Dodge Viper sports car gets reprieve

DETROIT, July 11 (UPI) -- The Dodge Viper SRT10 sports car won't slink into auto oblivion as expected but will continue to be built, Chrysler Group LLC's new management says.

Chrysler had been unable to find a buyer for the Viper, a 600-horsepower Detroit icon, and its manufacturing plant in the city, leading to predictions of its demise. But the new management team decided the vehicle should stay, a company spokesman told Saturday's Detroit News.

"The Dodge Viper has successfully captured the hearts and imagination of performance enthusiasts around the globe," Mike Accavitti, head of the Dodge brand, said in a statement. "The ultimate American-built sports car with its world-class performance will live on as the iconic image leader for the Dodge brand."

The newspaper said the Viper was introduced in 1989 and immediately caused a sensation and production of the car and its aluminum V-10 engine started three years later. Since then a specialized workforce has assembled, almost by hand, more than 25,000 Vipers.