1994 Dodge Venom Concept STORY - A Missed Opportunity for Dodge?
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Taking a look at the story of the 1994 Dodge Venom concept car! There are definitely mixed opinions on its looks, but it was Chrysler's first attempt at making a modern muscle car and also one of the first uses of their 'Cab-Forward' design. It was a futuristic, affordable, efficient, and powerful driving machine that took things back to the basics, and I think it would have been a real hit marketed as some sort of ‘cheaper Viper’ in the Dodge lineup.
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@5:26 "the viper never did make it to production" lol yes it did
Lol messed up my words there noticed when I uploaded it 😂
Can you not understand mistakes happen? Damn, give the guy a break
@@justinanderson8758 I can and do understand, Do you not see that I wrote lol in the comment and the creator even gave my comment a heart and found it funny. Jeez like get a life bro.....
@@T-bird_Johnny yeah bet it was a joke
@@justinanderson8758 Sigh...
Definitely a missed opportunity!
Yo midnight can you help me on midnight club la complete edition how to make $1M I need help
The Viper’s younger brother
Yeah, should of been a thing and a cheaper little brother to the Viper
Venom still cancelled soz
That and the Dodge Copperhead. You should check that out. Oh... and the Howler pickup.
I see it.
why are you everywhere
Great video about a forgotten Mopar concept. I saw this car at the New York International Auto Show and have a few photos of it. We liked the tail panel that was reminiscent of a 'Cuda, but thought the front was overdone. Nice job, Marspeed.
I love over done in regards to MoPars..the 94 Ram, comes to mind. ppl freaked out at the time! but we all know how that one turned out..sold so many of them they didn't have the capacity to make a new Ramcharger, lol.
The Intrepid engine was great if you didn't plan on driving it past the 100,000 mile mark on the odometer.
As a former intrepid owner, this! Lol so much went wrong after 100k lol
100k is a lot on any Chrysler engine, even today. Great looking cars...poor quality..
Funny just inspected a 2001 Chrysler Sebring with 230,000 miles. Tired but everything still worked and it was fine. Just needed brakes to pass inspection. Only a small amount of rust on the passenger rear wheel arch.
CamaroAmx that is impressive!
Joshua Schwartz it all depends on how well it was taken care of it’s entire life (mechanically) and how well it was cared for body wise and whether preventive maintenance was done and any issues, no matter how small was fixed properly and immediately.
That car was at the Chicago Auto Show. That's where I saw it. However it was roped off and you couldn't get all that close to it. I was involved with MVCC at the time, and Chrysler was a sponsor for their automotive program. I had a chance to talk to a rep about the Venom. Since the PL and LH cars were the big talk of the town back then, this guy had a bit of inside information on the Venom. He said the car was in clay design as early as 1992. He stated that the car was tried with a FWD layout first with a run of the mill Mistu 3.0 V6 and 4 auto, but the idea changed to rwd with the upcoming 3.5 V6 or perhaps a V8, since the Stealth kinda fit the 2 dr fwd sports car offering already. He claimed that designers really struggled with engineers to make the Venom truly different, and corporate was losing patience with the Pacifica design team, when the real problems were with a needed drivetrain.Chrysler had no rwd transmissions other than the truck A500/518 which were quite large, and those would have to be resigned to work with a 3.5. The only other avenue was to actually use the Dodge truck engines with those transmissions, but they ran into CAFE problems. The idea got scrapped. Pencil pushers also had their say, stating the idea was drowning in red ink for a niche segment of the car buying public, and the car would never be profitable. That ended the program.
Bad market timing too. There was the recession in the early '90s which had people looking for more basic transportation and then the bottom fell out of the coupe market in recovery of the mid/late '90s. Even the Corvette almost died then, the C5 came out only through sheer force of will of a few people. At this time was the rise of the SUV, and all development dollars in the industry were going towards them.
@@runner3033 Which is too damn bad. I hope to live long enough to see the return of the coupe, hell just cars in general. I'm am so over the SUV/Crossover thing, and have been for years. The Subaru people have been doing it right for years, and I absolutely loved the Buick wagon that they NEVER tried to sell. I'm not in a position for a new car right now but someday I hope the car companies get there head out of their ass and start to build cars with soul again, ones like I grew up with.
You can see styling elements of this car in the Sebring coupe heavily.
Dodge shouldve made this
instead of the Avenger
The Avenger would have been the sedan version of the Venom.
@@DocWolph i meant the original avenger from 1995 which was a coupe
Saw the Venom on magazine cover...couldn't wait for it to hit the showroom...went to Dodge dealer and asked when the Venom will be out? They said "Whats a Venom?"...end of sad story. Thanks for this well done video.
Damn that’s just how it goes I guess...thanks for watching!
Great video. I remember reading the car and driver article when I was 16. I wanted one of these so bad. Pretty sad that it never made it into production. Not that I could have afforded this at that age anyways, but it was my dream car. Thanks for the upload.
Love it, and did when I was 14. More would be wonderful. Mopar is amazing, but the others concepts always were cool looking as well. Thanks for all the work you put in doing the videos.
Thanks for watching! I really appreciated this concept and it does seem to really have caught everyone’s attention when it came out
bro you are like a mopar spread sheet geek on level a million. u prolly were a beast at these in high skool. thank you alot bro
It looks like if Mattel designed the Dodge Intrepid.
Looking at todays exterior design, wheel size, deminsion and powerful V6 for it’s day.
Looks like a care that belongs now. Way ahead of its time.
I remember reading in magazines in it for years.
MOPAR! ❤😎
It's a shame the Venom never went into production, would have been a cool sports car
Can you look at the police car from dodge
Good idea!
If FCA invest more into Dodge or SRT do you think they would bring back the Viper I say that because the Viper plant is now for meetings and other events or it's the new museum for FCA's previous cars
I remember seeing this in Car and Driver back then, and I was very much "Shut up and take my money!" about it.
What the Venom promised to do was basically to offer Camaro Z28 performance with a car that had a V-6. Think about it: 60 in 5.2 seconds was basically what a Z28 six speed of the time posted, if with a somewhat higher top speed (153 mph). It would have blown six cylinder Camaros and Mustangs into the weeds all day long.
A good reason there weren't so many interior pictures is that the Venom basically shared its dash with the Neon. It was a bit of cost cutting, but with a oil pressure and ammeter gauge put on a console or somewhere else, you had what you needed. That they did this may have shown how seriously they were thinking of production. It could have appeared in showrooms in '95, or perhaps '96.
You should do videos on the history of the Dodge Ram vans from the 70s through the early 2000s
Looks like a dodge stealth coming out of a 07 corvette
Would definitely have been interested in getting one for sure. To bad they didn't bring it to production.
I’ve driven prowlers before and although the weight distribution is much different, due to the transmission being in the rear, I bet it would have had similar performance to the venom. Great video as always! Ps: I would have loved to hear the exhaust note! 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks for watching! Couldn’t find anything more than what you saw on screen for it unfortunately! I’m thinking that not many people ended up getting footage of it at the auto show or during testing back in 1994 :/
Marspeed just thought I’d share this with you. Something I just came across. You can kind of hear it in two parts of this video.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to me!
ruclips.net/video/EPtoKvBViQ8/видео.html
IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE A VIPER TO ME VERY FUN LOOKING
Looks like a Dodge Avenger or Stratus coupe with a custom body kit.
Me thinks Chevy execs "borrowed" some elements of this design theme and applied it to the C5 Corvette. Just look at the two side by side.
Please do an episode on the Stealth. I believe the Stealth had a HUGE impact on the styling of the Venom, and it actually was nicknamed "baby Viper" when outfitted with the turbo trim level. So PLEASE.... Do an episode on the Stealth/3000GT
U should do intrepid next. I had a 94. Pretty reliable for the most part 👍🏾
I could have seen this being the first SRT6 model of a Dodge vehicle if it would have went into production.
They missed a huge opportunity
I wished it had been made into production 😀
I was never into Dodge , but when I saw the article in motor trend magazine , I was all in ! They should have produced it !
I had a 97 eagle vision tsi (basically an intrepid) with the v6, and i was very quick and responsive. That engine in a car based on the neon platform would've been a ton of fun to drive, and I agree that it was a missed opportunity for Chrysler.
Man all these cool mopars that never made production
So many of them 😩
Dodge made the C5 before Chevy did 😎
I remember seeing a sketch of this car in the 90's but they were calling it the Charger Concept.
Robert 'Sell out' Eaton took the reigns at Chrysler Corporation in '92. Being a GM guy, he no doubt hated this car..just look what he did to the whole company.
..What i cannot figure is..why there were no controls to prevent such a travesty.
I also can't believe the Prowler ever got made! At least one amazing concept from that remarkable era made it through the muck and mire of bs mngmnt..and our beloved icon car, the PT Cruiser! :D
Basically, the Venom is what would have happened if the Intrepid and Viper had a badass baby. I wholeheartedly approve.
I'd love to see video of you talking about the older muscle car's
I second this!
Jacob Eakright: cars. Not car’s. No apostrophe needed.
I can try to get more into that but I’m just not very familiar with them so need to learn more about them lol
@@MarspeedCars Ah, makes sense. Buy one 1st :)
Sell that homely Hemi Charger!
Ahahahaha, jkjkjk.
A guy i used to work with has a...'06 Charger, 5.7, lil head work & a cam..still the single spin rear and he ran 11.8 in the 1/4! Jebus!
I can understand that since your not familiar with them just thought I'd throw an idea out there
Seriously lost opportunity. Actually there was a reason given that the Venom didn't make production. Apparently there was a budget for either the Venom or the Plymouth Prowler. For some reason executives at Chrysler chose the underwhelming Plymouth Prowler concept instead. One look at the Prowler shows that it obviously had a much more limited appeal. It was much more of a niche vehicle than the Venom would have been. The Car and Driver article shown in the video also referenced the fact that if the Venom would have been made, the production car would have been even lighter, having aluminum body panels. A top of the line version with a supercharger was also planned. With lighter weight, and a supercharged engine, the Venom would have had a power to weight ratio similar to the SS Camaros and Cobra Mustangs of the day. A serious shame this car wasn't built. Obviously someone at Chrysler with clout preferred the Prowler. History pretty much shows they made the wrong decision. The Prowler had poor performance for a car in it's price range, limited appeal, and very limited utility. Also, the Venom probably would have reached production as a 2 + 2, making it the perfect competitor for Mustangs and Camaros. It would have been much more useful as a daily driver. A real shame it was a great idea.
Nice looking car looks a little bit like a challenger from the back looks a little bit like a challenger from the front LOL!
Just the fact that it was rwd would've made it a fav with enthusiasts.
Ehhh, I doubt it would have done well. By the time it was production ready, certified, etc I'd be less car for more money. Then it'd have to go up against the Camaro and Mustang options at the time. With available V8s, more aftermarket, better reputations, etc, they would have spanked it in sales.
What I think could have been a niche Dodge could have filled in the 90s was a full size sedan. Take the viper platform and make a RWD 4 door sedan with IRS and a powerful drivetrain. Use the V10/transmission combo used in the V10 Ram, of course offer a base V8, and call it the Python. A better car then Fords Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car line that had more power, handled better, and didn't have the troublesome engine issues Ford was having with their modular at the time. It would have sold great to police departments, limo companies, general luxury buyers, etc. It would have then swept the market when Ford dropped that platform in 2012.
Doing so probably would have lowered Viper production costs as well, making it a more attainable car for Corvette buyers looking at other options.
Definitely a good point and for sure it wouldn’t have been the same as a production version. Thanks for the insightful comment 👍🏽
eagle vision 3.6l 24 valves DOHC 250hp+ 1996 was probably derived from that, it was quick, very comfortable, nimble, impressive styling, is one production vehicle to look into.
Definitely sweet for 1994
You really should make a video on the Dodge Intrepid cab forward design 👍👍
i miss my '94 Concorde with 'only' the 3.3L. such a fine handling car. not a quick af car, but she moved along fine. that engine sounded far cooler than the 3.0L mitsu in my '93 LeBaron drop top summer car does now. which is doing fine at 170k, though so no complaints..and the Concorde i sold to my sis, yrs ago..it ran fine when she sold it w/over 200k..don't listen to the trolls..ever! lmbo.
Who knows it might end up being there flagship Ev
I believe it would have been a hit
Edgy styling, with some performance to back it up!
The Dodge Stealth is one of the rarest concepts brought to the streets that looks good to be real. It couldn't be done if it wasn't for Mitsubishi Motors and their 3000GT.
Have you considered emailing FCA before these videos? They'd probably get you those interior pictures and some additional info. PR departments love fans of their history.
A Challenger/Cuda would have been epic on this platform.
Dodge should revive this car. But with more modern styling especially the front end but with largely similar to keep it recognizable to those who have fond memories of the original.
Bring it back, put a 6.4 Hemi in it, 6-speed, and call it the Barracuda.
I'd bet they wouldn't be able to make them fast enough to keep up with demand for the first 2 years.
Is it known if Chrysler finally destroyed the Venom or is it sitting in storage somewhere?
Chrysler (FCA) still has all of their concept and museum cars in a warehouse. They don't publicize its location, but it exists.
@@fuzz7boy Thank God they didn't do like GM in the 50's and try to destroy the awesome dream cars that Harley Earl made.
5:25
"...the Viper never did make it to production."
The cab forward design also debuted the ad campaign Dodge used that featured Mr Voice of History Channel 1990s. I forgot his name, and a silvder dodge logo with red bull.
Great video. Thank you. To me it looks a lot like the Dodge Avenger they made shortly afterwards.
Anything related to the Intrepid and Neon was certainly not a missed opportunity.
This was what the sebring/stratus coupes should've been
I used to have a 2001 Stratus R/T neat body style but under powered mitsu engine but made for a neat looking prostock body.
They did an lpg concept too I think...I remember an lpg Chrysler at the autoshow
Think it would have been a hit minus the 3.5 install 3.9,5.2 or 5.9 .man what fun
Personally i think it would have looked a bit better if the cabin was a bit shorter, with a longer hood, and they should have used one the small block v8s, an updated, alloy 340 would have been awesome!
If chef john did a car show, it would sound like this.
I remember looking at this as being the Mopar resurgence to the muscle car era. But the details were lost in translation. Took so long for a hit with the Challenger. Nice to see someone research the things of days gone bye... In the early 90s there was not much to speak of except for an ASC McLaren Pontiac Grand Prix. This could have been great, but it could have killed off the production of what we now know as the Challenger and Charger. For that... I say thank you for not placing this in production.
Dodge missed way too many opportunities
I’m a euro guy all the way, but this. This would make me finally buy American
Cool car! What a shame it never went into production. Looks like it would have replaced the Stealth and attracted the younger crowd who wanted a 2 door supercar but couldn't afford it.
5:23 the viper?
My guess (given that there was no price for it) is that there wouldn't be any market for it. The only competitor would be either the Corvette or Mustang which would outperform it. Unless they would offer a V8 in the future, which most likely wouldn't fit. Unless this car was way cheaper, but then again, why not get an Intrepid or Stratus R/T instead, which I would guess would be in the same price range.
It’s definitely a shame cause I definitely would have bought 1 the venom is sweet I like it and if that model came out today I’d still buy 1.
i’m getting vibes from the viper “defender” from the tv show with the same name with this car
Imagine the Venom as a sports wagon.
It should have become the Dodge Charger in my opinion
The Dodge Venom with the V6 engine would be great but they should have put a V8 engine even a Hemi engine if they would have put it in the Production
The number crunchers must have looked at the declining numbers for the contemporary Camaro/Firebird and saw that the pie was getting smaller. Government regulations on the horizon would have jacked up the price to where it wouldn’t make sense either.
Sold I’ll take it. Lot cheaper than the expensive crap we call cars today
I think this was a missed opportunity, although I think it's a little too much radical styling for the time to be a good seller. The intrepid and neon were just hitting the scene in 1994-95 and I think most people thought those cars were pretty progressive looking. You've gotta remember, most production cars only 5 years earlier were very basic and boxy in design in contrast.
This would have been a great way to have a better Dodge Daytona! Today, it would be a great car to sell alongside the Challenger!!!
Like camaro / trasn am definitely has viper pedigree on it... I didn't know about this concept... Cool looks
Please do the VIPER DEFENDER.
Cool concept! Someone should make a kit available for a Sebring coupe
C5 body side moulding and a tigershark rear. 😎
Can you make a plymouth video
Those side mirrors look to be straight from a stealth
Chrys/Dodge/plymouth was always like the slow little brother who had no confidence partly cause their wiring wasnt quite right.
This would have been dope.
The drivetrain makes me think Prowler.
It looked friggin stunning, I like it more than Viper.
So if a car like this and other concepts, what do they do with the concepts after it dont make it to production?
It depends. Some manufacturers will destroy the vehicle while others sell them.
Many concept cars end up in museums.
Most concept cars are think tanks. They either show the public design elements that will eventually go into production or are playing with new ideas in production techniques or testing the waters on new options. Very rarely does an entire concept car become an actual production car (and in many cases if that happens, it was already planned to be produced prior to public showing). Rarely are any actually street legal and some don’t even have drivetrains or even interiors.
it either gets put in the automakers warehouse or design studio or get displayed (on loan) to a museum or they get crushed or even sometimes get modified and reused as anther concept car.
@@CamaroAmx is it posible to buy a full concept car?
MOPAR ARTS 392HEMI every once in a blue moon they will auction off a concept car, but they usually will not be able to be road legal (no VIN) and usually they are expensive as they are sold at big time auctions like Barret-Jackson.
Do the dodge intrepid
I really liked the venom.
I feel it would have taken off.
I would try to get one.
I like it. I wish they sold it.
The reason why this Concept never became a reality is because Chrysler had a partnership with Mitsubishi.
Dodge was selling the Stealth and Eagle was selling the Talon.
Both were high performance vehicles offered with Turbo and All Wheel Drive.
Wraith! Wraith! Wriath! lol
Like usual Dodge missed the boat this was the opportunity 2 put another muscle car out. We bought a 94 Intrepid that was one of the best cars I ever had next to our 04 Kia minivan has over 200,000 miles on it and runs like a champ. Dodge should still make this car today and it would sell like hotcakes keep it priced way under the Challenger and Charger and you would have something!
If chrysler would be dropped a v8 in all those "muscle cars" of the 90s, I bet they wouldve had a much bigger decade than they did. Who's looks forward to one day restoring a barn find intrepid or seabring?
What an awesome car. FR layout, 2,700lbs, 250hrsprs, and a six speed, all for a ludicrously low price?? I hope Chrysler had a very good reason for not making this. Missed opportunity, indeed.
Why are there only captions in korean?
LiT machine! Ok.."They shudda.."
FCA could do it up, now. Add some hp via the 3.6L Pentastar (Or the possible upcoming 300 hp, 3.0L inline 6?) and you're knocking on high 4 sec range. And sell it for $25k.
And keep it simple..screw options all over the place..ac/pw/pl and a bangin' stereo. Boom.
The cab fwd cars ALL had fine handling..counter intuitively, the (Mopes only..no other mnfctr fwd rly had both power and fine handling..Jap & Ford & Chevy stuff was all slow af then lol) fwd cars gave rwd cars FITS! And this was an rwd MoPar. Neon was a road course destroyer of worlds..(Showroom Stock Class C..look it up:)
A Neon with a 5 spd manual could run a road course as fast as a 5.0 Mustang..the Mustangs brakes would melt off of the car after a few laps as the Neon danced around their flabby Fox body as it slowed down, every lap.
Same was true of the 300M, Intrepid R/T cars.
Stratus was a huge force in Super Touring series racing. 300hp in a NA 2.0L..serious stuff!
i bet the Venom could hit a srs corner..esp with the big tires to the curb weight.
Thanks, Marspeed! Dodge Copperhead, next? :D
Interesting points you’ve brought up, that’s definitely a way they should go and go back to performance oriented cars at a low price point. Dodge is also literally the ‘performance brand’ for FCA so it kind of fits what they are doing. Thanks for watching and I did an episode on the Copperhead already but it was a while back so I might end up
Remaking it
@@MarspeedCars Hey, thnks for the RE! I appreciate that you read my long winded diatribes :D
We
I like that car
From a price point it would look better as a Plymouth.
Looks like a Stratus/Sebring Coupe.