World going to hell; some people want to drive Vipers there

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Yeah, verily, in the car business in January, the sun turned as black as sackcloth and the moon became as blood. But over at Chrysler’s Connor Avenue plant in Detroit, where they build the Viper, it was a party!

Among the dire sales numbers released Tuesday — January U.S. auto sales down 37%, including slides of 41.6% for Ford, 49% for GM and 55% for Chrysler — was this anomalous factoid: Sales of the Dodge Viper were up 74%. The company sold 127 of the poisonous snakes last month, up from 73 in January 2008.

Why would this be strange? Well, for one thing, the Viper ($91,220 to $104,020) is constructed of pure, unalloyed discretionary income, so you would assume its sales would be a least a little susceptible to the larger effects of the recession. Also, the 10-cylinder, 8.4-liter, 600-hp throttle monster under the hood returns some of the worst fuel economy on the market (13 mpg city/22 highway).

Asked for an explanation, Chrysler’s chief flak expressed bafflement. ‘I really don’t know,’ said Rick Deneau. ‘It’s a bit of a mystery.’

In pursuit of revealed truth, UTS reached out to Viper Club of America President Chris Marshall, who was just fluffing his ermine robe when we called. ‘I don’t really know, either,’ he said. But he had some ideas:

—In January, for the first time in the car’s history, Chrysler offered sales incentives, including — get this — a significant discount for AARP members. (Is grandma going to get a mullet too?) ‘They never ever, ever, ever offered a discount before,’ Marshall said.

Also, fuel prices collapsed in December and January and — while Viper buyers would drive them if gas were $20 per gallon — the lower fuel cost removed one de-incentivizing element. ‘It’s a matter of perception,’ Marshall said. ‘When gas was over $4 a gallon, people who were driving Hummers were generally spat upon. Now that gas is cheap again it’s OK to drive gas guzzlers.’

Another possible explanation: Chrysler’s owner, Cerberus, is currently shopping Viper around, hoping to sell it as part of the company’s restructuring plan to be presented soon to Congress, upon which future federal funds are conditioned. It may be that would-be Viper buyers decided to get in on the last Dodge-branded Vipers before the car becomes, say, the Mahindra Viper. ‘Those die-hard Mopar fans want to get it while they can,’ Marshall said. Chrysler officials have said that if no one takes the Viper division/brand off its hands, it would end production in 2011.

And a final possibility: In August, the aforementioned Viper Club of America supported an assault on Germany’s storied Nurburging track, where a Viper ACR piloted by Euro-racing ace Tom Coronel put down the mother of all production-car lap times: 7.22 minutes, cleaving more than four seconds off the previous record set by the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. For footage of the lap, go here.

After watching that clip, who cannot say, ‘I want one!’?

—Dan Neil