shawnvettefan

Just got my new Car & Driver in the mail and it looks like the Dodge name is dropped from the Viper. It's now called SRT Viper, could GM be next and drop the Chevrolet name from the Corvette??

Just a thought....I mean GM is trying to make the Corvette more European and drop some of the cars stigmas (one of them is...it's a Chevy). If they can make the Corvette it's own entity and sell it through select Cadillac and 5 Star Chevrolet dealers, it wouldn't be such a bad idea??

I know the comments "Corvette has always been a Chevy and will always be" or "go buy one of those Europeans" etc....but this has been brought up before and to see they did that with the Viper is interesting. Not sure why they did it but they did.

BluegrassMotorsport

I don't see Chevrolet ever dropping the Corvette name from their lineup. Super Sport is essentially Chevrolet's SRT, and it wouldn't make sense to have the "SS Corvette".

Chicago1

No the Viper was a car people that people bought for the weekend and came out in what 199? expensive and not practical That's why you didn't see many of them . You see Corvettes all day long and Chevy has been part of that name since the 50's. It's branded in peoples heads

Bat Man

The only reason GM would drop the Chevrolet name off the vette in europe would be for Warranty and Dealership reasons. Which, if I remember correctly, most of Europe knows it simply as the Corvette, and they are sold at the Caddy dealers.

Personally, I think GM should allow Vette owners access to the Caddy service dept.

LS1LT1

Yes, 1992 (only a handful of '92s though, 1993 was the first 'regular' production year I believe).

jb_va2001

I suspect Chrysler created SRT for many of the same reasons BMW has M Sport and MB has AMG.

Z0SIXXXIN

Are you kidding? Don't make it part of the Chevy line-up? Just throw all that history out the window? I'm glad you had nothing to do with the re-organization after the bailout.

shawnvettefan

It would still be a GM product like it has been since it's inception. And all that history is not all positive you know???

Either way I think they should not let mediocre Chevrolet dealers sell and service the car. Leave it to the 5 star dealers and Cadillac dealers to sell and service the car. No harm in that.

McGirk94LT1

Ok all the "ITS A CHEVY RAAAAAWR" or "IT DESERVES BETTER THEN CHEVY RAAAAAWR" aside, does anyone know why this trend is happening? Chrysler group created Ram brand, now SRT is a company, I think AMG is heading/is that way now. Another company I believe is doing it to a subdivision too I think.

My guess is its gotta be for money in someway. By getting more money from somebody or the gov, or by now being its own company SRT and Chrysler group will somehow pay less to the gov or something in line with that idea. SS isn't becoming its own brand any time soon though and neither is SVT from what I can tell. I'm interested if anyone knows if there is a financial reason behind this seemingly meaningless switch.

What they should do for the corvette, is what Ford used to do/Callway does. Require certain, trained individuals to work on the corvette and only certain reputable dealers to sell them. Before the GT500 in 2007, there were SVT(special vehicles team if anyone didnt know) certified dealers. They were the only ones that could sell you SVT cobras, focus, contours, etc... They had certain equipment that other dealers didnt have as well to work on those cars. Just as Callaway only has a select few dealers that can sell delivered Callaway corvettes and camaros. If there were "corvette trained and certified" technicians/dealers, I think that would give a little peace of mind to the customers.

Z06Electron

It allows better focus on each product line. If they only make 1200 Vipers a year it is easy to overlook the model when compared to trucks that say sell millions. They probably understand the importance of more effectively meeting the needs of the target segment for that vehicle. SRT is a very different buyer from a RAM truck buyer.

I personally think it is still possible for a group within the same company to produce a great product but if Corvette branched out into its own branch we would end up with a better product. It is easier for a head honcho to deny a $.90 change to the Corvette to make it better over cost when they have the entire profitability of the entire company in mind versus when you have only one product line you are answering to.

My company is still new but based on my vision for the company I already had it subdivided before I opened in plans for how it would be run in the future. I have a broad focus portion and one narrow focus portion. Perhaps Dodge sees the logic in this change. Maybe not, but this is just my thoughts on it.

jackhall99

Not sure of the Calloway selection process, and could care less.

While I'm sure the Calloway dealer is a good dealer (we have Stasek in Chicagoland), there can be other outstanding and reputable Corvette dealers in the area that 1) were not selected by Calloway for one of many reasons, 2) did not want to sell the Calloway modded cars.

jackhall99

You want to limit the Chevy dealers who work on our Corvettes to "5 star dealers", but you don't qualify the Cadillac dealers who should work on our cars. So in your opinion all Cadillac dealers know the Corvette in-and-out and would perform exemplary service?

Come my way and let me introduce you to the Cad service asses two miles down the road from where I live.

DHobbs

I don't have a CHEVY Corvette... I have a Greenwood Corvette

shawnvettefan

No only properly certified Cadillac dealers.

OnPoint

1985 Corvette

Chrysler sold the rights to the Viper nameplate. It only follows that the new proprietors of the brand exclude the Dodge portion from the marque now. Unless GM deep sixes again and they need to shed brands regardless of historical value, the Corvette will always be Chevrolet, thank God.

A blue collar sports car is not a bad thing, it just means you actually have a chance to own one in your lifetime instead of staring at a poster of one and giving up on it once you start having kids. Actually, after seeing a 82 grand window sticker on a 2012 Z06, I don't know too many blue collar Joes plunking down that kind of money. Did I mention I only ever see doctors/business suits driving the ZR1s around town?

Corvette is perfect right where it is. I'm actually excited to see what the new Viper will look and perform like. It'll suck the doors off the standard C7 and probably the C7 super Vette in a straight line.

dboz

They are going to make a CUDA which is smaller than the Challenger also. It will be under the SRT name since Plymouth is belly up.

Stew24

I like what Chrysler is doing with their brands. The Dodge Ram pickup is no more as well! .. The pickup line is now "RAM", and Dodge is no longer a part of them. Kinda like GMC is the truck division of GM. But what I like especially well is that the Dodge brand has dropped that big ugly horned billy goat emblem on and in their grills. That ugly thing got jettisoned over to the RAM line exclusively. That big ugly horned goat on a Charger was sooo out of place.

Nitrous Oxide

The Viper has always (?) been sold as the SRT-10 in the UK because 'Viper' is a registered trademark over there. And I've seen it refered to as SRT-10 in other European countries as well.

The Corvette has always been there to uplift and sell the other Chevys. So, don't count on it leaving the family. ;-)

vray

Just got a glimpse of the new SRT Viper. The thing is sexy.