Read the rest of the article – they did in fact receive an offer of $5 million

Chrysler never received even a single offer for the Viper operations (per court filings) for one clear and obvious reason – they’re effectively worthless.
http://rumors.automobilemag.com/6517054/news/chrysler-never-received-offer-for-viper-operations/index.html

Here is the right deal…

- You agree to “pay” $10M to get everything associated with Viper
- Chrysler agrees to deliver all of the parts to make say 2500 Vipers as part of the deal
- You become THE ONE and ONLY Viper guy.

Either take their factory or go build your own structure for a few million.

Hire a few guys and run THE Viper shop. Build custom Vipers, sell parts and immerse yourself in all things Viper.

Look at the problems that Altman & Newman had in starting up Avanti II production in the mid-1960’s BEFORE the nanny government ran everything on a macro level. Plus the only reason they got financing was a personal relationship (friendship) with a sympathetic banker.

The other thing that Newman & Altman had going for them was the fact that they were old-time straight-up guys who knew enough to actually pay their bills ON TIME without fail; and also treated their customers like kings. They also knew enough to actually make as much as they possibly could for themselves. Quite the opposite of the possibilities for Viper.

Viper’s dead.

I’ll take the factory, thank you. I prefer to “drive” a factory rather than a trailer queen.

I’d just ask them to throw some R&D engineers… of those they’re going to fire anyway.

And PT/Neon platform/engine tooling along the factory.

Then, it’s time to make business…

The Viper is already Federal-approved and meets any requirements your standard kit-car or small-run sportscar will need to meet, anyway.

Produce them. Profit. Eventually scale down production (after three or four years) till you’re at just a few hundred a year, when popularity goes down… offer a thousand “limited edition” options, and keep flogging it till it’s barely break-even, then sell it to someone else.

I figure you can clear a good 20 million or more off of the brand, as a small-time producer. If you’re another manufacturer, you could make it into a sub-brand.

That 16mil is going to shrink if you can’t come up with new product.

Why won’t these multimillionaire union bosses pony up for the people that made them rich?

The UAW would have no problems making this a profitable operation.

Yeah, right.

I’m not sure that’s the case since just about everything is supplied as subassemblies from suppliers. The Conner Ave. plant is a simple assembly line. It doesn’t even have a paint shop, the body panels come in already painted. On what would a potential buyer have to spend money? A dealer network? There’s no shortage of dealers obviously.

I know very little about business but it seems to me that a $70-$100 million business with an annual profit of $16 million might be a good deal at only $10 million.

Nicodemus & Chuck: still a better idea. A C-type would be pretty cool too.

It will also not appreciate in absolute value as much since only 34 250 Testarossas were built compared to 77 D-types. The Jag will likely beat it on a percentage basis in the near term.

Driving that used Viper factory off the lot? That will create an instant 50-99% depreciation hit on whoever throws money at it.

–chuck

Bear in mind a D-type Jaguar could be had for less than half that.