While there've been rumors of a potential entry-level Chevrolet Corvette coupe on the horizon, SRT has just made clear it has absolutely no intention of doing the same with the Viper. What's more, an automatic transmission will never be offered. We have no interest in becoming a Corvette," stated SRT boss Ralph Gilles in a recent interview. "The people who buy (the Viper) relish the manual, they relish the driver's car, the raw connections to the vehicle.

That is what it is about. So we are not chasing rainbows here." So what about a dual-clutch gearbox? Gilles stated that such an offering "would definitely open up volume, (but) it is not really our priority at this minute. The vehicle is about being a purists' car." When asked if, for example, SRT would drop a 470 horsepower 6.4-liter Hemi V8 under the Viper's clamshell hood, Gilles couldn't have been clearer: "It sounds like you are describing a Corvette. We have no interest in becoming a Corvette because what is unique about the Viper is that engine is in nothing else."