Planted firmly on the pages of Bring a Trailer today is a version of the Dodge Viper that looks sinister and, to people of a certain age, quite familiar. This ‘Viper Defender Prop Car’ started life as a 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10 before its body got crafted into a prop car for a television show about fighting organized crime in the future. NBC’s Viper aired for four seasons and 78 episodes, prominently featuring the Defender hero car. One of them can be yours if you have the cash.
This story takes us back to the time when television shows sometimes featured crime-fighting high-tech vehicles. In the decade before Viper‘s 1994 release, gearheads got to enjoy such shows as Knight Rider or Airwolf. And if you were into trucks, The Highwayman offered a healthy dose of custom futuristic big rigs. One of the semis from The Highwayman has been sitting and waiting for a new owner. The formula continued into the 1990s; Knight Rider got a sequel with Knight Rider 2000 before going Mad Max-like with Knight Rider 2010. Another crime-fighting future car would find itself on TV screens in 1994.
Viper, Featuring A Viper
It’s a bit weird to describe Viper. Watching clips of the show, it’s almost as if Knight Rider and Robocop made a baby, and that baby was sponsored by Chrysler. Look, I’ll just let the show’s season one opener do the talking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9U_Kd6MyOM
And here’s the synopsis from Bring a Trailer:
The Viper TV series began filming in Los Angeles in 1993 and originally aired in early 1994 on NBC before continuing under syndication between 1996 and 1999. The series centered on a top-secret crime-fighting task force whose primary implement was a 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10 that could morph into an armored assault vehicle known as the Defender.
If you have enough time on your hands, you can watch the entirety of season one!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEH_WyQbE50&list=PLzMxgYb7eC8qwUKEYPZZF2bNfosoi1xdk
[Ed note: Ok, so we’ve now reached the junior-writers-talking-about-shows-you-grew-up-with-like-they’re-Barney-Miller stage of my life. Exciting. I loved this show when it came out, though I can barely remember any of the plots – MH]
How Chrysler Got Involved
In February 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported that Chrysler signed a deal with Paramount Television to feature the Dodge Viper in Viper. Paramount and Chrysler worked out a deal where Chrysler got to plaster its cars all over television screens and participate in merchandising and profits. Chrysler also helped Paramount by soaking up some of the costs to make the series, which was budgeted at $1.5 million ($3,153,459 today) per episode.
Weirdly, this wasn’t the only show at the time that was supposed to feature a Chrysler product and was billed under the name Viper. Stephen J. Cannell, responsible for The A-Team, was working on a show featuring a crime fighter who drove a supercar to solve crimes. That show was also supposed to be called Viper. Cannell’s creation didn’t involve that car being several weapons, but Chrysler found it was similar enough to file suit for trademark infringement. Chrysler reportedly argued that the supercar in Cannell’s Viper looked like a Dodge Viper, and only Paramount’s Viper had the right to use its likeness. Cannell responded by calling his show Cobra and having a Cobra as the hero car.
Back then, the show was set to air on CBS and apparently, the comparison to Knight Rider may have been more than a coincidence. The LAT reported that within Paramount, Viper was regarded as “Son of Knight Rider.” CBS would later drop the show, reportedly concerned about the show’s violence, and it would get picked up by NBC.
Designed By Chrysler
Chrysler provided way more than just cars, too. The show’s hero car is a red Dodge Viper RT/10 that transforms into the Defender. When deployed onto the fictional streets of Metro City, California, the Defender has a number of offensive measures to assist the Viper Team in defeating criminals, corrupt corporations, and anything else bringing crime upon the city. Depending on the season and the episode, the Defender has weapons like a battering ram, a .50 caliber machine gun, a grappling gook, missile launchers, four-wheel-drive, rockets, harpoons, EMPs, and even freaking lasers. Basically, if the plot needed it, the car probably had it.
The designer of the Defender was Chrysler’s Steve Ferrerio, a designer who would later become the director of Chrysler’s Advanced Design Studio. Ferrerio penned the design for what the Defender would be and the design was put into real automotive form by Unique Movie Cars in Las Vegas, Nevada under the direction of Mike Sciortino. Unique Movie Cars says that 14 Defenders were built for filming and it’s been reported that perhaps some of them were production engineering prototypes and development mules.
[Ed note: The local police also drove Dodge Intrepids! Here’s a photo from IMCDB:
Man, that was cool. – MH]
This Defender
The one for sale today is not a mule. Unique Movie Cars says that this car started life as a 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10 production car before it was stretched out and turned into one of the Defenders. Some film cars are built for stunts and other work; this one was used as a principal car during the filming of the show. That means it’s a representation of what the Defender is supposed to look like on-screen. Still, there’s some TV production magic going on, from the listing:
The fiberglass bodywork is finished in tri-stage silver, and a scuff in the paint can be seen ahead of the left-front wheel in the photo gallery below. Design elements include a “double bubble” fixed roof with simulated porthole windows, a rear spoiler that flips up for fuel-filler access, removable side windows affixed via Velcro, side pods below the doors, fang-style front bumperettes, and dual rear-exit exhaust pipes with rectangular surrounds. This example’s front bumperettes and side pods are static, and the car does not have the functioning gadgets seen in the action sequences of the show.
Yep, velcro-affixed windows and simulated portholes! I like how Bring a Trailer notes that the car does not come with machine guns, lasers, or a grappling hook. The magic continues around the rest of the exterior where you get 17-inch three-spoke wheels with simulated rivets.
Things get weird when you pop the hood. A regular Viper has a 96.2-inch wheelbase. This? It’s riding on a long 120-inch wheelbase. And where the Viper’s glorious 8.0-liter 400 HP V10 would sit is a 360 cubic-inch Chrysler V8 with an Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor.
This engine is said to have been added during the car’s construction. There isn’t an explanation given for the engine change, though, it would make sense. It’s a TV car, it doesn’t need the full-throated V10 power. It also isn’t said what that V8 is making, but power gets to the rear wheels from a Chrysler TorqueFlite 727 automatic.
The interior features color-matched surfaces, leather bucket seats, and simulated displays showing diagnostics for the Defender. What surprises me here is an odometer reading of 190 miles. For a vehicle without a serial number, VIN, or title, it has gone a few places! The seller states the car hasn’t driven anywhere since filming concluded, so you’re almost certainly looking at 30-year-old rubber.
Oh yeah, that’s the problem with this one. Unique Movie Cars says that the vehicle doesn’t have any identifying marks on it. Some states might be willing to give this car a VIN as a specially-constructed vehicle or kit car, but for others, this will be a pretty decoration for the collection. And my, is it just fantastic to look at. I love when movie and TV show cars have this level of detail. Even the door sills say “Defender” on them!
Sadly, this isn’t going to be a purchase for cheapskates like me. It’s currently bidding at $90,000 with about five hours to go on Bring a Trailer. I hope whoever buys this thing finds out a way to make it road legal. Even if it just goes to car shows and back it would be a delight to see.
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Two things that come to mind remembering this series…..
I always assumed, even as a kid, that Viper and the Walker cars were all part of the same marketing push for the ‘New’ Dodge campaign.
Dodge product placement was going nuts around this time. The Ram in Twister was another good example.
Which reminds me….has David ever done a writeup about the J-10 in Twister? If not, get on it DT!
Oh it was produced by Danny Bilson lol. I know him mostly from video games, he had a hand in The Sims, Command & Conquer, Harry Potter, Medal of Honor, Saints Row, UFC etc. He has also written several comics and movies.
It was a horrible show, but I have to say the Knight Rider reboot was worse.
You say that the Viper “transformed” into the Defender when in actuality, it “morphed.”
Digital “morphing” technology was all the rage in the early 90s and was a cheap digital effect that was inserted into many TV shows of the time.
Many were quite bedazzled by it when seen on the small screen.
“Morphing” itself became a buzzword for a short period, and I personally believe it is why the show title “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was created, although that show was too cheap to even include the actual morphing effect.
And I’m pretty sure this 90’s morphing craze came from the Michael Jackson’s video clip “Black or White”.
When I first saw that Music video even just a few years ago, I’ll admit that I was very stunned.
Are we sure this filmed in LA the whole time? I distinctly remember coming across a fleet of Intrepid police cars from Metro City in the late 90s in Vancouver, BC.
I think the later, syndicated seasons were filmed in Vancouver.
How did this show last 4 seasons? I was 17 when this came out, perfect target demographic and it was TERRIBLE…
This. I actually watched the show and I refuse to believe it was on for 78 episodes.
I was 13 when it came out, I remember being into it at first, it definitely doesn’t hold up.
“before continuing under syndication between 1996 and 1999” That’s how it was on that long… 90s syndicated tv… I’m willing to bet most of the episodes were part of that run (I seem to remember catching it on weekend afternoons and the episodes were extremely cheaply made, in comparison to the NBC run)
I was a teenager when this show was on and watched most of the first season before it went into syndication. It was awful, but “Viper + explosions = good enough” led me to watch, and rewatch, every episode I could. It would seem I wasn’t the only one with such tragically low standards at the time…
LOL oh I had tragically low standards. This was just below them
Well, to a 10 year old, this show was AWESOME.
Whatever day of the week this show was on was a great day for this kid.
Knight Rider reruns at 4:00, Viper at 7:00(?).
This thing lasted 4 seasons?! Granted, only one of them on a real network, but, still, that’s an astonishing achievement for something I’m sure everyone involved chooses to leave off their resumes.
Come on. A Viper from a TV Show i never heard of? Losing the power sound and performance for a crate motor? None of the accessories? I’d settle for the buttons and fake lasers. The video reminds me of early 80s Buck Rodgers but with lesser known actors. Put it on BAT for that premium markup. I’d rather pay for a piggy back ride from Chuck Norris. And he would have gotten rid of the corrupt cops a lot quicker.
I bet a piggy back ride from Chuck Norris could outrun this Viper…
I’m guessing this is another one of those shows where they spent more money on the props and VFX than on the script writers.
Wait, isn’t that pretty much all of them in the last 20 years?
this one was more than 20 years ago, unfortunately.
Make the front end a little less bulbous by creasing the features a little bit and the design still works well today.
Hard pass. All I want is a frickin’ laser. Actually, it’s good looking.
4 seasons?!? I remember watching the pilot, then maybe 2-3 more episodes and this show disappearing/getting canceled. Did they move it from prime time to daytime tv or something?
My own recollection on it is vague, but I seem to recall that it was packaged into syndication with 3 or 4 other “gritty” action shows. In my own hometown they would feature a different show after the late news broadcast each night and Viper was one of them, this block of programming had some catchy, edgy 90s name but it eludes memory 30 years on. Since it was syndicated the time it was broadcast may have been different depending on where you were located.
CBS had Crimetime after Primetime. I remember shows like Sweating Bullets, Silk Stalkings, and Forever Knight. This show wasn’t part of that block (NBC), obviously. I must have seen it later on TBS or TNT along with Thunder in Paradise, Xena, and Hercules.
Also remember back then channels had to be purchased, there were no streaming, youtube etc. If you don’t purchase one of those “specialty” channels which likely the show went after the first season, you are basically SOL and never seen it. I still remember car repair shows Trucks etc required special subscription, information diet was more restrictive in the late 90s.
I remember an interview from this era and if I remember right the V8 was because stunt drivers on the show liked it and it was easy to fix.
Also way easier to find at the junkyards
Yep. There were also BMW Z8s with small blocks made for The World Is Not Enough for the same reason – much easier to repair an old V8 quick and cheap than anything else.
I still love Airwolf to this day. The Sylvester Levay theme is epic.
I watched this show back when it was aired. I think DT should grab the 4×4 version if it ever comes up for auction and take it to Moab.
How do you feel about that 4th season?
I’m a bit skeptical of this claim. The 360/auto powertrain and lack of a VIN seem much more like the specs of an engineering mule, and hacking up a production car to make this thing seems like more expense and trouble than its worth.
Or maybe the very idea just makes me too sad to contemplate.
That’s what I was wondering, where’d the VIN go? Watching the KR Historians on YT and almost all of their cars still have VINs of some sort.
I would guess took one of the line pre production. Stretching the wheel base its a waste to use a finished car
I also thought that this is a pre-production model! Though, the seller is the firm that built it. Perhaps there was a reason behind the downgrade, but it’s not explained. Or, perhaps it was so long ago that the history has gotten fuzzy even to the company.
Not the V8 Viper people said they wanted, but this makes much more sense than a Hellcat powered Viper.
Speaking of Viper-related cars, man do I wish the Firepower saw production. That was way cooler to be honest.
So glad to see Mercedes and I click on the same weird BaT cars.
Didn’t even know this show existed until I saw the listing. Very cool design, though. The Velcro spoiler made me chuckle.
Honestly I’d be torn between keeping it original (if I were a fan of the show) and actually modifying it so the portholes worked and simulated computer panels worked. We’ve reached a point in car technology where that seems feasible.