dodge ended production of the viper nearly four years ago. despite its exotic looks and wild 8.4-liter naturally aspirated v-10 engine, sales just couldn't live up to expectations. seeing as how there likely won't be a replacement, dealers have been holding onto unsold vipers with the hopes they'll go up in value. according to dodge's latest sales report, two of those vipers were sold in q1 of 2021.
that means two people in the u.s. were able to purchase brand-new vipers off the lot several years after the car ended production. the sales report doesn't disclose where the vipers were sold or how much each car was sold for, though it's safe to assume there were markups involved. it's not easy to find brand-new, never-registered vipers for sale, after all.
this isn't the first time we've seen dealers hold onto vipers just to sell them years later. in 2019, a total of five new vipers were sold to customers. that number dropped to just four in 2020.
another interesting part of stellantis's q1 sales? it sold exactly one dodge dart in 2021. the dart, a front-wheel-drive compact sedan, was killed off even earlier than the viper, in 2016. that means the dart in question had been sitting for five years before someone finally bought it.
dealers moved 24 examples of the slowest-selling car that stellantis currently makes, the alfa romeo 4c, in quarter one of 2021. that's a slight dip from last year, when it sold 31 examples over the same period of time.
from: road & track