The American Car That Took on European Racing... and Won!

The Dodge Viper GTS-R, despite being built by ORECA in France, is one of the greatest American racing success stories (at least in Europe) of the last 30 years. With its ridiculous engine, out-of-this-world styling and monstrous reputation, the Dodge Viper raced its way into the history books one win at a time.
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video, if you did, be sure to like it, and subscribe to @automobilsitic for more car videos like this one!
Ethan the video editor: ethanvideoedits?t...
#racing #lemans #granturismo

[@dct124]

The Viper ruled the 90s. When regulator's unfairly restrict your car to death and you still win, proved just how lethal that car was on any track.

[@pixelnazgul]

The most impressive car

[@TrollingHistory]

​@poshelnaxui8683 not really tho was it. UK 💩 💩 💩 better cars. Like the BRISTOL FIGHTER. WELL...Except its junkie engine ofcourse. Remember when the GT40 had a chevy engine installed?

[@pixelnazgul]

@@TrollingHistory Noble is amazing car.

[@pixelnazgul]

@@TrollingHistory it's not difficult to just copy an engine. uk doesn't want to invest money and time into it. if someone already made the perfect engine for what you need, why not use it? one type of car is only released once, then they stop because metal is so expensive.

[@friendlyreptile9931]

True! The french oreca team build a great car.

[@Billy_McLovin_Hope]

I honestly didn't know about the history of this iconic race car. I was introduced to this monster from Gran Turismo 3 and from there I fell in love with the Viper (it's better than the Corvette imo). Thank you for this video, hopefully more will appreciate the V10 machine Dodge created.

[@camrunner6633]

It was my goto car in gt3, the torque came in lower than the other race cars so it pulled hard out of the corners. Throw it in and opposite lock , rely on the weight of the nose to pull it round

[@millennialhonkey8929]

How many Le mans wins does the viper have, or overall wins Corvette is better sorry...

[@camrunner6633]

@@millennialhonkey8929 yet the corvette is in the vipers shadow. Rhe c5r was developed because of fhe viper

[@turbo_marc]

It would be cool if they brought back the Viper as a mid-engine supercar similar to the C8 Corvette, but Peugeot and Fiat say no.

[@AFellowDoktuh]

​@@camrunner6633 And the Corvette is still in production, soo.

[@kizmetmars]

Missed out in talking about how dominant the Viper was at the Nurburgring 24 hour. They kept introducing rules to try and force it to not run because it kept winning. Even ran the race with two cylinders blanked one year to pass the new engine displacement rules.

[@automobilistic]

I did mention Zakspeed's success briefly a couple of times, but delving into all the details of that story was beyond the scope of this video. For a more detailed look at that specific story I know @stijnpaspont has a video about it

[@kizmetmars]

@@automobilistic Haha, that video is how I know about it. Love the content, btw. It's awesome seeing all the cool cars from Gran Turismo talked about in detail.

[@derrickstorm6976]

90s Le Mans Viper sure sounds like something worth covering!

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@automobilistic the VIPER GTS R TEAM ORECA LMGT2 in Gran Turismo 2 still legendary too. And one added note, IT IS ALSO HONOKA KOUSAKA'S MAIN FAVOURITE CAR!

[@effisjens1776]

I was hoping you'd mention the Zakspeed Viper. Out of all the vipers that raced, this one in my opinion has the best backstory of all them.

[@Lena_765_]

I´m pretty sure that it objectively has the best backstory out of all the Vipers and probably one of the best of all gt cars ever.

[@samuelecavana]

There's a pretty good video detailing the story of Zakspeed Viper at the 24H of the Nurburgring by a channel named Stijn Paspont, if you're interested

[@JoshuaC923]

B sport just made a video on that😂

[@Lena_765_]

@@JoshuaC923 I just had it in my recommendations haha

[@Emerich2]

but he mentioned it in this video

[@JoshuaC923]

The Viper and Corvette at le mans were such icons

[@purwantiallan5089]

Yep. Especially the C5R, one of the cars that appeared from GT3 to 6.

[@retrocompaq5212]

when europeans has to put tons of regulations because their cars cant keep up, 1st place or not, youre the winner

[@RuriHoshino01]

ahhhh a wonderful video to come home too, thank you good sir. The Viper has a place in all Race fans hearts, It encapsulates America perfectly. Big, Brash and willing to flick the V's up to all modern (at the time) senses of conventional race car design. I am hoping and looking forward too seeing an evolution video of the Pratt & Miller Corvette race cars :3

[@roelandzw1846]

Still cherish the Day late '90 on the way to 24h le mans. We were overtaken on the peage by a whole colonne of viper gts. That memory still give's me goosebumps!

[@ninobosnjak9378]

No US car ever took anything in Europe.Only few,half literate dudes use it as a penis extension.Nasty,ugly, unfinished product.

[@philsurtees]

_"It encapsulates America perfectly"_ You mean the fact that it was the Europeans who made it competitive, because the Americans failed when they tried to do it themselves???

[@hileutewie]

It's one of the few cars that can get away with 3 spoke wheels. You simply cannot dislike the Viper, it's such a beast of a car, the looks are timeless and it's a car that doesn't hesitate to embarass its drivers, I love it.

[@SamMassingham]

Once again another car from my childhood 😁 something that doesn't come across in the videos is how physically dominating the viper is.

[@roelandzw1846]

Still cherish the day on the way to 24h le mans late '90. On the peage we were overtaken by a colonne of viper gts' s. Still give's me goosebumps after all those years!

[@purwantiallan5089]

Yep. 1998 and 1999 are Oreca Viper golden years.

[@turbo_marc]

What?

[@JJPiona]

@@purwantiallan5089 and 2000!!!

[@JohnCharb87]

I remember seeing a parked brand new 1996 Viper GTS parked at dealership. It wowed everyone with the blue and white stripes. Also that bright red Team Oreca Viper GTS-R from Gran Turismo 3 was one of my favorites. One of the drivers for the 1999 and 2000 winning Le Mans winning Viper GTS-R was Olivier Baretta. He would go on to win the 2004 24hrs of Le Mans in a Corvette C5.R and the 2005, 2006, and 2011 in a Corvette C6.R. The 2011 win was with IMSA mainstay Corvette Racing's Antonio Garcia.

[@gmain1977]

As a Brit who is into American cars I knew about vipers via books and mags and went to watch them in UK back in late 90s along with the Saleens. Vipers are awsome beasts and look macho. Great video , your delivery is very good and you speak very clearly.

[@_Dave_S]

Personally I learned about many of these great race cars from the 1/32 scale slot car hobby. The Fly slot car company made a lot of these great Vipers as well as the C5R Corvette, Lister Storm, Panoz Esperante and Marcos LM 600. What a great period of racing, lots of mad cars! Thanks for posting!

[@kinger41]

I honestly prefer the Chevrolet corvette c5-r, but man oh MAN do I love the Viper GTS-R as well. Especially the 1999 Oreca GTS-R, that livery leaves me salivating.

[@rjspires]

6:41 got to the love the Beatle safety car.

[@charleshulsey3103]

The viper was a car that looked mean and aggressive, but at the same time pretty. Definitely one of my favorite cars.

[@WildShotZ14]

The oreca viper GTS is one of the cars that made me prefer the Viper more than the corvette, also that engine sounds insane in its own way

[@101jir]

Oh yes that one, the one I always read as the "orca" viper

[@WildShotZ14]

@@101jir yeah honestly most of my friends read it that way at first and it's an easy mistake tbf🤣

[@SetsunaTheFandom]

The best part about the Viper is that there's at least one flavor of the racing Viper for their childhood. Aside from the distinguished red and white Viper from newer GTs, you have the white, blue, and red Oreca Viper on GT2 and other games like Le Mans 24 Hours, then there's the blue and white Cica-sponsored Viper on Scud Race, and not to mention the green and white Viper (Canaska Southwind) you can drive on GT1. Also shout out to the other Vipers in both versions of Le Mans 24 Hours as well.

[@trae3290]

I’m glad that the dodge viper is getting all the love and recognition it deserves

[@TechnoGuy11]

As a Chevy fan I didn't like the Viper but always respected it and it truly was the dominant car in GT2 back then.

[@nzriot]

Vipers have such an iconic look. They will all be valuable classics before long, including by the dreams of those who played the first 3 Gran Turismo games.

[@JackAdamCarter]

Brilliant vid as always!!!

[@luciogt]

Viper with Rear Diffuser 👌

[@ralphlyons8020]

Love the vipers. I enjoy your videos. Huge fan of gt racing. The era these ran in was such a great gt era of racing. Thanks for the videos. I enjoy the history.

[@charlieryan1736]

Thanks for making this informative and interesting Viper video 👍🏻

[@keepsgoing4evr1]

New subscriber. Excellent video! Looking forward to more in depth content 👍

[@hello-rj1xc]

Love your videos mate, keep up the good work

[@jirikostaf1]

Your videos are always pretty amazing!

[@Cashmonet315]

Great video, and strong music choices.

[@C.M6969]

Lets go, another W upload. This car has been my one and only dream car for a long time.

[@ameiya8949]

Love your content!! keep up the good work. Hope you get 100k soon!

[@miaouew]

Love your videos

[@alsa4real]

Stijn Paspont made a great video on the Zakspeed Viper.

[@DPoner]

Pretty good presentation my dude keep it up. Subbed.

[@zhgt8853]

Such a good channel

[@1982valeriu]

Excellent video, very happy you did it (and my apologies for nagging at you in the previous Viper video, about it missing mentions about the Viper's racing history)! Love the Viper, and I believe it is the last non-German car to win the 24h Nur until this year, a few days ago, that is - when the Ferrari 296 GT3 won it. Keep going, man, great content!

[@automobilistic]

Glad you enjoyed the video! I'm not sure what you mean about "nagging" me though, this is the first video I have ever done about the viper, you might be confusing me with someone else :)

[@1982valeriu]

@@automobilistic indeed I did - sorry, nagged at someone else who did a nice video on the 'civilian' Viper, and was hoping to find something about its racing history. Found it here :D

[@1xRacer]

KZbin recommendation and I could be happier! Subbed and shared!

[@filipmilosavljevic8316]

Recent subscriber here, the almighty Algorithm brought me here. Amazing content, top quality which you don't expect for such a small channel. I just started following WEC this season and this is the perfect channel to bring me info about it and other racing series. Keep up the good work !

[@automobilistic]

Glad you're enjoying the videos!

[@ktvcars]

I feel like this is an underappreciated iconic car, great video and information!

[@automobilistic]

Thanks! glad you enjoyed

[@retrocompaq5212]

its called jealousy my friend, its underappreciated like the c6 corvette because it showed the euros that their cars are overrated and overpriced but some of them like the guy who made the video is non biased and just love cars that saves the day

[@rubalouba]

@@retrocompaq5212 JEALOUSY THAT AMERICANS NEED 8.3LITERS TO BEAT 3.6 OR 3.8 PORSCHE... LOL. edit : don't get me wrong corvette and vipers are very cool ( and rare)cars in europe

[@benicetoyourselfforonce]

Awesome video! America’s contribution to endurance racing is sometimes overseen by people. Hoping to see a video about the Corvette C5R LM as well.

[@Atticus3lack]

You mean French 😅

[@subject_7]

It's unfortunate that the US car stereotypes are that of gas guzzlers and the crapiest of handling. Which has an element of truth. I however, think that Corvettes are awesome. Perhaps with Ferrari and Mclaren type handling, fuel consumption and tuning they would be extremely impressive. US car company business models don't help with improving these cars and how they are perceived.

[@Dexter037S4]

@@subject_7 The C8 apparently handles similarly to a 720S

[@lorddrac_dontaskmetodance]

​@@Atticus3lack American engine. You lose.

[@youngrody2386]

​@@subject_7 American sports cars like the Corvette and the Viper have better Fuel Consumption and Reliability than their European Counterparts. Ferrari 458 is 13/17 MPG City/Highway, Nissan R35 GTR is 16/22 C/H, The Dodge Viper SR1 did 12/20 C/H, 5th Gen is 12/21 C/H, the 5th Gen being 200 hp more than the R35 and 100 more than the 458 with even more peak torque. The Corvette is even more impressive, the C5 did 18/25 C/H, the C7 and C8 Both do 16/24 C/H. The Torquey nature of those engines were one of the reasons why they were so dominant in Both Sprint and Endurance races in Motorsport, Torque > Revs for both efficiency and power. The stereotype of them being fuel eating boats came from the muscle cars of the 60s, which ironically were far more faster and sportier than 90% of what Europe had to offer at the time and everything Japan offered. People also like bringing up the HP/Liter to push this narrative of European/Japanese Superiority Forward, which is ironically a good argumentative case against the fuel efficiency, power curve and reliability of those with higher HP/Liter Figures, often smaller cars with smaller engines. Often those who have no engineering knowledge are very susceptible to this argument.

[@koya7273]

beautifull vid. i very much like the music from gran turismo 😊❤💙👌

[@Spherz]

Another great video, personally I first found out about the racing vipers from Forza Motorsport 4 so I was a little late to the party haha

[@shig.bitz.3205]

One my favourite of all time and one I've had the pleasure of seeing many times in person. My first ever track visit was the Silverstone round of the '97 FIA GT championship and that pretty much got me hooked. You missed one notable victory though, it was either the 2002 or 2003 Silverstone round of the FIA GT championship and Fabio Babini managed to hold off the Lister Storms for many a lap to claim victory in that race in the Paul Belmondo Racing Viper. I remember the Viper's were definitely spitting the biggest flames as it got dark. Those days were nuts, the ground would shake as the pack of cars went past at the start. Cars can be pretty loud these days, but back then they were painfully loud. If you get the chance to see historic endurance racing, do it! There are some decent grids still racing out there.

[@amaccama3267]

Nice work

[@marcellosilva9286]

When I was a kid, I had a Viper GTS toy car, the interior was made of plastic but the exterior was all metal, it had a blue paintjob with white racing stripes and for me, that's the definitive Viper GTS look, it's what I always imagine a Dodge Viper looking like, my childhood love and still to this day my favourite car.

[@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim]

love that your video's portion also in 4by3 lol, and ofc it wouldn't be a car video without gran turismo background faint music lol

[@MrPrajitura]

SRII GTS is just mouthwatering gorgeous. Either in red or blue with those fat racing stripes, it's the stuff of dreams.

[@mickey2ky]

Glad I found your content 😅

[@TheFran17]

vipeeeeerrrr, nice vid as always. also i'm wondering if u are working on the le mans vid story that i suggest some time ago.

[@GriefRedefined]

I have a bad habit of liking videos even if they're mid tier given they play in my pocket at work. Your prevideo like was well warranty. Bravo.

[@joshuajohnson6534]

Love the Gran Turismo menu music!

[@JJPiona]

Thanks for the vid! To my knowledge, there's some mistakes. Viper GTS-R frames were build in Detroit and slightely modified by Oreca in France. Reynard "only" built all carbon fiber body parts in UK as Dynamics built dampers in UK too. Engines were prepared by Caldwell in California. Vipers dominated Championships and Le Mans 24h from 98 to 2000 and won Daytona 24h overall. When Youre showing a LMP900/LMP1 grey Chrysler/Playstation Prototype, it's for 2001 season (Dallara chassis & Judd Engine). Blue Playstation livery in 2002. There was an attempt in 2000 at Le Mans with two Red/white stripes Reynard chassis with downsized Dragster Mopar V8, but it wasn't reliabl at all. Perhaps I forgot some other details. 🙃

[@raceman946]

gt4 music and viper gts? subscribing for sure! cool to see just how dominant it was

[@Kierenstanden-qz7eu]

Yeah listen to the sounds on you tube because doesn’t sound anything like it the game 😂😂

[@lukedanielgalon1596]

I found it hilarious there is Fina Bastos as the sponsor And the Beetle being the Safety Car

[@joribremer5260]

I love the Viper :) maybe my favorite car since Gran Turismo 3 and since I have seen one back in my then Hometown (Emmeloord, the Netherlands )

[@gapistan2335]

Does show that collabarating with the right people and maximizing everyones experties can help everyone involved win

[@islammedheryamz8546]

Love the gran tursimo music in the background

[@el86lo36fky]

François Castaing from Renault Sport is one of the father of the Viper. His connection since 70's with Hugues de Chaunac, boss of ORECA, was the reason why ORECA was charged to develop GTS-R version

[@db-mp2of]

That Win at Daytona, was for the overall, as well as class victory, obv

[@AZAZEL_TK]

I love the fact that the Gran Turismo 3 OST was used in this video ✊🏽

[@cel3bi634]

Had no idea this car was such a animal, makes want to jump back in gtr 2 and drive it like hell!

[@Dogman36]

i saw the "3rd generation" Viper GTS-R in GTE class in Baltimore 2013. was probably the lowest tone V10 ive ever heard in person and when it was early in the session, you could hear it running down Light street from Russel which is the furthest two points apart on the circuit

[@porsche.963]

Could we possibly get a vid on the entire company of Spyker or Vector?

[@robloxplayer2540]

Nice job

[@Kierenstanden-qz7eu]

Got to see this beast race agaisnt the TVR speed 12, lister storm and marcos lm600

[@felixmasis6919]

I JUST STUMBLED ACROSS THIS CHANEL, SUB'D AND ABOUT TO BINGE WATCH EVERY VIDEO!!!!

[@Ticklemywaffle_]

A small car dealer near me has one for 2,250,000 and i was wondered why it was so expensive

[@MaxPower-zw7xr]

Enjoyed that but for one thing- you say that in 2002 none managed the same caliber of result as previously but Larbre won the drivers and teams titles that year as well as the Spa 24 for the second year in a row. No small achievement especially winning at Spa. They not only had to beat Lister but their own Viper competitors who continued to develop the cars themselves. That is until the 550 and Saleen appeared and the Vipers FIA GT days were numbered. That aside keep up the good work.

[@Elit3Blaze]

I only know/love this car since it was *the* car to use for the non-tune championship in GT1 to win with.

[@ekscalybur]

A Viper GTS is a bucket list car for me. The number of cars I'd chose over it can be listed by the fingers of one hand, with a thumb left over.

[@kelsoigano8974]

I like the Gran Turismo music background

[@Danielpettitphotography]

The viper also helped give us the GTR series as Henrik Roos got involved in setting up SimBin after he drove one.

[@_ford_crown_victoria_p]

This car has been my wallpaper for years lol

[@tlreclipse1126]

a Video on the Ferrari 550 GTS would be amazing!

[@thesunnynationg]

12:26 American Engineering right there for you. Look at that gap between the bumper/headlight and the hood 😂😂😂

[@loicdore39]

The viper is the most amazing car ever created and is very under valued

[@inflameswetrust2194]

I always used the c5r in gran turismo, but I did respect the viper. It was a good villian car for me

[@unclefungus7395]

god one of the best looking race cars of all time

[@Jack-ni4ft]

No way you did it! 😬 You sir are a legend :) had this model car in my room for years as a boy. I've always said "if i ever get rich, I'll buy one" 😄

[@automobilistic]

If you ever do buy one, can I have a go? 😂

[@Jack-ni4ft]

@@automobilistic 😄 I'm 32 now and it doesn't look likely I'm afraid! But if by some miracle it happens, I promise I'll let you race it round brands or something 😄

[@samuelzhang5741]

Love the gran Turismo music

[@carsandstuff5356]

"Dodge can't make a racecar!" Dodge/Chrysler/French racing team: Hold my beer

[@plisskenationbackfromthede3657]

Brave man posting during the nurburgring 24h but im here 😁

[@purwantiallan5089]

I am started to fell in love with ORECA VIPER. The Oreca Viper from GRAN TURISMO 2 tho, still legendary even till this day.

[@gbode7762]

That Olds Aurora in the Daytona footage is glorious

[@bigpickenergy5321]

I always had a special love for the Dodge viper gts-r since gt3. It is my fav car of all time. Interesting too that, in gt3, this is the only vehicle you CANNOT sell. 👌

[@gullf1sk]

Nice Lego Kia Soul in the background

[@Lena_765_]

I feel like you could have given more importance regarding the Zakspeed Viper at the Nbr24. Great Vid tho.

[@automobilistic]

Glad you enjoyed the video! I did mention Zakspeed's success briefly a couple of times, but delving into all the details of that story was beyond the scope of this video. For a more detailed look at that specific story I know @stijnpaspont has a video about it

[@Lena_765_]

@@automobilistic thank you for the quick reply and the suggestion. I hope you have a nice day.

[@JJPiona]

Well, Viper history has essentially been made by Viper Team Oreca for 5 years and customer cars like Zakspeed were build by Oreca.

[@QuigzDrifts]

LOL I just realized you literally wear Rose Tinted Glasses to talk about historical cars and events...Touché my friend

[@damijangospic9892]

As a video idea you could do one about Marcos lm600 and Morgan Aero 8 race car.They are not very well known race cars, but they also had a place in FIA GT series and GT1 and GT2 class races.

[@Kierenstanden-qz7eu]

British GT and the TVR speed 12 and lister storm I see them all take me back to my childhood at brands hatch

[@stinkyroadhog1347]

The Dodge Viper isn't my all time favourite car but out of all the high performance sports cars i could realistically own, the Viper is something i could actually buy if i won the lottery and there's so many different variants. The ACR and the 2002 GTS are my favorites. Gran Turismo introduced me to the GTSR and it's such a sexy car! Love the 8.4 litre V10 growl!

[@Blackskies-b1z]

I think the first time I saw this car and wanted one because it looked so cool was in twisted metal for the ps1, it was blue with white stripes

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

@10:45 Not quite complete picture; Larbre again won the Spa 24 hours in their GT2 'GT1' Viper (repeating their 2001 success) with Christophe Bouchut, Sebastian Bourdais, Vincent Vosse and David Terrien (the 'Am') driving - which also contributed to their 2nd consecutive FIA GT Championship title in 2002. Larbre's Viper was also leading the 2003 race after 12 hours but insane weather gave the overall win to the N-GT class Porsche by the end. Larbre's battles with Lister in 2001 in the FIA GT series really were legendary - and hilarious, especially Zolder and Silverstone 2001.

[@lilhaxxor]

OMG 😮. Another amazing video (I hope, didn't watch yet). Other than the Viper🐍, I like the look of the Mustang 🐎. 🇺🇸 But I don't know if the Mustang ever raced outside of drag competitions. 🤔

[@ETHERxNIFTY]

Growing up, my Dad and I played a lot of Gran Turismo 2 together. My car was always the Skyline, but his was THE VIPER, always. He loved that car.

[@dec2397]

This brings new meaning to “WE CAN TURN RIGHT RRAAAHHHH 🦅🦅🦅🦅”

[@YupThisIsFico]

Zakspeeds Viper story might be one of the best imo

[@milfordh.mercado2787]

You know there's a video on Zakspeeds viper if your interested.

[@YupThisIsFico]

@@milfordh.mercado2787 i watched it

[@milfordh.mercado2787]

@YupThisIsFico so you the name of the channel correct.

[@YupThisIsFico]

@@milfordh.mercado2787 Stijn Paspont

[@milfordh.mercado2787]

@YupThisIsFico thank you and did you see camaros in le mans video.

[@captainsmartass3368]

The Dodge Viper was the first super car that i love

[@MX-RT]

The 5Gen viper did make a GTE appearance and a GT3 one !

[@ganjaman59650]

"the dodge viper represent everything cool" You know what , i'm gonna stop the video there, and put a like, cause what can be a better description? That car with the Super 7/ Caterham this is what are cool sport cars.(now i'm gonna watch the rest of the video)

[@heavenlanes5598]

I like driving this car in Gran Turismo 2 (I have the Le Mans car and the STP Taisan JGTC car) and its handling is a god send if you focus on its weight distribution, although I prefer the latter car as it's just simply perfect 👌

[@ke1tecX]

I love this thing