Very nice. I started my design career on that car, was in the room when Iacocca approved it for production. Fuel lines, brake lines, exhaust, hinge pillars and toe boxes, all those drawings have my name on them.
@@GM-fh5jp More packaging constraints than anything else. It was the only place to put the exhaust, no room under the car. Seeing the bare frame would show why.
I have my own version for this as a programmer: A computer will do what you tell it to do, whether you know/understand what you told it to do or not. An easy example is with a slow/frozen computer - some people will hit a bunch of keys at the speed of a sowing machine, just to act all surprised when it catches up and starts acting on every input they just put in.
Happy Birthday, Dave! You're only 44 years young. I hope that you'll have a blessed year and that you'll be able to bring us many more years of videos.
@@ChrisPatrick-q6k Well, I meant it more like he tries to keep his real name private, and somebody here just said it. Or idk, maybe it's known, I didn't know it.
Truthfully, you rarely lose much value on Vipers for salvage paper unless the damage was extreme or it has massive mechanical issues . But the low production numbers of them is why after all these years they still command at minimum 30 grand. I have shopped them before and never saw one lower than 40k. and that was 3 years ago. So you done good Wiz.
I live in NZ, and I've only ever seen 2 of these on the road here - they have amazing presence and command at least as much attention as an Italian supercar.
If you're going to buy a rebuilt title car, the rear end damage is the place to have it. Front end damage is scarier. Congrats on the purchase, Dave! Let us know about any insurance issues with the rebuilt title.
It’s going to be more, I imagine for a Viper it could be very expensive, it’s $100 a year more than a non-salvage on my 2011 Lincoln town car, so $260 per year versus $160.
Happy Birthday Wizard! Porsche brakes and KW suspension were common upgrades on the mk1 Viper here in Germany. Made the car much safer and more capabale
Happy Birthday wizard. My dad bought me a 1:18 diecast model of this when I was little in the 90s on holiday in Kish island, southern Iran in the Persian Gulf and ever since then I've fantasised about owning one. I'm very envious of you, but i will have to say you have made a fantastic desicion. Shame we cant get these beauties over here. You're a lucky and blessed man Wizard.
i bought a 1993 viper last year with 3,700 miles. i had all the gaskets replaced, the entire cooling system replaced, all fluids replaced, all new tires and got it straight piped. you have to straight pipe it, its a whole other animal and the stock cam has a nice amount of lope you can hear once straight piped. best car i have driven. just hard to get certain replacement parts.
I'm glad you can be able to afford this, total dream car, you deserve it and then some for how helpful you are to all of us and infinitely sharing your knowledge and tips. Happy Birthday, David!
Great video. I am on the 1996 Dodge Viper GTS a few years ago. It was my dream car. It was so exciting to drive and just thrilling to push that gas pedal and shift those gears. Much like you’re saying when I bought it in 2008 it was relatively cheap and I sold it back in 2020 right before the pandemic really head and made an absolute killing. I don’t regret selling it but man I had a great time owning it.
Enjoy your new car David, as long as drives straight, some TLC on the paintwork and new tires and the title will be soon forgotten. Have a great Birthday.🎂
Love seeing the Viper in the foreground and the XLR in the background. Also, for a salvaged out Viper that frame looks great front to back especially if it drives straight. I think you really found a gem here Wizard
Congrats Wizard, welcome to the Viper club! I was so happy to see you got one, I think it says a lot for someone who has worked on several of them to recognize how awesome they are.
Welcome to the Viper family Wizard! I love my Viper and recently bought a gen 2 like yours with some accident history. Nothing major front bumper replaced and 31k miles. I plan on driving it as well! A teenage dream come true.
The Dodge Viper is still one of my dream cars. I was able to drive a Gen 1 after a parade to help get all cars back to a dealership, and it just stuck with me. Such a normal interior but a monster lurks beneath.
Many Happy Returns Wizard. May you have many happy years with your new toy. I wouldn’t worry about depreciation on that viper, as they get rarer and rarer they will either hold their price or go up in value, you’re extremely unlikely to loose money on that purchase, even if you got bored with it after a few years, you’ll always get back what you paid for it… if not more!
In 1997, We Autocrossed a 94 Red Viper just like you see here. As a veteran Autocrosser for decades, This car was the most evil car i have ever autocrossed to this day. It did however run a 12.33@ 116mph at the drag strip with BFG drag radials with some exhaust work. And the soft top leaks water badly. BTW, Happy Birthday Mr Wizard you young buck
Happy birthday and Congrats! to you 🎊🏆I also purchased mine last months paid in cash. While watching this video I feel very proud of who I am and what I've accomplished. I'm glad I made a wise financial choice that changed me
Congratulations! I'm motivated, and I'm also saving up to buy a house, so this means a lot to me right now. Would you mind sharing some advice on how to increase my income?
@@peteranderson5714 Here are some tips that helped me. 1. Plan towards it 2. Be frugal and minimal on spending (don't buywhy you don't need ) 3. Save money towards retirement (Roth IRA/401k) 4. Build an emergency fund 5. Save to invest, this is the most important because it's a proven way to get richer. Very important to financial success.
@@dabriga7 thanks you for replying me speaking about investment i have heard it, but not sure where to begin or how to make a decent one can you explain further?
I almost became part owner of one of these back in the mid 90s. owner had taken it out on the wrong day (cold, damp, no insurance, there might have been alcohol involved as well), nosed it into a phone pole at speed sufficient enough to crack the bumper and hood in multiple places. He didn't want to spend the cash to replace the parts, so the one man body shop it was at for an estimate I was good friends with the guy, offered to buy it for a really cheap price (think less than half what Mr. Wizard paid for his.) The planned notarized deal was I'd work at the shop for a determined number of man hours and pay for materials, shop owner would do the labor to glue the panels back together and paint them, shop owner would drive it for probably 2-3 years (about how long he kept a car anyways before he got bored), when I turned 25 the title would be signed exclusively over to me and the car would be mine. Sadly the owner of the car came to his senses, fixed the car and kept it.
Happy Birthday Weeezard! I've had 2 and the only problem the Viper has is that it always seems to be trying to kill you 🤣 It's always the most fun and terrifying vehicle ever made.
I'm the kind of weirdo that would have to detail every inch of that car, under carriage, engine bay, all of it. It's got enough road grime to be a super satisfying clean, but you can tell it's just dust and grime, nothing bad. Beautiful machine though. Love those first gen. Brings back memories of the TV show by the same name. My mechanic has a 96 Viper. I believe he said it has just over 40k km on it. He does the exact same thing you want to do, cruise it and put it in car shows. He drives it maybe 4k km a year. Happy B-day Wiz.
Happy birthday Wizard! When you said that you had a midlife crisis I assumed that you bought a corvette. Although this is much cooler than a corvette. I turn my head every time I see a Viper.
Happy Treat-Yo-Self Day, Sir Wizard! A red Viper as a B'day present sounds almost *too* on-the-nose, but golly, it looks like silly-fun lies ahead for you (and Mrs. Wizard, whom I presume gets some driver's-seat time, as she seemed to hint at here). Glad Tyler gave you the soft top from his Viper...never assume you'll never get a bit of rain on a nice day's drive. Looking very much forward to your driving and wrenching episodes with this one.
Mash is type of 5 collision damage types. Others are - arranged by complexity of repair - Sidesway, Sag, Diamond, Twist. Last two are mostly seen on body on frame vehicles. Mash is the easiest unibody/BodyOnFrame damage to repair, while twist is the hardest and results when vehicles hits another and then third vehicle hits the second in the rear left or rear right. "Pull mash" means certain measuring point at the rear of the vehicles was pushed in towards the front by few mm, in this case because the damage was minor maybe the rear body panel was pushed in by few mm. So we "pull mash" or pull out the damaged part(point of measure) of the rear body panel back toward the outside. I think this is the recipe only from the frame shop and not from the body shop, where they will replace the bent rear reinforcement beam, replace/or repair the bumper. And then paint the bumper and blend the color to the trunk and quarter panels.
Happy Birthday, Dave! Great thanks for your educating content. I've learnt so so much over several years of watching your channel. I greatly appreciate all your time and labour investment in producing videos and repairing cars concurrently.
Knowing we're the same age, and that you went from, what, a 91B, to a successful business owner gives this former 11B that's now a heavy equipment tech (thanks Bradley Fighting Vehicle) quite a bit of hope. I keep considering doing a weekend-only ag repair business, and other dude's success is helping to push me more and more to give it a shot for a year.
Great car, loved it the first moment i saw it. Got a model kit of it, painted it green. Some years later at the start of my job career i worked at Mercedes-Benz when they merged with Chrysler and got the offer to drive one of these brand new. I didn't take it because i feared of crashing it (i was 21 at the time, just made my driving license the year before) and it was needed for a presentation the following day. I have a hell of a lot of respect for that torque monster without servo steering, ABS and so on. This one was well taken care of even though it wasn't driven much. You got it for a good price and i wish you a lot of fun and always a crash free drive with it. Thank you for sharing your purchase with us.
Hi wizard how Tyler doing? He seems happier in his latest video. Happy birthday to you and please be there for him. I have a feeling hes keeping all of this bottled up and would be good to know he has a friend there who he can hang out with and vent. Tell mrs wizard youve got a bro in need and you need to spend some quality time with him. Hes done so much for you all and im sure never expected anything in return. Sorry but it would just make me feel better to know his friends are circling the wagons and taking care of him.
Dave, Car Wizard, Happy Birthday, I had a friend that was in a car dealership back in 2001, and he drove it in the wet, spun it, was flipped out of the driver's side, and broke his leg in 2 places!! He worked at Joe Macari in South London, and recommended a Maserati 3200 GT to me at the time; I never got to have a ride in a Ferrari F50 that they had for sale... Memories!! Many Happy Returns again, if Tavarish still has his maybe you could have a show and tell!! Or a drag race!!!
From Australia. Happy Birthday. I remember Australian racing driver Rusty French driving a Dodge Viper around the Mount Panorama race track where the Bathurst 1000 is raced every year, which is basically a blocked off public road for the race, similar to the roads used in the Isle of Man TT except the latter being a motorcycle time trial. French ran out of brakes. Brembo replacements would be on top of the shopping list for me. Great price by the way, bargain hot rod.
For me it was more the After-midlife-crisis, I am 16 years older and 2 years ago bought a red '94 car like the Wizard. But that is about where the parallels end. But one advantage I have: I have about 5,000 miles of unlimited autobahn. So unless the Wizard goes on a racetrack, my car can go legally faster than his Viper with 2 1/2 the power.
Happy Birthday. I drove a a Generation one for the internet way back when they were new. I burned my leg on side pipe, it fishtailed like crazy, it had no radio and I was loving every minute of it all. Mrs. Wizard looks to be about 23 and your guys seem really good together. I would love to hear the satire between the two of you once in a while. Beautiful car. Greeting from Wichita.
If it is only 21k miles, check the air filters. The earlier style filters have a foam gasket which turns to tar and clogs the filter. My gen 2 had them when I got it 2 years ago.
Only a few years ago, in 1995 I was Viper tech for Dodge in Florida. Our dealership was the headquarters for the Viper club in the area. Once a month on Sunday, we would have 50 Vipers in the parking lot. We were located just off the highway. 7:30am, a Viper owner rolled his Viper, coming down the off ramp and landed upside down. I was heading into work and saw the aftermath. The Viper was upside-down flat on the ground. Flat as in the windshield and rollbar were non-existent. It was flat. The owner died on the way to the hospital of a heart attack. I imagine he suffered extensive bodily injuries. I'm just giving you a heads up. The rollbar and windshield frame won't hold up in a rollover. I'm not sure if you can put a real rollbar behind your head, but I'd look into it if I were you. It's a fun car, I'm excited for you.
Dave is turning into Tavarish. He's got a number of project cars that aren't finished, so what does he do? He gets another. When he buys a McLaren off Copart that's wrecked beyond belief we'll know he's finally gone over PS: Nice Viper
Happy birthday Dave ! I am 45. Just pass few days I talked to my friend about saving up to buy a first gen Dodge Viper and here you are making a video of unboxing a first gen viper, nice !
It'll be really fun to watch you give that Car Wizard TLC to this thing over the coming weeks. I can't wait to see how bright and shiny everything will be when you get it the way you want it. Seriously, though, I want to HEAR it when it's done. On the other note, I doubt Mrs. Wizard wants to celebrate birthdays any more... instead, you get the... ummm... 9th? anniversary of her 29th birthday.... and yeah, you gotta celebrate her curves more than you celebrate the sexy curves on your car... can't forget that. Thanks for sharing your mid life crisis with us... at least it's a really cool one.
I think it needs a special Car Wizard wrap, something like you face and beard around the front fenders maybe into the bumper. But like a checkered side the is the center of the Car Wizards hat like a checkered pattern. Have a great birthday and I hope you take my suggestion and make it truly something special when it shows up at a car show. Better yet get invited to SIMA (?sp) show it wrapped with all the Wizards special touches! Love the videos and the content you both create for us, much thanks!
Enjoy your Viper! I used to run with a friend who had one for about 10 years. He loved his - but it's a finicky beast. Don't get caught in the rain it will leak everywhere and you'll end up with mildew stink in the interior. Head gaskets and valve cover gaskets are normal maintenance on that engine.
Used to help a buddy rebuild mostly late 90s early 2000s Pontiacs, most went salvage title with no "frame" damage other than replacing the front clip, he got an awesome WS6 trans am for half the cost of non-wrecked model. Salvage can be awesome, but there's always a gamble. Nice find wizard!
Happy Birthday! Welcome to the Gen1 gang, beautiful car. The Gen1 is my favorite generation of the Viper, I have a ‘95. In my opinion, they are a work of art. Enjoy and BE CAREFUL!
That's fun present for yourself, definitely gambles on salvage-titles, but good deals to be found especially if keeping for own enjoyment. And you have the skills to address the issues. Congrats on the new to you car!
This is a beautiful example of a Viper... I think you made a wise decision to buy it, and got a great deal in the bargain! I remember seeing one at a local Dodge dealer in the back of the showroom... and it was a used car! Story was, an older gentleman (in his 70s) bought the car (second childhood, you know), and he only had it for a short while before he was getting out of the car, had his leg slip, and burned it badly on the side-mounted exhaust! Be careful, Wizard!
Happy birthday! Been watching since Tyler introduced you to us. It's awesome seeing how much more confident you've become on camera. Congratulations on your car and success.
I have a 1993 viper gts that I purchased in 2008 or 2009. That is when vipers were at rock bottom prices and I paid 15,000 for my viper at that time with under 5000 miles on it. When I bought the car the last time it had been on the road was 1996. I am not afraid of salvage title vehicles as long as I can verify what type of damage the vehicle had and that it was properly repaired. Salvage title vehicles are great to buy if you want to drive the vehicle and not worry about mileage reducing the value.
HBD Wizard! Awesome purchase. I bet every car guy within 15 years of your age has dreamed about driving or owning one of these at some point. I remember a 7th grade teacher I had always told the story of saving up to buy a Viper, finally getting it, then crashing it almost immediately. There was probably a moral or lesson behind this, but all I heard was you gotta work hard to save and buy your dream car!
This was my dream car as a kid and I got to look around an owners once. I had NO IDEA they were more or less hard to control death traps. Just getting my 88' Supra two years ago, I never imagined It would be hard to control, but THIS thing, I cannot even imagine. The Supra has no ABS or ANYTHING, so It's much the same but WAY less power. Even then I find myself having to tame it down a lot of the time...
Happy birthday car wizard. Let’s get down to basics- 4 x4 = 16. You then take away one letter from (David-Dale) and you get a one. And then you get a 3. (You don’t but for theatrics let’s say you do). Some will do it for dale but we watch for David. Thank you for your service and hope you had an amazing birthday!
2:34 - seeing the gap above the headlights - i still recall reading in Popular Mechanics how Chrysler was having issues with the fit and finish of the plastic hood - as it was the biggest piece they ever made.
Happy Birthday Wizard. To make sure you see many more of them, are you going to fit the big brake kit with ABS, which means you can then fit a TCS traction control.? The last car I had without traction control was a BMW E34 3.8L Nurburgring Edition M5 in the late 1990s, which had a very tight limited slip differential. I hit a patch of oil on joining a French Autoroute, both back wheels lit up and I snaked down the road for about 1/2 km, luckily without hitting anything. A traction control would have avoided that. I also found that the car had been supplied to me the week before, by a main BMW dealer, fitted with two different width rear wheels, which cannot have helped. So much for their vaunted 140 point check. I also then found the spare (the correct width back wheel), was sitting in its well, broken with a torn tyre.
I'll never forget the day around 2001 a new black viper tried to race a 79 to 81 Camaro. The Camaro was just idling at the light and here comes the viper revving his engine and burning his tires along side the Camaro, while it just idles there. Then the light goes green, the Camaro takes off straight and just goes, the viper burns his tires and fish tails through the intersection. Next thing you know a light pole is going over like a fallen tree. The viper took out a light pole a cinder block wall and several new chevys in the dealership across the intersection. 😂
Happy Birthday, Wizard! I've always wanted a Viper since I had a poster of one on my wall when I was 6. You're a lucky man! Enjoy your sweet ride. I hope to see more of it.
Great buy, I love my gen1, yours seems to be in great shape, only needs TLC, maybe the damage was the quarter panel, that’s an expensive repair compared to the values to these cars 5 to 10 years ago, but as is fiberglass, it doesn’t damage the frame. Enjoy it
The gen 1 Vipers are an analog driving experience. Much like all the muscle cars from the 80’s and early 90’s. Buick Grand Nationals, Mustang GTs, IROC Camaros, TTAs, even the exotics like Ferrari and Lamborghini. These cars require a driver to control the it. Stomp on the gas like an elephant, well you’ll be a very busy man behind the wheel. Nice buy there Mr Wizard.
Again, happy happy birthday mr. Wizard and congratulations on your new viper. I've got several vipers in my collection so I know you will be having fun. But I like to know could you do a pros and cons on a 2014 Chevy suburban the LTZ package 1500 ❔ thank you. I watch almost all your videos and I watch them because you give a lot of good tips and I trust in your opinion of automobiles ❗👌
Obviously there are dozens of great cars to lust after, but the Viper actually tops them all when you consider price, performance and maintainability, not to mention the iconic looks. Congratulations, and Happy Birthday. 🎂
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! If my memory serves me right I think I paid ~$45K for my 2004 in 2016. I still have it today and my Hagerty policy has a $70K value on it. So for 7 years I've driven a free Viper that should return quite a bundle when I sell. Those are my favorite wheels!! Enjoy and please practice a little restraint. Once you've reached a certain age you really don't need to prove anything.
Happy Birthday !! And (I've said it before but) thanks so much to you both for your fascinating car related videos!! Learning a lot from you both. This car looks great and the under-frame structure looks extremely robust. I guess it takes a bit of oil to keep that v10 happy...... I have found with the older cars I have had that the seat and seatbelts should be checked over for metal fatigue and structural integrity , such as fatigued welding joint cracks or the like. I have had car seats move when I stopped and seatbelts hanging on by a thread because I didn't check them after I bought the car. With all that power good to know you can rely on the belts and seats if needed :)
Congratulations on your lovely new Viper BUT, please be very, very careful driving that beast. I had the opportunity to drive a Gen 1 Viper and discovered that it really, really wanted to spin its wheels in every gear, no matter how light I was on the throttle. It really wanted to kill me and preferred to go in any direction except that what being steered. Never had I the desire to drive another Viper ever again. Oh and it has a teensy weensy cabin too.
Rebuild doesnt mean salvaged. Rebuilt title can also be a theft recovery. Also, to be a rebuilt title, the state has signed off on it. Dont be afraid of these cars, especially if you plan on modification since it already lost value. A good state has law where you have to not only prove the parts werent stolen, but repair work for frame and structure was done by a shop.
First week of the year I bought a 2012 Mustang Boss 302 with less than 11,000 miles. It has a salvage title, since the shop I bought it from bought it at auction and fixed it correctly back in early 2013. It was 40% less than a similar clean title car with that mileage. I have no plans on selling it, so I'm happy with the purchase. Insured with Hagerty.
Very nice. I started my design career on that car, was in the room when Iacocca approved it for production. Fuel lines, brake lines, exhaust, hinge pillars and toe boxes, all those drawings have my name on them.
Wow!
Nice work. Did you ever know Ralph Gilles?
Thanks for commenting
Presumably the "burn your leg" exhaust placement was by design...I believe it's known as "Viper calf" ;)
@@GM-fh5jp snake bite
@@RayNLA Was he an engine designer on the 1st gen? I do remember a man with the name of Ralph, but I cannot recall his last name.
@@GM-fh5jp More packaging constraints than anything else. It was the only place to put the exhaust, no room under the car. Seeing the bare frame would show why.
One minor correction: A Viper will do exactly what you *tell it* to do, which is not always what you *want* it to do.
like women
@@jamdc2000 noo no, that's the opposite
@@maxv146 dont get it
I have my own version for this as a programmer: A computer will do what you tell it to do, whether you know/understand what you told it to do or not.
An easy example is with a slow/frozen computer - some people will hit a bunch of keys at the speed of a sowing machine, just to act all surprised when it catches up and starts acting on every input they just put in.
Happy Birthday, Dave! You're only 44 years young. I hope that you'll have a blessed year and that you'll be able to bring us many more years of videos.
We're the same age. I had no idea.
lmao saying his real name
@@kurtrusellpatrickswayze Yeah, who's Dave? It's like when I got to 30 my Grandfather said I could start calling him Ted. "No, you're Grandad"
@@ChrisPatrick-q6k Well, I meant it more like he tries to keep his real name private, and somebody here just said it. Or idk, maybe it's known, I didn't know it.
@@kurtrusellpatrickswayze He's not secretive about his real name, he's called David Long. We know him as The Car Wizard.
Truthfully, you rarely lose much value on Vipers for salvage paper unless the damage was extreme or it has massive mechanical issues .
But the low production numbers of them is why after all these years they still command at minimum 30 grand. I have shopped them before and never saw one lower than 40k. and that was 3 years ago.
So you done good Wiz.
I live in NZ, and I've only ever seen 2 of these on the road here - they have amazing presence and command at least as much attention as an Italian supercar.
What a Supreme score on that gorgeous first-gen Viper, congrats & enjoy!
If you're going to buy a rebuilt title car, the rear end damage is the place to have it. Front end damage is scarier. Congrats on the purchase, Dave! Let us know about any insurance issues with the rebuilt title.
How about a salvage title? Or are they one in the same ?
@@slysimon8533 Rebuilt vehicles have Salvage Titles.
It’s going to be more, I imagine for a Viper it could be very expensive, it’s $100 a year more than a non-salvage on my 2011 Lincoln town car, so $260 per year versus $160.
Great stuff Wizard. I think you and the Mrs. should add test drives to these videos. We would all look forward to that segment!
Great idea!
Happy Birthday Wizard! Porsche brakes and KW suspension were common upgrades on the mk1 Viper here in Germany. Made the car much safer and more capabale
Happy Birthday wizard. My dad bought me a 1:18 diecast model of this when I was little in the 90s on holiday in Kish island, southern Iran in the Persian Gulf and ever since then I've fantasised about owning one. I'm very envious of you, but i will have to say you have made a fantastic desicion. Shame we cant get these beauties over here. You're a lucky and blessed man Wizard.
i bought a 1993 viper last year with 3,700 miles. i had all the gaskets replaced, the entire cooling system replaced, all fluids replaced, all new tires and got it straight piped. you have to straight pipe it, its a whole other animal and the stock cam has a nice amount of lope you can hear once straight piped. best car i have driven. just hard to get certain replacement parts.
I'm glad you can be able to afford this, total dream car, you deserve it and then some for how helpful you are to all of us and infinitely sharing your knowledge and tips. Happy Birthday, David!
I love the humor and wise cracks between you and the wife.😂They make me laugh all the time and enjoy your videos even more.THANK YOU.
Seriously lol
HAPPY LEVEL-UP DAY Wizard! What a cool find - hopefully there are no other gremlins hiding in that thing from the accident.
He wont know anyway becauee he’ll be too cheap to put the 93 gas in it and wont drive it anyway.
Great video. I am on the 1996 Dodge Viper GTS a few years ago. It was my dream car. It was so exciting to drive and just thrilling to push that gas pedal and shift those gears. Much like you’re saying when I bought it in 2008 it was relatively cheap and I sold it back in 2020 right before the pandemic really head and made an absolute killing. I don’t regret selling it but man I had a great time owning it.
Enjoy your new car David, as long as drives straight, some TLC on the paintwork and new tires
and the title will be soon forgotten.
Have a great Birthday.🎂
I had a die cast model of this and I could not stop admiring its curves. It's a great piece of art and history.
Love seeing the Viper in the foreground and the XLR in the background. Also, for a salvaged out Viper that frame looks great front to back especially if it drives straight. I think you really found a gem here Wizard
2:10
Congrats on the bad ass viper man!!!
Congrats Wizard, welcome to the Viper club! I was so happy to see you got one, I think it says a lot for someone who has worked on several of them to recognize how awesome they are.
And if that V10 gives out, you can swap it with a Hellcat V8 motor - similar to the one #Throtl did for last year's Roadkill Nights event in Detroit.
Welcome to the Viper family Wizard! I love my Viper and recently bought a gen 2 like yours with some accident history. Nothing major front bumper replaced and 31k miles. I plan on driving it as well! A teenage dream come true.
If there's something that will recover a Viper in a nice way, it's a Wizard. Happy birthday!
Happy belated Birthday. A nice red Viper is a great gift.
The Dodge Viper is still one of my dream cars. I was able to drive a Gen 1 after a parade to help get all cars back to a dealership, and it just stuck with me. Such a normal interior but a monster lurks beneath.
You deserve it man. Your channel is really out here helping people
Many Happy Returns Wizard.
May you have many happy years with your new toy.
I wouldn’t worry about depreciation on that viper, as they get rarer and rarer they will either hold their price or go up in value, you’re extremely unlikely to loose money on that purchase, even if you got bored with it after a few years, you’ll always get back what you paid for it… if not more!
In 1997, We Autocrossed a 94 Red Viper just like you see here. As a veteran Autocrosser for decades, This car was the most evil car i have ever autocrossed to this day. It did however run a 12.33@ 116mph at the drag strip with BFG drag radials with some exhaust work. And the soft top leaks water badly. BTW, Happy Birthday Mr Wizard you young buck
This car is VERY COOL Wizard! Congrats! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Don't get in trouble!!
Happy birthday and Congrats! to you 🎊🏆I also purchased mine last months paid in cash. While watching this video I feel very proud of who I am and what I've accomplished. I'm glad I made a wise financial choice that changed me
Congrats you definitely need a load of money to own a car rn, you did it!
Congratulations! I'm motivated, and I'm also saving up to buy a house, so this means a lot to me right now. Would you mind sharing some advice on how to increase my income?
@@andreblechynden4578 thanks
@@peteranderson5714 Here are some tips that helped me.
1. Plan towards it
2. Be frugal and minimal on spending (don't buywhy you don't need )
3. Save money towards retirement (Roth IRA/401k)
4. Build an emergency fund
5. Save to invest, this is the most important because it's a proven way to get richer. Very important to financial success.
@@dabriga7 thanks you for replying me speaking about investment i have heard it, but not sure where to begin or how to make a decent one can you explain further?
Happy b-day wizard! Beautiful, glad to see you take care of the beast.
Right in Wizard!! Happy Birthday and enjoy your new toy!!
Happy Birthday wizard and congratulations on your Viper. Well deserved and thank you for sharing your knowledge and stories with the community.
I almost became part owner of one of these back in the mid 90s. owner had taken it out on the wrong day (cold, damp, no insurance, there might have been alcohol involved as well), nosed it into a phone pole at speed sufficient enough to crack the bumper and hood in multiple places. He didn't want to spend the cash to replace the parts, so the one man body shop it was at for an estimate I was good friends with the guy, offered to buy it for a really cheap price (think less than half what Mr. Wizard paid for his.) The planned notarized deal was I'd work at the shop for a determined number of man hours and pay for materials, shop owner would do the labor to glue the panels back together and paint them, shop owner would drive it for probably 2-3 years (about how long he kept a car anyways before he got bored), when I turned 25 the title would be signed exclusively over to me and the car would be mine. Sadly the owner of the car came to his senses, fixed the car and kept it.
Happy Birthday Weeezard!
I've had 2 and the only problem the Viper has is that it always seems to be trying to kill you 🤣
It's always the most fun and terrifying vehicle ever made.
I'm the kind of weirdo that would have to detail every inch of that car, under carriage, engine bay, all of it. It's got enough road grime to be a super satisfying clean, but you can tell it's just dust and grime, nothing bad.
Beautiful machine though. Love those first gen. Brings back memories of the TV show by the same name.
My mechanic has a 96 Viper. I believe he said it has just over 40k km on it. He does the exact same thing you want to do, cruise it and put it in car shows. He drives it maybe 4k km a year.
Happy B-day Wiz.
Happy birthday Wizard! When you said that you had a midlife crisis I assumed that you bought a corvette. Although this is much cooler than a corvette. I turn my head every time I see a Viper.
2:04 that’s right it’s just a go fast machine, you are the control!
Love those cars . Enjoy wizard happy birthday Sir
Happy Treat-Yo-Self Day, Sir Wizard! A red Viper as a B'day present sounds almost *too* on-the-nose, but golly, it looks like silly-fun lies ahead for you (and Mrs. Wizard, whom I presume gets some driver's-seat time, as she seemed to hint at here). Glad Tyler gave you the soft top from his Viper...never assume you'll never get a bit of rain on a nice day's drive. Looking very much forward to your driving and wrenching episodes with this one.
Mash is type of 5 collision damage types. Others are - arranged by complexity of repair - Sidesway, Sag, Diamond, Twist. Last two are mostly seen on body on frame vehicles. Mash is the easiest unibody/BodyOnFrame damage to repair, while twist is the hardest and results when vehicles hits another and then third vehicle hits the second in the rear left or rear right. "Pull mash" means certain measuring point at the rear of the vehicles was pushed in towards the front by few mm, in this case because the damage was minor maybe the rear body panel was pushed in by few mm. So we "pull mash" or pull out the damaged part(point of measure) of the rear body panel back toward the outside. I think this is the recipe only from the frame shop and not from the body shop, where they will replace the bent rear reinforcement beam, replace/or repair the bumper. And then paint the bumper and blend the color to the trunk and quarter panels.
Happy Birthday, Dave! Great thanks for your educating content. I've learnt so so much over several years of watching your channel. I greatly appreciate all your time and labour investment in producing videos and repairing cars concurrently.
The dead pan delivery of him impersonating the car wanting to fishtail into a telephone pole was the best
Knowing we're the same age, and that you went from, what, a 91B, to a successful business owner gives this former 11B that's now a heavy equipment tech (thanks Bradley Fighting Vehicle) quite a bit of hope. I keep considering doing a weekend-only ag repair business, and other dude's success is helping to push me more and more to give it a shot for a year.
Great car, loved it the first moment i saw it. Got a model kit of it, painted it green. Some years later at the start of my job career i worked at Mercedes-Benz when they merged with Chrysler and got the offer to drive one of these brand new. I didn't take it because i feared of crashing it (i was 21 at the time, just made my driving license the year before) and it was needed for a presentation the following day. I have a hell of a lot of respect for that torque monster without servo steering, ABS and so on.
This one was well taken care of even though it wasn't driven much. You got it for a good price and i wish you a lot of fun and always a crash free drive with it.
Thank you for sharing your purchase with us.
Hi wizard how Tyler doing? He seems happier in his latest video. Happy birthday to you and please be there for him. I have a feeling hes keeping all of this bottled up and would be good to know he has a friend there who he can hang out with and vent. Tell mrs wizard youve got a bro in need and you need to spend some quality time with him. Hes done so much for you all and im sure never expected anything in return. Sorry but it would just make me feel better to know his friends are circling the wagons and taking care of him.
What happened to him?
@@justinx9892 I think his old lady cheated on him. That's why he has to sell everything and now living at his garage where he parks his cars.
Dave, Car Wizard, Happy Birthday, I had a friend that was in a car dealership back in 2001, and he drove it in the wet, spun it, was flipped out of the driver's side, and broke his leg in 2 places!! He worked at Joe Macari in South London, and recommended a Maserati 3200 GT to me at the time; I never got to have a ride in a Ferrari F50 that they had for sale... Memories!! Many Happy Returns again, if Tavarish still has his maybe you could have a show and tell!! Or a drag race!!!
I remember when the Wizard was happy to get a clean Crown Victoria 🎉.
From Australia. Happy Birthday. I remember Australian racing driver Rusty French driving a Dodge Viper around the Mount Panorama race track where the Bathurst 1000 is raced every year, which is basically a blocked off public road for the race, similar to the roads used in the Isle of Man TT except the latter being a motorcycle time trial. French ran out of brakes. Brembo replacements would be on top of the shopping list for me. Great price by the way, bargain hot rod.
You’re never too old or too young to have a midlife crisis lol! Congrats on the Viper! The first gens look particularly awesome!
For me it was more the After-midlife-crisis, I am 16 years older and 2 years ago bought a red '94 car like the Wizard. But that is about where the parallels end.
But one advantage I have: I have about 5,000 miles of unlimited autobahn. So unless the Wizard goes on a racetrack, my car can go legally faster than his Viper with 2 1/2 the power.
Hope you had a swell birthday!
Love all the Vipers. Wicked looking machines. Congrats on the car, hope you enjoy it and it serves you well.
Happy Birthday. I drove a a Generation one for the internet way back when they were new. I burned my leg on side pipe, it fishtailed like crazy, it had no radio and I was loving every minute of it all. Mrs. Wizard looks to be about 23 and your guys seem really good together. I would love to hear the satire between the two of you once in a while. Beautiful car. Greeting from Wichita.
If it is only 21k miles, check the air filters. The earlier style filters have a foam gasket which turns to tar and clogs the filter. My gen 2 had them when I got it 2 years ago.
Only a few years ago, in 1995 I was Viper tech for Dodge in Florida. Our dealership was the headquarters for the Viper club in the area. Once a month on Sunday, we would have 50 Vipers in the parking lot. We were located just off the highway. 7:30am, a Viper owner rolled his Viper, coming down the off ramp and landed upside down. I was heading into work and saw the aftermath. The Viper was upside-down flat on the ground. Flat as in the windshield and rollbar were non-existent. It was flat. The owner died on the way to the hospital of a heart attack. I imagine he suffered extensive bodily injuries. I'm just giving you a heads up. The rollbar and windshield frame won't hold up in a rollover. I'm not sure if you can put a real rollbar behind your head, but I'd look into it if I were you. It's a fun car, I'm excited for you.
Dave is turning into Tavarish. He's got a number of project cars that aren't finished, so what does he do? He gets another. When he buys a McLaren off Copart that's wrecked beyond belief we'll know he's finally gone over
PS: Nice Viper
He seems to learn from THEIR mistakes
Happy birthday Dave ! I am 45. Just pass few days I talked to my friend about saving up to buy a first gen Dodge Viper and here you are making a video of unboxing a first gen viper, nice !
It'll be really fun to watch you give that Car Wizard TLC to this thing over the coming weeks. I can't wait to see how bright and shiny everything will be when you get it the way you want it. Seriously, though, I want to HEAR it when it's done. On the other note, I doubt Mrs. Wizard wants to celebrate birthdays any more... instead, you get the... ummm... 9th? anniversary of her 29th birthday.... and yeah, you gotta celebrate her curves more than you celebrate the sexy curves on your car... can't forget that. Thanks for sharing your mid life crisis with us... at least it's a really cool one.
I think it needs a special Car Wizard wrap, something like you face and beard around the front fenders maybe into the bumper. But like a checkered side the is the center of the Car Wizards hat like a checkered pattern. Have a great birthday and I hope you take my suggestion and make it truly something special when it shows up at a car show. Better yet get invited to SIMA (?sp) show it wrapped with all the Wizards special touches! Love the videos and the content you both create for us, much thanks!
Enjoy your Viper! I used to run with a friend who had one for about 10 years. He loved his - but it's a finicky beast. Don't get caught in the rain it will leak everywhere and you'll end up with mildew stink in the interior. Head gaskets and valve cover gaskets are normal maintenance on that engine.
that viper is in grea shape with the cooling system upgrade and the mls head gaskets you have a solid viper congrats happy birthday
Used to help a buddy rebuild mostly late 90s early 2000s Pontiacs, most went salvage title with no "frame" damage other than replacing the front clip, he got an awesome WS6 trans am for half the cost of non-wrecked model. Salvage can be awesome, but there's always a gamble. Nice find wizard!
Happy Birthday, and best wishes for many miles of fun in the Viper.
Love when Mrs. Wizard chimes in. You are a fine duo.
Happy Birthday! Welcome to the Gen1 gang, beautiful car. The Gen1 is my favorite generation of the Viper, I have a ‘95. In my opinion, they are a work of art. Enjoy and BE CAREFUL!
That's a solid car for the price. The gen III wheels look perfect on it! Congrats Wizard!!
That's fun present for yourself, definitely gambles on salvage-titles, but good deals to be found especially if keeping for own enjoyment. And you have the skills to address the issues. Congrats on the new to you car!
This is a beautiful example of a Viper... I think you made a wise decision to buy it, and got a great deal in the bargain! I remember seeing one at a local Dodge dealer in the back of the showroom... and it was a used car! Story was, an older gentleman (in his 70s) bought the car (second childhood, you know), and he only had it for a short while before he was getting out of the car, had his leg slip, and burned it badly on the side-mounted exhaust! Be careful, Wizard!
Happy birthday! Been watching since Tyler introduced you to us. It's awesome seeing how much more confident you've become on camera. Congratulations on your car and success.
Happy Birthday! That is the best birthday present ever. Enjoy the ride Wizard. Happy Motoring!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WIZARD!!!!!! GLAD TO SEE YOU GETTING SOMETHING AWESOME FOR YOURSELF...GREAT CHOICE TOO
I have a 1993 viper gts that I purchased in 2008 or 2009. That is when vipers were at rock bottom prices and I paid 15,000 for my viper at that time with under 5000 miles on it. When I bought the car the last time it had been on the road was 1996.
I am not afraid of salvage title vehicles as long as I can verify what type of damage the vehicle had and that it was properly repaired. Salvage title vehicles are great to buy if you want to drive the vehicle and not worry about mileage reducing the value.
Happy Birthday! And, Mrs Wizard is really hitting her stride! Bravo!
HBD Wizard! Awesome purchase. I bet every car guy within 15 years of your age has dreamed about driving or owning one of these at some point. I remember a 7th grade teacher I had always told the story of saving up to buy a Viper, finally getting it, then crashing it almost immediately. There was probably a moral or lesson behind this, but all I heard was you gotta work hard to save and buy your dream car!
there are oter cars id buy before a viper-
This was my dream car as a kid and I got to look around an owners once. I had NO IDEA they were more or less hard to control death traps.
Just getting my 88' Supra two years ago, I never imagined It would be hard to control, but THIS thing, I cannot even imagine. The Supra has no ABS or ANYTHING, so It's much the same but WAY less power. Even then I find myself having to tame it down a lot of the time...
A very happy belated birthday, Wizard! I am so happy for you and the missus on your new birthday present! She’s gorgeous!
Happy birthday car wizard. Let’s get down to basics- 4 x4 = 16. You then take away one letter from (David-Dale) and you get a one. And then you get a 3. (You don’t but for theatrics let’s say you do). Some will do it for dale but we watch for David. Thank you for your service and hope you had an amazing birthday!
The Viper has been my favorite car ever since I saw it for the first time as a kid. You found a great one! Have fun!
2:34 - seeing the gap above the headlights - i still recall reading in Popular Mechanics how Chrysler was having issues with the fit and finish of the plastic hood - as it was the biggest piece they ever made.
Happy Birthday Wizard. To make sure you see many more of them, are you going to fit the big brake kit with ABS, which means you can then fit a TCS traction control.? The last car I had without traction control was a BMW E34 3.8L Nurburgring Edition M5 in the late 1990s, which had a very tight limited slip differential. I hit a patch of oil on joining a French Autoroute, both back wheels lit up and I snaked down the road for about 1/2 km, luckily without hitting anything. A traction control would have avoided that. I also found that the car had been supplied to me the week before, by a main BMW dealer, fitted with two different width rear wheels, which cannot have helped. So much for their vaunted 140 point check. I also then found the spare (the correct width back wheel), was sitting in its well, broken with a torn tyre.
I'll never forget the day around 2001 a new black viper tried to race a 79 to 81 Camaro. The Camaro was just idling at the light and here comes the viper revving his engine and burning his tires along side the Camaro, while it just idles there. Then the light goes green, the Camaro takes off straight and just goes, the viper burns his tires and fish tails through the intersection. Next thing you know a light pole is going over like a fallen tree. The viper took out a light pole a cinder block wall and several new chevys in the dealership across the intersection. 😂
Wow. You are *hilarious*. "Yes! Let's do that, right now!". Thank you for that genuine lol. Congrats on the awesome car, mate. Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday, Wizard! I've always wanted a Viper since I had a poster of one on my wall when I was 6. You're a lucky man! Enjoy your sweet ride. I hope to see more of it.
You look good in the Viper Wizard, and I'm sure Mrs. Wizard as well as she's driving the car! Always loved these cars. And, Happy Birthday!
Happy B day wizard! Been watching your channel for 1 yr now. Keep doing these videos, they really rock
Great buy, I love my gen1, yours seems to be in great shape, only needs TLC, maybe the damage was the quarter panel, that’s an expensive repair compared to the values to these cars 5 to 10 years ago, but as is fiberglass, it doesn’t damage the frame.
Enjoy it
The gen 1 Vipers are an analog driving experience. Much like all the muscle cars from the 80’s and early 90’s. Buick Grand Nationals, Mustang GTs, IROC Camaros, TTAs, even the exotics like Ferrari and Lamborghini. These cars require a driver to control the it. Stomp on the gas like an elephant, well you’ll be a very busy man behind the wheel. Nice buy there Mr Wizard.
Again, happy happy birthday mr. Wizard and congratulations on your new viper. I've got several vipers in my collection so I know you will be having fun. But I like to know could you do a pros and cons on a 2014 Chevy suburban the LTZ package 1500 ❔ thank you. I watch almost all your videos and I watch them because you give a lot of good tips and I trust in your opinion of automobiles ❗👌
Buddy ! It’s so good to see you finally have some success from all of your hard work ! Congratulations on your birthday present ! You earned it !
Obviously there are dozens of great cars to lust after, but the Viper actually tops them all when you consider price, performance and maintainability, not to mention the iconic looks. Congratulations, and Happy Birthday. 🎂
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! If my memory serves me right I think I paid ~$45K for my 2004 in 2016. I still have it today and my Hagerty policy has a $70K value on it. So for 7 years I've driven a free Viper that should return quite a bundle when I sell. Those are my favorite wheels!! Enjoy and please practice a little restraint. Once you've reached a certain age you really don't need to prove anything.
Happy Birthday !! And (I've said it before but) thanks so much to you both for your fascinating car related videos!! Learning a lot from you both. This car looks great and the under-frame structure looks extremely robust. I guess it takes a bit of oil to keep that v10 happy...... I have found with the older cars I have had that the seat and seatbelts should be checked over for metal fatigue and structural integrity , such as fatigued welding joint cracks or the like. I have had car seats move when I stopped and seatbelts hanging on by a thread because I didn't check them after I bought the car. With all that power good to know you can rely on the belts and seats if needed :)
Not sure if the Wizard was made for the car or the car made for him, but they fit each other well. Happy Birthday Wizard!
Congratulations on your lovely new Viper BUT, please be very, very careful driving that beast.
I had the opportunity to drive a Gen 1 Viper and discovered that it really, really wanted to spin its wheels in every gear, no matter how light I was on the throttle. It really wanted to kill me and preferred to go in any direction except that what being steered. Never had I the desire to drive another Viper ever again.
Oh and it has a teensy weensy cabin too.
Happy Birthday Wizard and check that rear end thoroughly since they are rear wheel drive,, Enjoy My preferred was the Pontiac Solstice with a. V8
Rebuild doesnt mean salvaged. Rebuilt title can also be a theft recovery. Also, to be a rebuilt title, the state has signed off on it. Dont be afraid of these cars, especially if you plan on modification since it already lost value. A good state has law where you have to not only prove the parts werent stolen, but repair work for frame and structure was done by a shop.
First week of the year I bought a 2012 Mustang Boss 302 with less than 11,000 miles. It has a salvage title, since the shop I bought it from bought it at auction and fixed it correctly back in early 2013. It was 40% less than a similar clean title car with that mileage. I have no plans on selling it, so I'm happy with the purchase. Insured with Hagerty.
I ain't lying.....that car has aged gracefully. It blends well into today's standards. This is a masterpiece. Great choice Wizard
Congrats on the purchase, and Happy Birthday!!!
Happy Birthday and congrats on getting a Great Gen 1 car! Yes, please. More Viper content.
Happy Birthday 🎁 and WOWwhat a gift !! Your wife ROCKS!!😎👍🏻🦅🇺🇸
Happy Birthday!! Enjoy the new ride. Looking forward to followup videos on it.
Happy birthday David! Thanks for all the great and honest advise. God bless u and your family.
*few months and i'll be 32*
*that's a car since i was a pipsqueak*
*god bless you for saving that car, big bro*