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" Hindsight gives us a very interesting lens to view past events through. This 1990 press conference where former Chrysler boss Lee Iacocca confirms the Dodge Viper for production is a perfect example. With the Viper&amp;#039;s ultimate end in sight, this proves to be a fascinating watch today. I came across this video in a The Truth About Cars report that cites our story on how the Viper brand was nearly bought by an investor group in 2008 (which itself cites a TTAC post). The video is hosted on the excellent King Rose Archives YouTube channel, which has brought us some Mopar-related gems in the past. Iacocca, in his typically bullish manner, proclaims that the Viper is already a huge success before production has even begun. He invites legendary auto executive Bob Lutz on stage telling him to &amp;quot;build the damn thing&amp;quot; in front of an audience of reporters and photographers. It&amp;#039;s hard to overstate how radical a car the Viper was for Chrysler in the 1990s: Here was a company best known for tepid minivans and front-drive compacts producing a no-holds-barred sports car in the classic sense. They even got Cobra mastermind Carroll Shelby to help out. The Viper would lead Chrysler into the 1990s and in a new direction. Of course, we know now that it took years for Dodge to produce any other serious performance cars\u2013Neon ACR and R/T excepted\u2013and that the Viper would lead a very challenging life in the 21st century. In a sense, the Viper succeeded in creating a halo for the Dodge brand, but it&amp;#039;s strange to see the optimism this news conference knowing the Viper will soon be gone forever. Well unless current Fiat Chrysler chairman Sergio Marchionne saves it.        "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a30295/dodge-viper-press-conference-lee-iacocca/>