- Jan 24, 2006
- 35
I was driving down the road in Ellicott City, MD many moons ago when I caught a glimpse of something very wicked going the opposite direction. My neck snapped to catch a better look at that low and wide work of rolling art. What the hell was that? At that point I knew I would have to have one, whatever it was. What? A Dodge Viper you say? Back then I was working 80 hour weeks to make my dreams come true, raising three kids, working on one of my first start up companies. Little did I know that that dream would some day come true.
Roll forward a few years and I had just sold one of my companies. What was the first thing I did? Yep, I went down to the local Dodge dealer and paid cash for one of the few remaining 2000 black RT/10's in the country. The rest is history. So many times I witnessed the same snap-neck look I had when I first laid my eyes on a Viper.
Not content with just a stock Viper, I embarked on a journey of power and speed. I first sent my car to Hennessey (many of you know that story) and eventually I met Jason Heffner. At that point, Jason had a small shop in Glen Burnie, MD and was just beginning to work on Vipers. Jason and I spent many, many late nights and long hours on the path of ultimate Viper power. Many of the innovations found in high horsepower Vipers today were originally developed on my car. Eventually my car was the world's fastest (1/4 mile) and highest horsepower forced induction (non-nitrous) Viper in the world. In the beginning there were many naysayers, but eventually through Jason's consistent ability to squeeze more and more power out of these beasts, he became respected as one of the top tuners in the world. Since then he has been featured in numerous magazines and has consistently set records. Not just in the Viper world, but also in the Ford GT and Lamborghini arenas.
I'm glad that my Viper has gone to a friend of mine whom I've known for several years and met through Viper events. I get sentimental about my vehicles, but I'm not the kind to get all misty about letting one of them go. I've got other priorities right now and at some point I'll get another car that gives me as much pleasure to drive as this one did.
Special thanks to Jason for all the work he put into that car to make it truly one-of-a-kind.
Roll forward a few years and I had just sold one of my companies. What was the first thing I did? Yep, I went down to the local Dodge dealer and paid cash for one of the few remaining 2000 black RT/10's in the country. The rest is history. So many times I witnessed the same snap-neck look I had when I first laid my eyes on a Viper.
Not content with just a stock Viper, I embarked on a journey of power and speed. I first sent my car to Hennessey (many of you know that story) and eventually I met Jason Heffner. At that point, Jason had a small shop in Glen Burnie, MD and was just beginning to work on Vipers. Jason and I spent many, many late nights and long hours on the path of ultimate Viper power. Many of the innovations found in high horsepower Vipers today were originally developed on my car. Eventually my car was the world's fastest (1/4 mile) and highest horsepower forced induction (non-nitrous) Viper in the world. In the beginning there were many naysayers, but eventually through Jason's consistent ability to squeeze more and more power out of these beasts, he became respected as one of the top tuners in the world. Since then he has been featured in numerous magazines and has consistently set records. Not just in the Viper world, but also in the Ford GT and Lamborghini arenas.
I'm glad that my Viper has gone to a friend of mine whom I've known for several years and met through Viper events. I get sentimental about my vehicles, but I'm not the kind to get all misty about letting one of them go. I've got other priorities right now and at some point I'll get another car that gives me as much pleasure to drive as this one did.
Special thanks to Jason for all the work he put into that car to make it truly one-of-a-kind.
