One of Those Dodge Viper GTS-R Race Cars from Gran Turismo 2 Is Up for Grabs
If you have the means, now may be the time to fulfill a childhood dream.
Behind BBC's Top Gear and The Fast and the Furious, one of car culture's most significant media franchises has to be Gran Turismo, which has gotten many a young PlayStation player into cars over the years. Many adults today have fond memories of getting home from school, switching on their PS1, and running endless laps in the Toyota GT-One or Dodge Viper GTS-R. To drive either would be to realize a lifelong dream for many, and while Toyota shows no indication of ever letting its only GT-One road car out of its gilded cage, there is instead an opportunity not just to drive, but actually own one of those Vipers, because one has just come up for sale in Europe.
Though not the exact example depicted in GT2, the car in question was prepared by the same team, Oreca, which credits this Dodge—alternatively badged as a Chrysler Viper in Europe—with its growth in the 1990s. Oreca prepared several such Vipers which, after some development, became some of the fastest GT cars around the turn of the millennium. They claimed overall wins at Daytona, the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps along with class victories at Le Mans, Road Atlanta and Sebring, not to mention numerous GT championships across the globe.
The particular example seen here is the victor of five FIA GT races and was extensively modified to be made even more competitive. Its 8.0-liter V10 has an improved intake and single, block-housed camshaft, plus rerouted engine bay airflow to enhance downforce. Further aero gains were made with the addition of a Mercedes-Benz CLR-inspired splitter and a relocated rear wing, though the biggest performance upgrade came from the six-speed sequential transmission, which was thought to slash a good half-second per lap.
This former Team Carsport Holland car is now located in Belgium, and listed for sale through Machines With a Mission, which doesn't list a price for the venerable Viper—and you know what that means. If it's out of your budget, but you're still in the mood for a thorough nostalgia trip, you can still just fire up your old copy of GT2... Or, to save you the time of digging the PS1 out of storage, just immerse yourself in that good old lo-fi gaming experience via the video below.
Correction 07/10/2020: This article previously stated the Viper had an 8.4-liter V10, though that engine wasn't introduced until later on. The relevant text has been updated.
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