For most car shoppers, comfort, reliability, fuel economy, practicality, and safety are usually about as important as it gets. Which does make sense when you remember that 99% of driving is just boring commuting or errand running. They just want a car that will work, keep them safe in a crash, and not cost them an arm and a leg to keep on the road. And if you look at cars the same way, then you probably don’t get the appeal of the Dodge Viper.
However, a certain kind of person looks at the Viper and thinks, “Okay, that’s great, but could you make it less comfortable?” That’s where the Viper ACR comes in. It’s still street legal, but it’s also about as track-focused as Dodge could possibly make it, and in the right hands, it will lay down some ridiculously quick lap times. Odds are, your hands aren’t the right hands, but neither are mine. It’s fine. I’m sure it’s fine. It’s not like the Viper has a reputation for being hard to drive or anything.
The Viper you see here, though, is no ordinary Viper ACR. Those cars each came with a roof that offered some semblance of protection in the event of a rollover. The Viper ACR that’s currently for sale on Cars & Bids, on the other hand, doesn’t have that roof. Instead, it’s one of 20 Viper ACRs that the folks at Woodhouse Dodge turned into Viper ACR Roadsters. Which is great, because if there’s one complaint I know you have about the Viper ACR, it’s that it’s too safe. Buy this one, though, and you’ll be able to listen to the wail of that naturally aspirated V10, completely uninterrupted by all that “roof” nonsense.
V10 droptop
The thing is, while a lot of aftermarket convertible conversions look pretty rough, this one actually looks good? You could probably find some flaws if you got up close and in person with the car, but just based on what you can see in the photos, it looks shockingly good. Even with the top up (and yes, a cloth top is included), it looks much closer to OEM-spec than the vast majority of aftermarket convertible conversions we see on the Weird Car Internet.
I also like the yellow and black paint job a lot more than I thought I would. A lot of yellow-and-black cars look like something a Georgia Tech grad would have ordered, but this one actually looks great. Also, no Georgia Tech grad is buying a Dodge Viper, much less a Viper ACR Roadster, so if you show up somewhere driving this thing, I don’t think you’re in any danger of someone confusing you for a total dork unless you also show up wearing an Omega Speedmaster. With this car, you’ll be the cool kid everywhere you go, and it will be well-deserved. You know you want to buy it.
Cars & Bids
Alternatively, if you’re tired of me trying to convince you to make bad decisions with your money, why not buy this car and then give it to me as an early birthday present? I’ll be so happy driving this thing, I won’t even have time to blog, and in less than a year, you may never hear from me again. Because of the happiness, not the crashing, of course. Others may not be able to handle the Viper ACR, but I’m built different. I could totally handle owning a 600-horsepower roadster with no safety features other than a seatbelt. But even if I couldn’t, just imagine the clicks that post would get.
