The Viper is the antithesis to the Corvette here in America. A kind of anti-hero so to speak. Where the Corvette has been crowned the greatest American sports car many times in its 50+ year history, the Viper is newer and it struggled to gain a real foothold on the sports car market.

It's got some great upsides though, it's unbelievably powerful. It's far more aggressive-looking than even the new mid-engine Corvette, and it's always been harder and more dangerous to pilot.

Additionally, Dodge has never waivered in terms of the power the Viper produced, every single edition has had high-than-average power numbers and been capable of keeping up with if not eclipsing any Corvette lap time. Today we look at 15 things you have forgotten about the snake from the Chrysler Corporation.

15 Lamborghini Helped With The Engine

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In 1989, Chrysler owned Lamborghini. When the need for a big bad sports car came along, an aluminum HEMI V8 was almost used before Bob Lutz himself put the ax to that idea. Instead, he turned to his Italian co-workers to help him craft something special and they delivered.

14 2007 Never Happened

Motor1

Due to major modifications scheduled for the 2007 product taking too long to develop Dodge announced that there would be no 2007 Viper. Production of the 2006 version would continue a little longer than planned and then they unveiled a seriously improved car for 2008.

13 It Was Nearly Named Challenger

Youtube

Dodge didn't stumble upon the idea of going retro recently. The Viper could've been called a bunch of things including Side-Winder and Python. Thankfully they stuck with the name they did. Nothing else sounds right.

12 It's Not A Dodge In The Rest Of The World

Art & Revs

If you leave the USA and find a Viper you won't see the word Dodge anywhere on it. That's because it's known as the Chrysler Viper. In fact, on the back left side of the bumper, the Dodge brand isn't stamped there at all. In the few examples that do have a stamp, it says Chrysler.

11 McLaren Helped Develop The Latest Engine

Motor1

Where the Corvette has to settle with brilliant engineers from Chevy working on it, Dodge goes to the big boys whenever they think they need it. McLaren got the tap to help with the newest motor and did as they were asked. Bet you haven't seen those valve covers lately have you?

RELATED: 15 Facts About Lamborghinis, Ferraris, And McLarens Everyone Keeps Ignoring

10 Chrysler Nearly Released Their Own

Chrysler

Seen above is a concept that was only killed in the latest stages called the Chrysler Firepower. If they had managed to build the darn thing they might have saved Viper from an early grave.

You see, it used the HEMI V8 Bob Lutz had nixed earlier it the Viper's life. Not only would that have been cheaper to produce, but another version of the car would've brought volume sales up along with profits.

9 The GTS Didn't Debut Until 5 Years In

Hagerty

I can't speak for you, but I bet most of you think that the RT/10 and the GTS came out together as the original vipers. Not only did the GTS only come out 5 years after the first Viper, but the RT/10 wasn't even the original. It was simply called Viper.

8 Lee Iacocca Had To Approve It

CNBC

We all think of Lee Iacocca in a number of other car's histories but almost never in that of the Viper. The truth is though, that without his blessing, we would never have known the snake we all love. He took a 30 min test drive and then asked: "What are you waiting for?"

7 Bob Lutz Was Considered Its Father

Autoweek

Lutz is known, much like Iacocca, for a bevy of automotive ventures but the Viper was his baby. So much so that he's backed and ultimately become a part of a new company that uses the Viper as a chassis to build onto.

6 There Was A Mamba Edition

GCMW

The very rare Mamba edition was sold for only a year and only 200 cars were ever sold with it. It featured a black and red interior that looks like you bought it out of an Autozone catalog at the time. It offered no other additions.

RELATED: Chinese Copycats: 20 Cars That Are Total Rip-Offs

5 Racing Easter Eggs

MotorTrend

Recent examples are fitted with small little easter eggs like the Nurburgring and Laguna Seca engraved in various spots like the door handles and the cupholders. The importance of those tracks is that the Viper owns or owned lap records there.

4 The Most Famous Viper Race Car Is French

DodgeForum

Did you grow up playing Gran Turismo on Playstation? I know I did, and the Oreca Vipers always gave me fits wherever I met them. Turns out those Vipers were run by a French racing team with some funding from Chrysler themselves. I never would've guessed.

3 It Debuted The Same Day As Lexus & Infiniti

AutomobileMagazine

It might surprise most to know that the day the Viper was released, so was Lexus and its rival Infiniti. How life has changed for all three brands. Viper is gone, Infiniti is constantly trying to reinvent the wheel to gain traction and Lexus is 9/10ths the car that its German rivals are. Now if they could figure out how to build a decent sports car again I think they'd be in business.

2 It's Under The Alfa Romeo TZ3

MCQ

The Alfa Romeo Zagato TZ3 Stradale is one of the rarest cars known to man with only 9 ever being produced. They even chopped parts of the Viper roof line out to get that "Glass all around" look that it has. Nevertheless it's just a Viper in a different dress.

1 It's Used For A Number Of Rare Cars

Wikimedia

Above you're looking at a Bristol Fighter. Some say it's one of the greatest cars you've never heard of. It does look very British. Kind of a new-age Jensen Interceptor or something TVR might've created. That's not bad at all. The Bristol is one of at least 6 other small-batch cars all based on the Viper.

NEXT: 15 Pics That Show How Much The Dodge Viper Has Changed In 30 Years