Dodge sold 4 Vipers in 2020, despite its strike in 2017

• Fiat Chrysler released its annual U.S. sales report on Tuesday.
• According to the report, the carmaker sold four Dodge Vipers in 2020. The Dodge Viper was discontinued in 2017.
• The carmaker also sold three Jeep Patriots, despite the fact that the car was stopped at the end of 2016.
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Since car manufacturers release their sales reports over the end of the year, it is always entertaining to avoid having fun. Here is one from Fiat Chrysler, which was able to sell four (4) Dodge Vipers in 2020 – a car that was discontinued three years earlier.

FCA on Tuesday announced its fourth-quarter and full-year sales results. Only the Jeep Gladiator pickup and the Alfa Romeo Stelvio sport utility vehicle achieved positive sales in 2020, but by far the most interesting amount of information was that the carmaker was able to sell four Vipers.

It is not entirely unheard of for dealers to continue selling cars after they have been discontinued. Sometimes dealers buy cars from the manufacturers but do not sell them right away and keep them as hubs or demo vehicles. This happened to a handful of 2012 Lexus LFAs that went on sale at dealerships in 2017.

It is unclear which retailers sold the Vipers, but it is gratifying – but not surprising – to know that there are still new ones that people want to buy. This is because the Dodge Viper was one of the most iconic American muscle cars ever made.

It started in the early 1990s with an 8.0 liter V10 engine, a six-speed manual gearbox, a canopy, no exterior door handles, no air conditioning, no airbags, no traction control and no ABS. In other words, a perfect vehicle.

Most Viper models had exhaust pipes on the side of the exit just below their doors. As exhaust pipes do, it tends to get hot after long periods of driving, and owners could burn their ankles and calves on it if they were no longer careful. Again, this was a feature and not a mistake.

By the time the fifth generation Viper rolled around in 2013 – the final generation – the car was actually quite refined. Although the engine was enlarged to 8.4 liters and produced about 640 horsepower, it had just as much technology as other modern sports cars: electronic stability control, ABS and traction control.

In 2017, the Viper officially stopped production because it could not meet new safety standards that went into effect in September of that year. The Viper’s low sales figures probably did no favors either. Motor Trend reported in 2017 that only 630 Vipers were sold the previous year.

Not long after production ceased, Viper’s factory was transformed into a historic FCA car storage facility. The last Dodge Viper built was auctioned off along with the last Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and the pair raised $ 1 million.

At least the Viper was not the worst seller of the FCA in 2020. The award was given to the Ram Cargo Van (one sold) and the Jeep Patriot (three sold). The latter was discontinued at the end of 2016 and significantly less cool than the Viper.