The Viper Defender is the star-car of the TV series Viper. The series focused on a special-ops division of the Metro City Police Department that used an urban assault vehicle, known as "The Defender" that has the ability to transform from a grey coupe into a red 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10 Roadster and later a 1996 Cobalt Blue Metallic Dodge Viper GTS Coupe.
Drivers[]
Features[]
Season 1[]
Viper Morph
- 4WD Mode
- Hologram Projector (deployed from roof)
- Probe (with laser, and camera) (deployed from rear hatch)
- Retractable battering rams
- Retractable twin weapons pods (deployed from just below each car door) each with a "Static Pulse" (EMP) emitter, missiles / rockets, and a harpoon / tow cable / grapple hook launcher
- Armor plating
- Steering wheel controls
- Rear grapple hook launcher
Season 2[]
- Turbine Booster
- Voice amplifier
- Rear mounted .50 caliber machine gun (replaces rear grapple hook from Season 1) (Added to the weapons pods)
- Twin 7.62mm machine guns
- Twin Stinger missile launchers
- Twin high-powered lasers
- Probe upgrade (infrared lens)
Season 3[]
- Bolo / net launcher
- Flamethrower
Season 4[]
- Hovercraft mode
- Torpedo launchers (deployed from front fenders in Hovercraft Mode only)
- Manual overdrive (never used)
- Traction control (never used)
- Rear mounted bomb launcher
- Cloaking device
Actual Car[]
Viper Defender Auction
The Defender was designed by Chrysler's Steve Ferrerio; Chrysler called out to Aero North in Detroit in early 1993 to construct the V10 Viper Defender for the series. It took 12 weeks according to Don Stout, head of Aero North at the time. They built two beauty cars. One wasn't completed and only half of the car was functional. They had to ship the molds and the first car out early to shoot the presentation reel to sell the series to a network. The two V10 hero cars were built in Madison Heights, Michigan, in April 1993. A YouTube video of the build is here:
Later, stunt cars were constructed by Unique Movie Cars of Las Vegas under the direction of Mike Sciortino on a 1993 Viper RT/10 chassis. Fourteen were built for filming. The stunt cars received a 360/390 HP power plant was placed inside, a 360ci Chrysler small-block V8 mated to a 727 automatic transmission. One stunt car survived and is in a Viper collection.
In 2005, a lawyer sold 72 vehicles, including Doger Vipers, that were used in the production of Viper. They were supposed to be scrapped. He received seven counts of fraud.
In 2010, one of the models was almost auctioned for $300,000 by Mecum, but the bidding only reached $270,000. In 2013, it was listed on eBay for $75,100, but the reserve was not met as it only reached around $133,400.
In 2023, another Viper Defender model was auctioned at Bringatrailer.com. It sold for $141,777 on April 4, 2023.
As of the 2020s, what is believed to be the only prop car remaining is a part of the Mike Moyer Viper collection. [1][2]