death trap, and if you’re over 6 feet, your scalp has the hoop. everything sounded.
The challenge with Vipers is that they don’t go on sale very often, and when they do, it’s with an overly American stunt definitely dressed in a Stetson on weekends.
You can argue that’s a lot for a bolted glass fibre truck engine, but with other crazy people paying £25,000 for 205 GTIs, it’s a bargain. Or if we weren’t in a cost-of-living crisis.
But how can you be depressed with an 8. 0-liter V10 in a car that looks like a Great Dane lipstick?I love how a single car can evoke so many memories. It happens naturally and once it has you, it’s to shake it off. In Dalston’s ethically sourced vegan quinoa world, the Viper remains a freshly cut loin steak from a run over animal ready to traverse Route 66. It’s ridiculous in every way, and that’s precisely why I’ll never sell it.
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