Smart forfour (first gen). Only weighs 2000 pounds, very fun engines, the stock suspension is very stiff/sporty, and it has electric power steering which feels extremely responsive and accurate. 10/10 would drive again.
I've driven a first gen Viper. I used to work at a dealership in the late 90s when I was in high school. The owner of the dealership had a 93 Viper and he let me drive it...with supervision of course. It was absolutely terrifying to drive. Even at low speeds it never felt like I had control of the thing. It just acted like it wanted to kill you.
Love my 94 after a full day driving it you get comfortable. But don't get complacent because of the tires are cold and you get on the throttle a little hard you will spin. Ask me how I know. But luckily I was only going about 20 mph when it happened.
I am actually looking into kit bodies and that is going to be what I pick. You know why? Because I'm not trying to race anyone and I keep Toyota parts under the hood.
my grandma used to be an owner operater, and I would go with her to help out, mostly with moving her heavy ramps to load and unload cars with. Once we hauled a 2000s Viper. when she was lining it up to drive up on to her trailer, she stopped while I adjusted bits of wood so the car can drive over it to clear the rear most bit of the trailer (hauling low ryding vehicles kinda sucked lul). She was worried something was getting hot near her leg (sitting with the driver door open and one foot on the pavement) so she shut it off, but then it dind't start again. Had to hire a tow truck driver to move it lul. Turns out the reason the threshold was hot was of course because one of the exhaust pipe ran through it
Can't see the forest for the trees sometimes but I think that last car will definitely hold it's value or perhaps even increase with time... because they are hand made those Pagani's I think they're literal rolling works of art. Nail on the head though, a be careful what ya wish for thing or somethin' :)
I think that’s fair Kenny. It’s more a good warning that if you can just barely afford the dream car (then or now used), don’t do it. Make sure you can also afford the aggravation and maintenance.
I owned a viper from 1999 until 2007. I was third owner. I loved that car, wish I hadn't sold it. My car before that was a 1967 mustang and after I sold viper, I got a 1964 mercury with a back window that goes up and down. It's still my daily driver. Lol. The viper was most comfortable car I owned
Reaction to the viper was accurate back then. There was one in my neighborhood 30 years ago. All the kids in the neighborhood could hear when he was coming home but he lived like a mile away. We all hopped on our bikes and met him at his house to ask him questions before he went inside. When he moved away, the kid that moved into his house was really popular for reasons, unbeknownst to himself.
One of our friends had a Viper on a small Micronesian island in the early-to-mid-90s. It was strange encountering it picking its way slowly over a very rocky, rutted dirt road once - I was surprised that it made its way in and out. The taxis used to charge double for driving up that road.
Justin is the most boring donut host ever. He’s not entertaining to watch at all he’s quiet and just stares at the camera he looks super awkward and when he does talk I feel like I want to go to sleep .
I watched a period review of the second gen viper, and they showed it on track looking slidey and snappy, and said it was a way more forgiving car than the first gen lol.
As a Service Manager at a Goodyear Automotive Center back around 2000-2001 or so, I had to Road Test a 94 Viper after customer bought Rims, Tires, and Alignment. Usually we have easy access in our area to quickly get to the residential streets, the regular traffic streets, and finish off the road test "circle" with a 2 mile run down the freeway. It was really helpful for diagnosing ride disturbances at different speeds, terrain, etc., I never even drove the damn thing out of our mall parking lot during this road test, (this was the only time in my 10 years working there that I had ever done such a thing) IT ABSOLUTELY, TRULY feels just like the memes; that the car is actively trying to kill you. Particularly, if you're not used to the subtleties of that torque hitting (even with very careful throttle and clutch control), once that power gets itself to the rear tires, that car felt utterly possessed. I parked it and hid the keys in my desk for the rest of the week until the customer was expected to pick it up. Last thing I wanted was for one of our rookie techs to try to get out for a joyride. Nope.
Paganis son is a legend. Theres a video of someone crashing into him (in a Pagani) on a track and he literally just said "lol whatever Ill pay for it" and saved the dude from bankruptcy
i was honestly surprised at how "cheap" and most importantly, convenient the bugatti upkeep was. after listing off all the mclaren prices and complications, simplifying it to 100k every 14 months and everything is taken care of is amazing
@@jayathranps1319 It should be mentioned that if anything major that needs to be done to the car comes up during this service, the total bill quickly grows to much more than 100k. It's also worth mentioning that this price doesn't stay fixed and does increase over time, obviously. Lots of pricing info on the service of Bugattis is already outdated, because the owners don't talk about it that much and Bugatti themselves are obviously not very forthcoming about it either.
But also remember that 14 months tune up is probably based on an insanely low mileage estimate. I'd be shocked if it was even 10k mi a year. If you look up used supercars you can easily find 20 year old supercars with less than 5k miles.
@@whereforartthou Way way way less miles than 10k or even 5k a year. I bought a 2015 Vette in 2019 and it only had 5k miles on it and that was considered "normal". Super car owners do a calculation called "$ of depreciation / mile". In some cars it can be $3-$5k per mile so they rather keep them off the road and let them appreciate faster than any stock they own. That is why the crazy $7.4 mil Pagani sold out, all those hyper special models do, exactly for that reason. They raise in value faster than stocks.
I have a '95 SL320 R129 and absolutely love it. Yes, I had to re-solder the brake light wiring that runs along the trunk hinge, and the blower motor had to be replaced and jerry-rigged but it was cheap and I'm learning a ton about how to work on my own car. 3rd party parts haven't been an issue yet and you don't see these on the road much anymore so get a lot of compliments. The most come from Gen Z kids, makes me think of the days of the 90s when I'd look at the 60s and 70s cars like that.
My Dad's friend had one of those exact Vipers, and to this day, the 20 min ride in that car, on Colorado mountain-side roads, twists, turns and all, was one of the most thrilling things I have ever done. Being catapulted into the back of my seat with every shift was amazing. Sweet dream, no doubt.
They aren't practical and don't make good dailies I mean that kind of goes without saying and alot of car at that time didn't have traction control. This was a real drivers car. It's basically a race car with license plates and drives as such. Cool for nice day or and weekend drives and stuff but not that practical for a daily.
I still like the way James May described owning a car like these ones: it's a community service. They're awful cars to drive and own, but whenever they're out on a ride across town, they remind people that wonderful examples of automotive design exist. He was talking about a Ferrari 308GTB (or whatever)
Our town's richest guy (every town has one) waited 6 months or so for his custom Viper when they first came out. He showed up to our auto shop to show it off and took one of our guys for a "quick ride". They were gone for over an hour. Keith decided to do a doughnut in an intersection (because he's rich enough to be able to do one - in town) and wrapped the car around a telephone pole. 😂
I have a similar story from my hometown. A former classmate inherited a huge amount of money from an uncle who he barely knew, and had no idea how wealthy the uncle was. He immediately went out and bought the most expensive version of the Chevy Corvette for that year. I believe it was early 1980’s. He managed to drive it off the road into a very deep and nasty drainage ditch, around 8-10 feet deep with 6 feet of stinking swamp water in it. He had the car for about 3 days, took possession on Wednesday and crashed it on Friday night. What a fecking idiot.
My uncle was one of the engineers on the 1st Viper. He picked me up one day after school in a Viper prototype. I was 9. It felt like an alien spaceship.
Here in Calabasas California. However, I own an apartment in Madrid Spain...and a very specific and special U.S spec 92 Dodge Viper (SR I) that I keep there. Same and only car used in the 99 film The Ninth Gate with J.Depp. Purchased it in 01 in France as the car was stuck in port due to paperwork issues and held indefinitely. I work in film and television and reached out to and ended up buying the car and having it basically transferred to me and backing it out of customs to purchase. I ended up just paying off a "negotiated" minimal storage fees on behalf and the production company sold it to me for that and gave me title. Great car (8,600 mi) no real issues. Yes, exhaust pipe bad location. No biggie. Overheating; fixed. For years every time I would go back and forth between the States I was bringing in all kinds of duplicate spares; oil filters, all filters, gaskets, switches, hoses, pulleys, thermostats, bulbs, headlights, suspension rods, brake pads, rotors, engine and clutch parts, etc. Best car ever. Recently did a detail with clay bar and a full clear wrap. Other than thermostat and correctable electrical issues the car is bombproof. It gets a fluid change once a year, new battery every 3 years, a battery tender hooked up and a doorman who starts it up twice a week now going on 22 years. No leaks. Solid car. It, to this day whenever I am there (twice a year minimum minus covid as was there 11 months) the car is a huge hit. Like a monster hit. Fun fact. In 2016 I bumped into Johnny Depp here in L.A at a thing and I tried talking to him and told him how I ended up with that car. He had no idea what I was talking about. Like literally no idea what I was talking about until a buddy of his had to remind him later. Then again all he did was sit in the passenger seat in that scene. I have worked with and met many actors and this was the one time that I felt stupid for opening my mouth. My then fourth ex-wife kept pushing me to break the ice and talk to him and tell him about the car even though I did not want to. Even though he was real kind about it and tried to pretend like he knew what it was; after the fact. The nice thing was that his buddy kind of leaned into me afterwards and said," it's okay, he kinda gets it; he's just NOT a car guy." And then LATER he said, " Oh, the red targa with Emmanuel. Yes, yes"!
Having owned a 1st gen viper for a decade and adding almost 50k to the odometer, I can say with certainty that it’s definitely wonderful to own and never stops being fun! Love your vids btw!
My dads cousin had a first gen viper. He was driving it a few months ago, lost control, hit a tree and ripped the car into pieces. He was ejected still strapped into the drivers seat. He broke almost every bone in his body but he’s doing better now. He said he wants his viper back 😂
My jaw literally fell open hearing about James driving that Pagani, that is an absolutely insane experience, from arranging to drive it, getting it insured from an actual Pagani, driving it through Huntington Beach, and that doesn't even include the insane experience of *actually driving the car*. That is nuts, I can't imagine.
Was lucky to own a gen 2 viper 5 years ago, you would be very surprised just how reliable they were. Never had unscheduled maintenance in 3 years of ownership.
@@CptLang97 yea they're low revving huge displacement pushrod v10 I can see why it would be reliable. The gen 2 looks more practical than the gen 1. They aren't practical daily drivers for most that is for sure. Kind of goes without saying.
I put 100k miles on a Gen1 ('94). Crossover tube gasket coolant leak was the only issue. Everything else was scheduled maintenance and normal wear items. Had the OE clutch when I sold it.
The 190E and its DTM variants are still some of the coolest looking Mercedes in my opinion to this day. Crazy to me to think that someone out there is spending 7 million on one car when for 7 million i could own multiples of almost every car i would want and a shit ton of land to build storage facilities on and still support my entire immediate family for our lifetimes...
Fun fact,the countach didn't actually come with the wing from factory. The dealers installed them themselves. So every countach wing has been applied differently,even some with drywall screws has been seen before!
@@frodosfrostbite my 10 year old self screams NO!! But my mature me with my knowledge of it and the design of the car...yeah, I'd probably take it off, too.
@@rocketsurgeon11 very much a useless boomerang you attach on your car that also has the very useful side benefit of reducing your already tiny visibility even more
Success is not built on success. It's built on failure, It's built on fraustration. it's built on fear that you have to overcome. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life
My uncle had a first gen Viper when I was growing up (which he eventually gave to his son who uses it as a weekend car now), I was never told about the exhausts and the first time I rode in it I was wearing shorts, so naturally I burned my leg getting in. It’s not the tailpipe or even the exhaust gasses that get you, it’s the bodywork underneath the door which you aren’t expecting to be hot.
The biodegradable wiring harness is interesting. Idk if modern wires have it but one reason rats loved chewing up wires in cars was because they could smell the peanut oil that was used in making the insulation for the wires.
Toyota actually has a huge issue with this on their wiring harnesses. Common to see a Toyota base come into a shop with wiring harness issues from rodents. I don't know specifics of what these harnesses were made out of, but I always chalked it up to "rat friendly food."
@@calebboatsman7856 that's true my friend has a tacoma and his has a 2 year old 4runner both had to have new wiring harness replaced in 2 years because of rodents eating them.
The model of ford fusions like the 2007 had this issue. My dad hat one that was his daily driver. He kept it in a clean mostly empty garage and a small animal got to the wires over night. When he towed it to the ford dealership your explanation was the exact story the mechanic gave him. He said that they see it a lot because rodents were drawn to the wires insulation and liked to eat it.
More content like this please! I miss the old days of up to speed and wheel house but since it seems we aren't getting those back I MUCH prefer this than another Wish car parts video. This is interesting and you actually learn about the cars which is what originally brought me to this channel.
T-Pain has a great story on owning a Bugatti Veyron. You couldn't give me a Countach today, but no car ever reached the level of Cool as the Countach of the 80s. Remember, there was no internet or social media back then, but everyone knew what that car was and what it represented.
I have a 75 Countach, the no flares no wings skinny tire one. They didn't keep the best records but it was the 28th one built. Bought it in pieces and took years to finish. It handled bad, weak brakes, heavy steering, heavier clutch, no rear vision and over 140 mph the rear end would start to lift. It gets to 60 in 7 seconds. I love it! Driving it is an event. I've installed an electric power steering rack, Wilwood brakes, tweaked the suspension and added Vintage air. I'm a skinny 6 foot and barely can fit. The noise it makes and the pure mechanical feel is fantastic
I've got a '95 RT/10 and as Justin mentioned, they are a great track toy. My partner really doesn't like the car. I LOVE IT. But she has no interest in road trips in the viper. We also have a C6 corvette and she is in love with that car. It's comfy, it's more practical, it has heated seats. I drive my viper all over the place, but I wouldn't say there is real concern for it breaking down all the time. It's been stout as stout can be. However, I do autocross it and it spends a lot of time getting driven hard. Easy car to work on too. I can certainly agree they are impractical but I wouldn't go so far as to say they suck to own.
First gen Viper is firmly in the realm of "nightmare as a daily, but if it's just a sunny weekend toy it's a joy." It was basically designed as a track car that you didn't need to trailer between tracks.
@@bluemonday2000 its that nostalgia of the first gens though as a kid brought up in the 90s. Especially the GTS, blue with white stripes, and that wing....mmm sexy.
@@coolbreezelb5023 THAT Exact car/paint (99') is my dream car. I know they're not million dollar Paganis, but I don't want a Pagani or McLaren. Gimme that Shelby Blue and white Viper any day. But with Brembos lol
My accounting teacher in college was a cool old lady in her 70's who was car crazy. Her daily driver was the Dodge Ram with the Viper engine package. She owned a Viper but made her brother drive it for her. In the first day of class she mentioned she always keeps a dollar in her wallet so she's not vagrant in a reference to the movie Convoy which drew a comment from me about Dirty Lyle, Pig Pen, Spider Mike, & that g-damned double-nickle limit (if you know, you know) & we were instantly bonded for the rest of my college career. Amazing woman with a lifetime of accounting experience in the real world & a very talented teacher. Think she just taught to keep busy. She's probably the main reason I graduated with honors. Pretty sure she passed away in the last 10 years. Sucks, she was an amazing woman.
@@Twofrogsonecup I think a Caterham 7 or a Factory 5 Cobra replica would be more in the style of the Donut team personally. For a starting point, they could use a K20 for the Caterham or a Shelby GT350 Mustang engine for the Cobra, then if things work out and the series is popular/successful, they could do a "part 2" series where they either upgrade the K20 and turn the Caterham into a serious track weapon or give the GT350 engine the Roush Performance treatment and make the Cobra a serious street bruiser.
0:24 - "you're an 8 yr old kid..." Bro I'm a 32yr old man and I saw a 2017 ACR Viper the other day and just about drove onto the sidewalk trying to look at it lmao
A bit of a correction. The Viper engine was not derived from a Lamborghini engine. It was prototyped in the early 80's based on a 360 (5.9) LA V8 with 2 extra cylinders, longer stroke and bigger bore. Well before Chrysler owned Lamborghini in 1987. If you sat a gen 1 Viper head next to a 360 LA head they are damn near identical, aside from the extra cylinder.
@@dod_the_angel The only thing Lamborghini did was the production of the aluminum block and heads. The iron block and head V10 design was already in existence and production used by Chrysler in heavy duty trucks. In other words, the engine already existed, they just tasked Lamborghini with the production of the aluminum version of those parts since they had the production facilities to do so. This was an engine that was already producing close to 360 HP in the iron block, and was retuned to 420 HP in the aluminum block via the use of forge internals, intake plenum and higher compression. If you put the head of a Chrysler LA V8 next to a SR1 Viper head they look nearly identical, aside from one being cast iron and the other being aluminum and having 1 extra combustion chamber. Even the combustion chambers are the same design. The ports are the same design, the rocker assemblies are the same design, they basically the same head. If you took a LA V8 block and a SR1 Viper block and put them side by side they look extremely similar, because the Viper block is essentially an LA block with 2 extra cylinders but made out of aluminum. They did increase bore and stroke to get to 8.0 liters of displacement.
3:58 I totally misread this as the next car being the Dodge Challenger and I was really like, "That doesn't look much like a Challenger. Are they that hard to maintain? How is it a 90's supercar? In what world is that James' favorite car??? Oh."
James best moment ever was when he was driving that Pagani, he was starting to get a little comfortable with the car. Stepped out the rear end a little under acceleration then tried to play it off to the Pagani dude sitting next to him and then says "don't fuck around!"(genuine oh shit moment) Best line ever of his was referring to that experience in a later episode when he said "I stepped it out in 4th and saw generations of my family going into debt flash before my eyes." Best ever. All the guys at donut are awesome. Especially the OG one's, Zach included. the new guy(s) are cool too. James says funny things. The donut guys have the best blend of technical accuracy and humor in the auto entertainment genre.
I love Justin he's got such a great vibe about him and his laughs give me happy feelings all day. Also next Hi/Lo challenge should definitely be kit cars
Saw a casual first gen viper at petco the other day. Covered In dirt, tires with mid tread scratches on the black paint, the leather is stretching with an old Kenwood stereo. Living it's best life. I could help but stand and appreciate seeing a daily driver viper in today's world
That section about the shelby cobra makes me think: HiLo with kit cars? surely there are expensive and cheap kit cars out there and that sounds like a blast.
I was about 7-8 when I first saw the Viper. It was my first favorite car. It looks like “THE” sports car. Just the shape of it. If you asked an AI program to make a sports car, it’s making the Viper.
I’d love to see this with more attainable cars that are inconvenient due to things other than money. Lotus Elise is a good example. Clam being fragile, parts availability. Getting in and out etc
As Regular Car Reviews said about the first generation Dodge Viper: "This car is trying to kill you. HOWEVER, it will not do what you don't ask it to."
Those old Countach's were weird. The ergos suffered from the same thing as most Italian cars of that era. After adjusting for your liking, you'd usually find that you had to reach for the steering wheel but your legs were cramped. Also, the huge tunnel in the middle forced you to one side of the car. Looked damn cool though.
Someone once mentioned in another video that the ergonomics of the Countach work much better if you drive like an Italian e.g. with your arms resting on your thighs and your hands on the *bottom* of the wheel. But they did admit that everything else is accurate especially the clutch pedal which is apparently set in concrete (did Lambo borrow one of their tractor clutches to make sure it could handle the motor?)
I'm now 74 and in my 20's when it came to an over whelming desire to own a particular car, my huckleberry was the Miata. Though I wasn't in a position to afford one, I would have draged my ball's through a mile of glass to own one. However being 6 foot 3, though I tried, I couldn't even test drive one. But to this day, it still has it original appeal to me.
It’s not where near the price status of these but I feel like MINI makes this list (esp. n14 engine). Super fun to drive, people love seeing them, electrical issues, hpfp issues, timing chain issues, heat issues, and the list goes on. Nightmare to own
I have a first gen viper that I've owned for quite a while and taken from Florida to California and back on a road trip. Put the soft top and windows on and crank the a/c on max cold. No issues at all with mine. Many people have vipers with plenty of milage on them. Lots of cars over 100k miles. They take a certain amount of not being an idiot to keep them on the road but they are super fun to push hard and drive great with proper inputs
I'll push back on the 90s vipers. My neighbor owned one and I spent a few times cruising with him in it. They were very, very loud and harsh to drive and left you worn out after a drive. It actually made my 2001 trans am seem comfortable. It was also dangerous if you got stupid and tried to do more than your ability. But if you kept it as a summer and weekend car, it was basically bullet proof. NO ONE HAS EVER BOUGHT A VIPER AS A DAILY DRIVER. My neighbor sold his 93 viper and bought a 1994 lotus esprit. The esprit was "more" comfortable than the viper was, but still mildly tiring. It was also less exciting to own and the turbo would frequently overheat and you had to drive around without boost for a bit. And the maintenance was an absolute nightmare. My neighbor worked for Cisco Systems and made crazy amounts of money and he still got annoyed by the constant maintenance with the Lotus. He was frequently annoyed with how he could rarely take it out each Saturday without it needing something or some bug popping up. He regretted getting the Lotus. So I would completely take the Viper over the other cars on this list.
Those kinds of cars aren't about interior especially in the 90s I mean what makes viper great is it looks sound and performance. You don't get a car like this for the interior I don't understand people dissing on them because of interior it's like the bare bones nature is part of the vipers charm. This car isn't about that and if fancy interior is more important to you than amazing looks and performance than this isn't the car for you.
@@midnight347 The Interior is part of the driving experience. Most of the driving is done at slower speeds anyway. I'm not going to be beating the crap out of it constantly.
Actually, gen 1 vipers are extremely low maintenance by sports car standards. Only real headache is finding tires, which it has a tendency to convert into smoke pretty quickly when driving hard
I've never been a fan of supercars, but I adore how the F1 still looks modern even by today's standards. It could be facelifted with only a set of modern head and tail lights, and it'd almost fit it in with today's line ups
I saw a Pagani Codalunga at the Festival Of Speed last year. It was absolutely beautiful to behold. Plus they had 5 F1s in one area, including Mr Bean's old one. I've always preferred the looks of the original Countach model, but the later one still look amazing.
The editing and presentation of this episode was really well done! And Justin seems to be really, really finding his groove! He seemed so comfortable whereas at the start of his time at Donut, he seemed like he'd hang back a little. Loved this one fellas
I've been in a cobra and my mom's good friend was one of the top cobra collectors/racers in the country. I remember him talking about how fragile they were. Super sick looking, but you've got to handle those things with kid gloves
When i was about 7 one of my dads co workers had the original viper in red. I got to go for a ride in it, which was insane to me because even though we werent poor poor we lived like we were. One of my coolest childhood memories
@Cody Graham they're great cars. Many examples with over 100k miles and constant abuse with no major failures. I think the Gen 1s had issues and everyone who knows no better just assumes they're problematic and that's very far from the truth. The only thing that's problematic is parts availability.
Viper isnt that bad. I had a 99 GTS. Amazing car. Okay, if the tires are cold, you havent much grip. But after 10-15m of driving they have a lot grip. You can max accelerate in the first gear without any lost of grip. I miss that car
Saw that viper in the background of another video and ive been ready to see it in the foreground. My dream car for years and years, and here we are crapping on it. Im still convinced i want one. Also the 3 spokes are sick as hell
My dad had a RT/10 from 1994 to 2012 and it was definitely awesome to own, nothing bad about owning a pure sports car, just don't drive it in the rain. Other than that it was a perfect weekend fun car.
Know what's weird? I'm not even a car guy and I watch all your videos! Seriously! I drive a 2015 Toyota Prius, and I'm more of a cyclist than a car guy. I grew up riding motorcycles. I mean, I loved the muscle cars that I grew up with (I'm 58), but the cars of today? No soul or style unless you spend major money. But you guys are funny as hell and very entertaining, so I watch.
In the Viper's defense a lot of cars from the early 1990s didn't come standard with airbags. Crazy I know, but 1999 was the year that airbags became mandatory in the entire United States.
My family has owned a 91 dodge viper my entire life. Red one that looks identical to the one in this video. It has been awesome to own! Seems to handle very well and has never had a major issue. Have definitely burnt my ankles on the side exhaust. But if you do it once, you'll never forget to be careful!
You should do one on “boring” cars that are actually fun to drive
100%, buddy!!
they did, in the past, they made a video on cars that look boring but are actually pretty fun.
Smart forfour (first gen). Only weighs 2000 pounds, very fun engines, the stock suspension is very stiff/sporty, and it has electric power steering which feels extremely responsive and accurate. 10/10 would drive again.
I had.a ford escort wagon 5 speed manual and that thing.was quick as hell... It had a mazda engine in it... It was like driving a go kart.
They already did
“we had to call pagani and his son said yea you can drive it we’ll insurance it” is the coolest and hardest line dropped in a donut video
No literally. Imagine you can jus call Pagani 😂
Respect for Pagani for sure!
"Hey, is that Horacio?"
I like hitlers idea for 1 car design that fcking works right and doesnt have bullshit learning games built into it
I would break down in frantic crying seeing that thing in real life. Just WOW
I've driven a first gen Viper. I used to work at a dealership in the late 90s when I was in high school. The owner of the dealership had a 93 Viper and he let me drive it...with supervision of course. It was absolutely terrifying to drive. Even at low speeds it never felt like I had control of the thing. It just acted like it wanted to kill you.
😎 why everyone called the Viper a Beast of all cars, besides cobra 😅
Love my 94 after a full day driving it you get comfortable. But don't get complacent because of the tires are cold and you get on the throttle a little hard you will spin. Ask me how I know. But luckily I was only going about 20 mph when it happened.
I am actually looking into kit bodies and that is going to be what I pick.
You know why? Because I'm not trying to race anyone and I keep Toyota parts under the hood.
my grandma used to be an owner operater, and I would go with her to help out, mostly with moving her heavy ramps to load and unload cars with. Once we hauled a 2000s Viper. when she was lining it up to drive up on to her trailer, she stopped while I adjusted bits of wood so the car can drive over it to clear the rear most bit of the trailer (hauling low ryding vehicles kinda sucked lul). She was worried something was getting hot near her leg (sitting with the driver door open and one foot on the pavement) so she shut it off, but then it dind't start again. Had to hire a tow truck driver to move it lul. Turns out the reason the threshold was hot was of course because one of the exhaust pipe ran through it
Basically you’re telling our inner child how much grief we were spared by not having the dream car. That’s a service. Well done Donut!
Can't see the forest for the trees sometimes but I think that last car will definitely hold it's value or perhaps even increase with time... because they are hand made those Pagani's I think they're literal rolling works of art. Nail on the head though, a be careful what ya wish for thing or somethin' :)
If you think logic and intelligent argument will stop me from wanting these you got another thing coming
I don’t know, sometimes it’s worth it if you can afford it. That’s why they are called dream cars, not reliable cost effective cars.
I think that’s fair Kenny. It’s more a good warning that if you can just barely afford the dream car (then or now used), don’t do it. Make sure you can also afford the aggravation and maintenance.
I owned a viper from 1999 until 2007. I was third owner. I loved that car, wish I hadn't sold it. My car before that was a 1967 mustang and after I sold viper, I got a 1964 mercury with a back window that goes up and down. It's still my daily driver. Lol. The viper was most comfortable car I owned
I love how when he says "we had to call Pagani", he's not talking about the company per se, but a family member, an actual Pagani.
When he said Pagani, he meant not a family member, but the actual Horacio Pagani. Thats why he said "his son" insured them
Reaction to the viper was accurate back then. There was one in my neighborhood 30 years ago. All the kids in the neighborhood could hear when he was coming home but he lived like a mile away. We all hopped on our bikes and met him at his house to ask him questions before he went inside. When he moved away, the kid that moved into his house was really popular for reasons, unbeknownst to himself.
One of our friends had a Viper on a small Micronesian island in the early-to-mid-90s. It was strange encountering it picking its way slowly over a very rocky, rutted dirt road once - I was surprised that it made its way in and out. The taxis used to charge double for driving up that road.
Justin is such a great addition to the team. Everybody has their own individual personality, but the whole team still gels really well together.
Justin just seems a really honest person to me for some reason
Justin is the most boring donut host ever. He’s not entertaining to watch at all he’s quiet and just stares at the camera he looks super awkward and when he does talk I feel like I want to go to sleep .
Yeah, dude seems so chill. The type of guy you’d love to have a beer with
Went to high school with him, can confirm he’s a chill dude. He has an identical twin named James if I’m remembering correctly
Yeah, plus he also represents black and darker people (colored people?). Ethinc diverse... Please dont ban me.
Someone once described the Viper as a car that seemed like it was trying to kill it's driver.
Think it was regular car reviews
probably Freddy Tavarish
Common in every comment grab-bag.
That's because it is. They named it viper....nuff said 😂
I watched a period review of the second gen viper, and they showed it on track looking slidey and snappy, and said it was a way more forgiving car than the first gen lol.
As a Service Manager at a Goodyear Automotive Center back around 2000-2001 or so, I had to Road Test a 94 Viper after customer bought Rims, Tires, and Alignment. Usually we have easy access in our area to quickly get to the residential streets, the regular traffic streets, and finish off the road test "circle" with a 2 mile run down the freeway. It was really helpful for diagnosing ride disturbances at different speeds, terrain, etc.,
I never even drove the damn thing out of our mall parking lot during this road test, (this was the only time in my 10 years working there that I had ever done such a thing) IT ABSOLUTELY, TRULY feels just like the memes; that the car is actively trying to kill you. Particularly, if you're not used to the subtleties of that torque hitting (even with very careful throttle and clutch control), once that power gets itself to the rear tires, that car felt utterly possessed. I parked it and hid the keys in my desk for the rest of the week until the customer was expected to pick it up. Last thing I wanted was for one of our rookie techs to try to get out for a joyride. Nope.
I have the same exact story
That story on the Pagani and the son giving the okay is amazing. Can we get a series called "Story Time" and just go into things like this.
I second this
Yeah Donut must have so many amazing stories like this
@@TheLegoPerson Need a Donut version of VinWiki Stories
Paganis son is a legend. Theres a video of someone crashing into him (in a Pagani) on a track and he literally just said "lol whatever Ill pay for it" and saved the dude from bankruptcy
i was honestly surprised at how "cheap" and most importantly, convenient the bugatti upkeep was. after listing off all the mclaren prices and complications, simplifying it to 100k every 14 months and everything is taken care of is amazing
I suppose they overpriced the individual services to sell the package deal.
@@jayathranps1319 It should be mentioned that if anything major that needs to be done to the car comes up during this service, the total bill quickly grows to much more than 100k. It's also worth mentioning that this price doesn't stay fixed and does increase over time, obviously. Lots of pricing info on the service of Bugattis is already outdated, because the owners don't talk about it that much and Bugatti themselves are obviously not very forthcoming about it either.
But also remember that 14 months tune up is probably based on an insanely low mileage estimate. I'd be shocked if it was even 10k mi a year. If you look up used supercars you can easily find 20 year old supercars with less than 5k miles.
@@whereforartthou Way way way less miles than 10k or even 5k a year. I bought a 2015 Vette in 2019 and it only had 5k miles on it and that was considered "normal". Super car owners do a calculation called "$ of depreciation / mile". In some cars it can be $3-$5k per mile so they rather keep them off the road and let them appreciate faster than any stock they own. That is why the crazy $7.4 mil Pagani sold out, all those hyper special models do, exactly for that reason. They raise in value faster than stocks.
I have a '95 SL320 R129 and absolutely love it. Yes, I had to re-solder the brake light wiring that runs along the trunk hinge, and the blower motor had to be replaced and jerry-rigged but it was cheap and I'm learning a ton about how to work on my own car. 3rd party parts haven't been an issue yet and you don't see these on the road much anymore so get a lot of compliments. The most come from Gen Z kids, makes me think of the days of the 90s when I'd look at the 60s and 70s cars like that.
The fact that James drove a Huayra is still mindblowing! My soul would leave my body if I even ride as a passenger.
My Dad's friend had one of those exact Vipers, and to this day, the 20 min ride in that car, on Colorado mountain-side roads, twists, turns and all, was one of the most thrilling things I have ever done. Being catapulted into the back of my seat with every shift was amazing. Sweet dream, no doubt.
They aren't practical and don't make good dailies I mean that kind of goes without saying and alot of car at that time didn't have traction control. This was a real drivers car. It's basically a race car with license plates and drives as such. Cool for nice day or and weekend drives and stuff but not that practical for a daily.
@@midnight347 i think it's fine daily if not making stupid mistakes like flooring the gas and braking pedals agressively
I still like the way James May described owning a car like these ones: it's a community service. They're awful cars to drive and own, but whenever they're out on a ride across town, they remind people that wonderful examples of automotive design exist.
He was talking about a Ferrari 308GTB (or whatever)
Our town's richest guy (every town has one) waited 6 months or so for his custom Viper when they first came out.
He showed up to our auto shop to show it off and took one of our guys for a "quick ride".
They were gone for over an hour.
Keith decided to do a doughnut in an intersection (because he's rich enough to be able to do one - in town) and wrapped the car around a telephone pole. 😂
Does your town have a donut tax that rich people are allowed to do donuts wherever they want??
I have a similar story from my hometown. A former classmate inherited a huge amount of money from an uncle who he barely knew, and had no idea how wealthy the uncle was. He immediately went out and bought the most expensive version of the Chevy Corvette for that year. I believe it was early 1980’s.
He managed to drive it off the road into a very deep and nasty drainage ditch, around 8-10 feet deep with 6 feet of stinking swamp water in it. He had the car for about 3 days, took possession on Wednesday and crashed it on Friday night.
What a fecking idiot.
@@JaredConnell Reckless driving tickets are just a tax on fun
Typical Keith.
@@JaredConnell yea, just pickup the pieces and make a tiny viper
My uncle was one of the engineers on the 1st Viper. He picked me up one day after school in a Viper prototype. I was 9. It felt like an alien spaceship.
That’s amazing
😳every kid's dream!
Here in Calabasas California. However, I own an apartment in Madrid Spain...and a very specific and special U.S spec 92 Dodge Viper (SR I) that I keep there. Same and only car used in the 99 film The Ninth Gate with J.Depp. Purchased it in 01 in France as the car was stuck in port due to paperwork issues and held indefinitely. I work in film and television and reached out to and ended up buying the car and having it basically transferred to me and backing it out of customs to purchase. I ended up just paying off a "negotiated" minimal storage fees on behalf and the production company sold it to me for that and gave me title. Great car (8,600 mi) no real issues. Yes, exhaust pipe bad location. No biggie. Overheating; fixed. For years every time I would go back and forth between the States I was bringing in all kinds of duplicate spares; oil filters, all filters, gaskets, switches, hoses, pulleys, thermostats, bulbs, headlights, suspension rods, brake pads, rotors, engine and clutch parts, etc. Best car ever. Recently did a detail with clay bar and a full clear wrap. Other than thermostat and correctable electrical issues the car is bombproof. It gets a fluid change once a year, new battery every 3 years, a battery tender hooked up and a doorman who starts it up twice a week now going on 22 years. No leaks. Solid car. It, to this day whenever I am there (twice a year minimum minus covid as was there 11 months) the car is a huge hit. Like a monster hit. Fun fact. In 2016 I bumped into Johnny Depp here in L.A at a thing and I tried talking to him and told him how I ended up with that car. He had no idea what I was talking about. Like literally no idea what I was talking about until a buddy of his had to remind him later. Then again all he did was sit in the passenger seat in that scene. I have worked with and met many actors and this was the one time that I felt stupid for opening my mouth. My then fourth ex-wife kept pushing me to break the ice and talk to him and tell him about the car even though I did not want to. Even though he was real kind about it and tried to pretend like he knew what it was; after the fact. The nice thing was that his buddy kind of leaned into me afterwards and said," it's okay, he kinda gets it; he's just NOT a car guy." And then LATER he said, " Oh, the red targa with Emmanuel. Yes, yes"!
you lucky dog you
Having owned a 1st gen viper for a decade and adding almost 50k to the odometer, I can say with certainty that it’s definitely wonderful to own and never stops being fun! Love your vids btw!
I'm absolutely jealous. That's my dream car. Good for you sir. Glad you had fun. Did you get another sports car after the Viper?
@@coreyaldridge1753 currently just bikes, an old truck, and the viper.
What would you say are pros and cons of your viper?
80k for it right now and I’ll pay to ship it. If it has less than 15k miles I’ll go 110k, hmu
@@Scooter227 well damn
My dads cousin had a first gen viper. He was driving it a few months ago, lost control, hit a tree and ripped the car into pieces. He was ejected still strapped into the drivers seat. He broke almost every bone in his body but he’s doing better now. He said he wants his viper back 😂
A few years ago I saw one that had hopped a curb and was stuck on a boulevard. So clearly they still are a handful for their old owners to drive
jesus
@@spedracer55 take the wheel
Maybe he did it for that very thrill?
*o u c h i e s*
My consent and best wishes goes to that man.
You guys should do a kit car build. Maybe a factory five or something. That would be a cool series.
I'd love to see them try and put a kit car together.
That would be amazing! A Cobra kit car, donut style!
Hi low kit car series would be dope
agreed
ooooh, the Factory Five Type 65 Coupe-R!!!!
With a Coyote...
My jaw literally fell open hearing about James driving that Pagani, that is an absolutely insane experience, from arranging to drive it, getting it insured from an actual Pagani, driving it through Huntington Beach, and that doesn't even include the insane experience of *actually driving the car*. That is nuts, I can't imagine.
James asking Jay's team to drive the f1 is the definition of go big or go home lmao
Or go bankrupt if you bin it
And ... he went home.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take
I mean, who wouldn't at least TRY and do the same thing? I sure as hell would have done the same thing in James' shoes.
"Yeah you're dreaming but on a budget" is hilarious
Was lucky to own a gen 2 viper 5 years ago, you would be very surprised just how reliable they were. Never had unscheduled maintenance in 3 years of ownership.
Same here, no issues, six years of ownership. '98 GTS
Given the engine is based on a design for a truck, it makes sense that they're reliable, after the 1st gen problems were addressed
99 GTS. Owned it 9 years. Had an o ring on the AC line crack. 20 cent part.
@@CptLang97 yea they're low revving huge displacement pushrod v10 I can see why it would be reliable. The gen 2 looks more practical than the gen 1. They aren't practical daily drivers for most that is for sure. Kind of goes without saying.
I put 100k miles on a Gen1 ('94).
Crossover tube gasket coolant leak was the only issue. Everything else was scheduled maintenance and normal wear items.
Had the OE clutch when I sold it.
3:34 this mans reaction to a closely sounding....word....was priceless
Rubber... WHAT NOW?
LMFAOO
The 190E and its DTM variants are still some of the coolest looking Mercedes in my opinion to this day. Crazy to me to think that someone out there is spending 7 million on one car when for 7 million i could own multiples of almost every car i would want and a shit ton of land to build storage facilities on and still support my entire immediate family for our lifetimes...
That whole era of those DTM cars were amazing! The 190E is perfection
Fun fact,the countach didn't actually come with the wing from factory. The dealers installed them themselves. So every countach wing has been applied differently,even some with drywall screws has been seen before!
And the wing does absolutely nothing except add weight and drag!
@rocketsurgeon11 exactly,and honestly just looks stupid IMO,I personally would remove it
@@frodosfrostbite my 10 year old self screams NO!! But my mature me with my knowledge of it and the design of the car...yeah, I'd probably take it off, too.
@rocketsurgeon11 I was the same way until I found out it was actually just a dealer aftermarket option lol its literally factory rice
@@rocketsurgeon11 very much a useless boomerang you attach on your car that also has the very useful side benefit of reducing your already tiny visibility even more
Success is not built on success. It's built on failure, It's built on fraustration. it's built on fear that you have to overcome. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life
@carlgarza556 O' Yes I'm a living testimony of Mrs Victoria Alejandro.!
Victoria has changed my financial status for the best.!
All thanks to my aunty who introduced her to me.!
@joshua730thphilibus2Victoria Alejandro has really made name for herself
I'm not here to converse for her but to testify just for what I'm sure of
My uncle had a first gen Viper when I was growing up (which he eventually gave to his son who uses it as a weekend car now), I was never told about the exhausts and the first time I rode in it I was wearing shorts, so naturally I burned my leg getting in. It’s not the tailpipe or even the exhaust gasses that get you, it’s the bodywork underneath the door which you aren’t expecting to be hot.
Vipers in the wild are known to bite....
I bought a Toyota MR-2 in 1986. That car was extremely reliable and lots of fun to drive! I still miss it.
Donut single handedly trying to drive down prices on collector cars. I see what you're doing Donut.
The biodegradable wiring harness is interesting. Idk if modern wires have it but one reason rats loved chewing up wires in cars was because they could smell the peanut oil that was used in making the insulation for the wires.
Toyota actually has a huge issue with this on their wiring harnesses. Common to see a Toyota base come into a shop with wiring harness issues from rodents. I don't know specifics of what these harnesses were made out of, but I always chalked it up to "rat friendly food."
They are made out of corn derived plastics. Rats love them.
@@calebboatsman7856 that's true my friend has a tacoma and his has a 2 year old 4runner both had to have new wiring harness replaced in 2 years because of rodents eating them.
No they reverted thank god. Rats will chew anything
The model of ford fusions like the 2007 had this issue. My dad hat one that was his daily driver. He kept it in a clean mostly empty garage and a small animal got to the wires over night. When he towed it to the ford dealership your explanation was the exact story the mechanic gave him. He said that they see it a lot because rodents were drawn to the wires insulation and liked to eat it.
More content like this please! I miss the old days of up to speed and wheel house but since it seems we aren't getting those back I MUCH prefer this than another Wish car parts video. This is interesting and you actually learn about the cars which is what originally brought me to this channel.
This vid was trash dude. Probably took half hour or research and work for one intern.
Amen
T-Pain has a great story on owning a Bugatti Veyron. You couldn't give me a Countach today, but no car ever reached the level of Cool as the Countach of the 80s. Remember, there was no internet or social media back then, but everyone knew what that car was and what it represented.
Donut really dropping videos at 5am their time. Bravo
Bruh this is 6pm in the evening 😳 😂
2pm in France, we're good
@@origamicrafts575 what don't you understand by "5am their time"?
7 am for bruh
1pm UK time. Perfect for a day off!
Highly appreciated the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 'spine-transfer + the 900' transition, that sound just unlocked some sweet childhood memories lol
I think it's free for playstation users right now
I have a 75 Countach, the no flares no wings skinny tire one. They didn't keep the best records but it was the 28th one built. Bought it in pieces and took years to finish. It handled bad, weak brakes, heavy steering, heavier clutch, no rear vision and over 140 mph the rear end would start to lift. It gets to 60 in 7 seconds. I love it! Driving it is an event. I've installed an electric power steering rack, Wilwood brakes, tweaked the suspension and added Vintage air. I'm a skinny 6 foot and barely can fit. The noise it makes and the pure mechanical feel is fantastic
Rented a Viper in Vegas years ago. Definitely a fun, visceral, and scary car to drive. Loved it.
I wonder what the average lifespan of a rentable Viper is lol.
Im surprised its even allowed to be rented
7:35 y'all are killing me with the Joestar "OHHH NOOOOO"
I've got a '95 RT/10 and as Justin mentioned, they are a great track toy. My partner really doesn't like the car. I LOVE IT. But she has no interest in road trips in the viper. We also have a C6 corvette and she is in love with that car. It's comfy, it's more practical, it has heated seats. I drive my viper all over the place, but I wouldn't say there is real concern for it breaking down all the time. It's been stout as stout can be. However, I do autocross it and it spends a lot of time getting driven hard. Easy car to work on too. I can certainly agree they are impractical but I wouldn't go so far as to say they suck to own.
Everytime James pronounce the Lamborgine ma-shine makes me laugh so hard. 😅😅🤣🤣
I can no longer pronounce it correctly. They are all Lamborghine Ma Shines now.
Do you really though?
Do you really though?
@@HeyAddieImTojo nope
Do you really though?
The Viper looked more and more like a sweet dream as the video went on.
The newer ones were better
First gen Viper is firmly in the realm of "nightmare as a daily, but if it's just a sunny weekend toy it's a joy." It was basically designed as a track car that you didn't need to trailer between tracks.
@@bluemonday2000 its that nostalgia of the first gens though as a kid brought up in the 90s. Especially the GTS, blue with white stripes, and that wing....mmm sexy.
@@coolbreezelb5023 THAT Exact car/paint (99') is my dream car. I know they're not million dollar Paganis, but I don't want a Pagani or McLaren. Gimme that Shelby Blue and white Viper any day. But with Brembos lol
@@shuruff904 hell yea! What color brembos?
My accounting teacher in college was a cool old lady in her 70's who was car crazy. Her daily driver was the Dodge Ram with the Viper engine package. She owned a Viper but made her brother drive it for her. In the first day of class she mentioned she always keeps a dollar in her wallet so she's not vagrant in a reference to the movie Convoy which drew a comment from me about Dirty Lyle, Pig Pen, Spider Mike, & that g-damned double-nickle limit (if you know, you know) & we were instantly bonded for the rest of my college career. Amazing woman with a lifetime of accounting experience in the real world & a very talented teacher. Think she just taught to keep busy. She's probably the main reason I graduated with honors. Pretty sure she passed away in the last 10 years. Sucks, she was an amazing woman.
The whole donut crew is on point right now. It feels like you all fit in so well in every aspect. Love this channel alot!
I'd love to see a series with you guys building a kit car.
Like an Ultima with a 7.0 from the C6 zo6
@@Twofrogsonecup I think a Caterham 7 or a Factory 5 Cobra replica would be more in the style of the Donut team personally.
For a starting point, they could use a K20 for the Caterham or a Shelby GT350 Mustang engine for the Cobra, then if things work out and the series is popular/successful, they could do a "part 2" series where they either upgrade the K20 and turn the Caterham into a serious track weapon or give the GT350 engine the Roush Performance treatment and make the Cobra a serious street bruiser.
0:24 - "you're an 8 yr old kid..." Bro I'm a 32yr old man and I saw a 2017 ACR Viper the other day and just about drove onto the sidewalk trying to look at it lmao
A bit of a correction. The Viper engine was not derived from a Lamborghini engine. It was prototyped in the early 80's based on a 360 (5.9) LA V8 with 2 extra cylinders, longer stroke and bigger bore. Well before Chrysler owned Lamborghini in 1987. If you sat a gen 1 Viper head next to a 360 LA head they are damn near identical, aside from the extra cylinder.
That is true but lamborghini was involved with the engine. They were given the job of making the cylinder heads from aluminium
@@dod_the_angel The only thing Lamborghini did was the production of the aluminum block and heads. The iron block and head V10 design was already in existence and production used by Chrysler in heavy duty trucks. In other words, the engine already existed, they just tasked Lamborghini with the production of the aluminum version of those parts since they had the production facilities to do so. This was an engine that was already producing close to 360 HP in the iron block, and was retuned to 420 HP in the aluminum block via the use of forge internals, intake plenum and higher compression. If you put the head of a Chrysler LA V8 next to a SR1 Viper head they look nearly identical, aside from one being cast iron and the other being aluminum and having 1 extra combustion chamber. Even the combustion chambers are the same design. The ports are the same design, the rocker assemblies are the same design, they basically the same head. If you took a LA V8 block and a SR1 Viper block and put them side by side they look extremely similar, because the Viper block is essentially an LA block with 2 extra cylinders but made out of aluminum. They did increase bore and stroke to get to 8.0 liters of displacement.
@@riccochet704 Negative, nice try though.
I recall reading that they were truck engines stuffed into them.
@@giovanni4304 positive, but nice try. if you're not going to disprove him then don't type dipshit.
3:58 I totally misread this as the next car being the Dodge Challenger and I was really like, "That doesn't look much like a Challenger. Are they that hard to maintain? How is it a 90's supercar? In what world is that James' favorite car??? Oh."
You kow what, old cars have charisma, their own style. I recognized every single one from this shadow silhouette's like 2:07
James best moment ever was when he was driving that Pagani, he was starting to get a little comfortable with the car. Stepped out the rear end a little under acceleration then tried to play it off to the Pagani dude sitting next to him and then says "don't fuck around!"(genuine oh shit moment)
Best line ever of his was referring to that experience in a later episode when he said "I stepped it out in 4th and saw generations of my family going into debt flash before my eyes." Best ever. All the guys at donut are awesome. Especially the OG one's, Zach included. the new guy(s) are cool too. James says funny things.
The donut guys have the best blend of technical accuracy and humor in the auto entertainment genre.
I love Justin he's got such a great vibe about him and his laughs give me happy feelings all day. Also next Hi/Lo challenge should definitely be kit cars
Saw a casual first gen viper at petco the other day. Covered In dirt, tires with mid tread scratches on the black paint, the leather is stretching with an old Kenwood stereo. Living it's best life. I could help but stand and appreciate seeing a daily driver viper in today's world
That section about the shelby cobra makes me think: HiLo with kit cars? surely there are expensive and cheap kit cars out there and that sounds like a blast.
6:48 >$10,000 means greater than $10,000. The pointed end always points to the lower number.
They used the wrong one, I was going to comment this, but then I saw yours 😁
I was about 7-8 when I first saw the Viper. It was my first favorite car. It looks like “THE” sports car. Just the shape of it. If you asked an AI program to make a sports car, it’s making the Viper.
This one goes out to the underdogs behind the scenes. Donut's style, design and editing is looking great. Keep it up team 🍩❤️
“ This car will *kill you* “ - Mr. Regular
I’d love to see this with more attainable cars that are inconvenient due to things other than money. Lotus Elise is a good example. Clam being fragile, parts availability. Getting in and out etc
As Regular Car Reviews said about the first generation Dodge Viper: "This car is trying to kill you. HOWEVER, it will not do what you don't ask it to."
Those old Countach's were weird. The ergos suffered from the same thing as most Italian cars of that era. After adjusting for your liking, you'd usually find that you had to reach for the steering wheel but your legs were cramped. Also, the huge tunnel in the middle forced you to one side of the car. Looked damn cool though.
Someone once mentioned in another video that the ergonomics of the Countach work much better if you drive like an Italian e.g. with your arms resting on your thighs and your hands on the *bottom* of the wheel. But they did admit that everything else is accurate especially the clutch pedal which is apparently set in concrete (did Lambo borrow one of their tractor clutches to make sure it could handle the motor?)
I'm now 74 and in my 20's when it came to an over whelming desire to own a particular car, my huckleberry was the Miata. Though I wasn't in a position to afford one, I would have draged my ball's through a mile of glass to own one. However being 6 foot 3, though I tried, I couldn't even test drive one. But to this day, it still has it original appeal to me.
Justin and James are the donut dream team 🤘🏼 you two have the best chemistry and never disappoint
It’s not where near the price status of these but I feel like MINI makes this list (esp. n14 engine). Super fun to drive, people love seeing them, electrical issues, hpfp issues, timing chain issues, heat issues, and the list goes on. Nightmare to own
Now I'm imagining James with 2 Bugattis- one running Konigs and one running BBS.
I have a first gen viper that I've owned for quite a while and taken from Florida to California and back on a road trip. Put the soft top and windows on and crank the a/c on max cold. No issues at all with mine. Many people have vipers with plenty of milage on them. Lots of cars over 100k miles. They take a certain amount of not being an idiot to keep them on the road but they are super fun to push hard and drive great with proper inputs
45k views in 48 minutes respect... analytics have to be off the charts... been watching yall for years
I'll push back on the 90s vipers. My neighbor owned one and I spent a few times cruising with him in it. They were very, very loud and harsh to drive and left you worn out after a drive. It actually made my 2001 trans am seem comfortable. It was also dangerous if you got stupid and tried to do more than your ability. But if you kept it as a summer and weekend car, it was basically bullet proof. NO ONE HAS EVER BOUGHT A VIPER AS A DAILY DRIVER. My neighbor sold his 93 viper and bought a 1994 lotus esprit. The esprit was "more" comfortable than the viper was, but still mildly tiring. It was also less exciting to own and the turbo would frequently overheat and you had to drive around without boost for a bit. And the maintenance was an absolute nightmare. My neighbor worked for Cisco Systems and made crazy amounts of money and he still got annoyed by the constant maintenance with the Lotus. He was frequently annoyed with how he could rarely take it out each Saturday without it needing something or some bug popping up. He regretted getting the Lotus. So I would completely take the Viper over the other cars on this list.
The Dodge Viper was my dream car as a kid. The moment I got into an actual one and saw the cheap interior, that went out the door.
Facts 😂
Still love it though. We're all just 10 year old kids with paychecks now
Its like a Corvette, only the budget for the engine is doubled and the budget for the interior is halved.
Those kinds of cars aren't about interior especially in the 90s I mean what makes viper great is it looks sound and performance. You don't get a car like this for the interior I don't understand people dissing on them because of interior it's like the bare bones nature is part of the vipers charm. This car isn't about that and if fancy interior is more important to you than amazing looks and performance than this isn't the car for you.
@@midnight347 The Interior is part of the driving experience. Most of the driving is done at slower speeds anyway. I'm not going to be beating the crap out of it constantly.
I can't wait to see the series where you actually build a Shelby Cobra kit car to validate that the original is a beautiful nightmare.
Actually, gen 1 vipers are extremely low maintenance by sports car standards. Only real headache is finding tires, which it has a tendency to convert into smoke pretty quickly when driving hard
JPump and JFree putting out that content we like to see! Now hook us up with an Up To Speed!
love getting off work and immediately seeing a donut upload 🙌🏻
Bros on night shift
Same man
@@tootmcfarten-1556 time zones also exist
The Pagani Codalunga is one of the most beautiful cars ever made!
I love how all the hosts are slowly getting gold necklaces.
Love seeing Justin become comfortable with sitting videos. He's killing it!
When the Viper was introduced as a concept car in the late 80s, people were throwing money at Dodge to produce and sell them. "Take my money"
I've never been a fan of supercars, but I adore how the F1 still looks modern even by today's standards. It could be facelifted with only a set of modern head and tail lights, and it'd almost fit it in with today's line ups
I saw a Pagani Codalunga at the Festival Of Speed last year. It was absolutely beautiful to behold. Plus they had 5 F1s in one area, including Mr Bean's old one. I've always preferred the looks of the original Countach model, but the later one still look amazing.
who is the jerma fan at donut???? I KNOW THAT OOOOOOOOOO at 7:51
The editing and presentation of this episode was really well done! And Justin seems to be really, really finding his groove! He seemed so comfortable whereas at the start of his time at Donut, he seemed like he'd hang back a little. Loved this one fellas
I've been in a cobra and my mom's good friend was one of the top cobra collectors/racers in the country. I remember him talking about how fragile they were. Super sick looking, but you've got to handle those things with kid gloves
Never would have guessed that they were fragile. That's interesting. Super neat cars with a cool history though
When i was about 7 one of my dads co workers had the original viper in red. I got to go for a ride in it, which was insane to me because even though we werent poor poor we lived like we were. One of my coolest childhood memories
Basically every supercar/hypercar is cool but impractical to own.
This video topic was really eye opening. Can you make more of these?
As an owner of a Gen 2 viper (nearly identical mechanically) it is incredibly reliable. It's never once failed me in my years of ownership
I had a 96 for years and just a few minor issues, certainly nothing that sucks to own
@Cody Graham they're great cars. Many examples with over 100k miles and constant abuse with no major failures. I think the Gen 1s had issues and everyone who knows no better just assumes they're problematic and that's very far from the truth. The only thing that's problematic is parts availability.
Never had any back problems driving my Countach as a daily for 6yrs
Can we get a series on the hosts showcasing their personal cars? Would like to see some SVX stuff from Justin
Viper isnt that bad. I had a 99 GTS. Amazing car. Okay, if the tires are cold, you havent much grip. But after 10-15m of driving they have a lot grip. You can max accelerate in the first gear without any lost of grip. I miss that car
Man. The 2005 Dodge Viper was always my dream car.
Whoa, SuperEgo transition music at 5:50
I’m more offended that a Civic costs $50k rather than the McLaren tires being $50k.
Type R tho
11:50-12:07
“You raised my hopes, then *dashed* them quite expertly! Bravo!”
Saw that viper in the background of another video and ive been ready to see it in the foreground. My dream car for years and years, and here we are crapping on it. Im still convinced i want one. Also the 3 spokes are sick as hell
These scammers, can’t even put the profile picture correctly 💀
Edit: scammers comment probably got removed
fan-blades for life my guy
Bro i give no fucks how badly these matchines wants to kill me. I will own one. Of each gen. Period
@@arandomcat8346 RUclips really needs to add a specific "impersonation of legitimate channels" option to their report feature.
My dad had one probably one of the best cars I’ve rode in
My dad had a RT/10 from 1994 to 2012 and it was definitely awesome to own, nothing bad about owning a pure sports car, just don't drive it in the rain. Other than that it was a perfect weekend fun car.
Did he have it on racing slicks ?
Know what's weird? I'm not even a car guy and I watch all your videos! Seriously! I drive a 2015 Toyota Prius, and I'm more of a cyclist than a car guy. I grew up riding motorcycles. I mean, I loved the muscle cars that I grew up with (I'm 58), but the cars of today? No soul or style unless you spend major money. But you guys are funny as hell and very entertaining, so I watch.
Wow, so we just gonna ignore the fact that Justin is 40 but looks 30..
WHAT
Good genes I’d say
I think that was a theoretical scenario!
Nice series donut😊
moisturize and stay out of the sun during peak hours if possible
Man you guys crack me up every time I watch this channel that’s why I come here for the content and the laughs haha.
In the Viper's defense a lot of cars from the early 1990s didn't come standard with airbags. Crazy I know, but 1999 was the year that airbags became mandatory in the entire United States.
Would have been cool to see a few “sweet dreams”, I feel like Series Land Rovers and 90s Defenders might fit that bill
Was wondering if the DeLorean DMC-12 was going to show up on this list, but honestly I don't know if they're a pain to own or not.
They still make new ones in Houston. With power.
The best thing about the Dodge Viper is the show they made around it in the 90s 😎
My family has owned a 91 dodge viper my entire life. Red one that looks identical to the one in this video. It has been awesome to own! Seems to handle very well and has never had a major issue. Have definitely burnt my ankles on the side exhaust. But if you do it once, you'll never forget to be careful!