John Neff at Autoblog reported on August 27th that Chrysler’s halo car, the Dodge Viper, may be sold to a third party. Rumors have been swirling for some time that the Viper could be canceled. In attempts to streamline their line-ups, we have already seen Chrysler discontinue the Pacifica, Crossfire (which borrowed heavily from ex-parent Daimler), PT Cruiser Convertible and the Dodge Magnum.

The Viper is a well loved car, and enjoys strong fan support as evidenced by a healthy owners club. It’s no secret the Viper has been a successful race car as well. The question now is who would buy the Viper? Neff speculates it could be a tuner, or a group of investors.

Here’s my take. Most of us have heard of Steve Saleen-he’s the guy that took everyday Ford Mustangs and turned them into serious performers. Steve sold his old company and opened SMS Limited. One of SMS’ first projects was creating a heavily massaged Dodge Challenger. Saleen will be producing these cars at a brand new facility in Orange County, California. Saleen has the know how to build specialty cars, and I feel that this would be great for the Viper.
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