Car manufacturers that have been around for decades always have quite the lineup to show for themselves. While any brand in the industry goes through hits as well as misses, there are also times when some of their cars become icons and move on to legendary status. For customers who are hardcore fans and ardent loyalists, owning iconic cars from a brand isn't enough, which is where special editions come in. Often, automakers release special editions of their existing cars, to celebrate a milestone or a victory. When that happens, these special editions are produced in low numbers, to add to the exclusivity of the model, and more often than not, they sell out within minutes of the order books opening up.
Dodge, a titan of the industry and an indelible part of American automotive history, is one such carmaker. Over the years, Dodge has released some phenomenal special editions of their most iconic cars, and one such car is the Viper. One of the most successful cars to come out of Detroit in terms of racing victories, the Dodge Viper is a world-renowned car that has sprouted several special editions, and one such edition is the 2010 Dodge Viper Voodoo Edition. Released towards the end of the Viper's final generation, here's everything you need to know about the special-edition Viper Voodoo.
8 The Dodge Viper Voodoo Got Exclusive Styling
The 2010 Dodge Viper Voodoo Edition came in an all-black avatar, what gearheads had then dubbed 'black magic'. With red calipers and a single red and golden asymmetrical stripe running through the length of the car.
This is an absolute looker of a car, turning heads and breaking necks wherever it went. Even the wheels are blacked out, with special 'Voodoo' stickers adorning the bumper and the side skirts of the special-edition Viper. Even the interiors had the Voodoo sticker.
7 The Viper Voodoo Came With A Massive Engine
The Dodge Viper has been a symbol of pure V10 goodness and power, and of course, the special edition of the icon, the Voodoo Viper, was going to be no less. With a massive 8.4-liter V10 engine strapped underneath its hood, the Voodoo Viper didn't just turn heads wherever it went, but it filled ears as well.
The engine was capable of making 600 horsepower along with 560 lb-ft of torque, which was thanks to the adoption of this new engine two years prior, in 2008. Massively powerful and music to the ears of muscle and gasoline purists, there simply was nothing like the Viper's power unit.
6 Only 31 Units Were Ever Made
Here's why the 2010 Dodge Viper Voodoo special edition is one of the rarest Vipers ever made. Only 31 of these models were ever made, as a going-away lineup at the end of the Viper's fourth generation.
In fact, on the inside of the Voodoo Viper, each unit came with a lot number badge which signified exactly which model out of the 13 produced the particular Viper Voodoo was. Nothing like a little extra exclusivity to enhance the ownership of an already-iconic car like the Dodge Viper.
5 The Viper Voodoo Came Race-Ready
The Dodge Viper Voodoo was a special edition that Dodge made by making additions and modifications to the already-successful Viper ACR (short for American Club Racer). Already a phenomenal track toy, there was no way that Dodge was going to leave any room for complaints when it came to the track capabilities of the last of the Gen-4 Vipers.
The huge 8.4-liter V10 engine was mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, and the car featured everything the ACR was known for. The Viper Voodoo came with carbon-fiber aero parts from the Viper ACR, two-piece rotors, and Sidewinder black wheels which were lightweight to keep the weight down. With 3-way adjustable suspension and even the ACR badging, the Viper Voodoo set fire to the asphalt as it conquered the racetrack.
4 The Voodoo Celebrated The End Of The 4th-Gen Dodge Viper
By 2010, there had been a lot of uncertainty about the future of the Dodge Viper. The car had been in its fourth generation and was slowly becoming outdated, and there had been no concrete news about a new generation. 2010 itself was quite the low-production year for the brand, with only 500 Vipers coming off the assembly line.
Thus came the Viper Voodoo, which celebrated the end of the 4th generation Vipers with just 31 units of this limited-edition run. Extremely rare, it is very tough to spot one of these on the roads, unless you're going to an all-Viper meet. This was also the year that the Dodge Viper would enter a 3-year-long hiatus, only to come back in 2013 for another 4-year run.
3 The Viper Voodoo Replicated A One-Of-A-Kind Car
The Dodge Viper Voodoo Edition wasn't just a random Viper car that had black paint thrown onto it. Ralph Gilles, the head of FCA at the time, had commissioned a one-off, special Viper ACR for himself, which was blacked out with the same livery as what would eventually become the Dodge Viper Voodoo.
At the end of the Viper's fourth generation, this car, housed in Ralph Gilles' garage, was used as the model after which the 31 units of the Voodoo were replicated. Thus, not only does the Viper Voodoo have history to itself, but it's also as unique as they come.
2 Even The Voodoo's Interiors Were Track-Focused
To make this special edition of the Viper as light as possible, Dodge went ahead and removed a lot of creature comforts from the Voodoo edition. A sinister version of the already-fast ACR Viper, the Voodoo might have housed special Voodoo badging on the inside, but it didn't have much else.
This was a car that focused on going as fast as possible, and it did achieve its purpose with a ludicrous top speed of 202 mph. With carbon-fiber parts on the interior of the cabin as well, there was no doubt that the Voodoo Viper was focused on being as light as possible.
1 A 2017 Voodoo II Edition Paid Homage To The 2010 Original Viper Voodoo
When Dodge unveiled a fifth generation of the Viper at the 2012 New York Auto Show, gearheads across the world rejoiced to have one of the most iconic American cars ever return for a fifth generation. More powerful than ever before, the new Viper churned out 640 horsepower with 600 lb-ft of torque.
In 2017, as the fifth generation of the Viper came to an end, and so did the car's production run, another special edition titled the 'Voodoo II' came out. Paying homage to the original Voodoo which marked the end of the fourth generation, the Voodoo II set the sun on the fifth. Furthermore, Dodge also produced just 31 units of this limited-run, keeping in tune with the Voodoo Edition that came 7 years prior.