The story on the destruction of the pre-production Dodge Vipers gifted to schools for educational reasons came to the attention of Chrysler, which just issued a press statement on the matter.

In the release, the company states it is a standard industry procedure when these non-street legal prototypes no longer serve their initial purpose, but also points out that, in contrast to what was reported, it has “no record of any legal proceedings involving Dodge Viper vehicles donated to educational institutions being involved in accidents and product liability lawsuits“.

In the original story from The Olympian, Norm Chapman, an automotive technology professor at South Puget Sound Community College, mentioned to the site that, “he was told by a company official that the destruction of 93 vehicles is the result of two educational Vipers that “got loose” and were involved in accidents, costing parent company Fiat millions of dollars“.

Chrysler’s statement also avoids saying if it did indeed send a letter to schools ordering the crushing of the 93 Vipers from the 1990’s. In the aforementioned report, Steven Glasco, vehicle donations coordinator at Chrysler, was said to have “confirmed that the complete collection of the educational donation Vipers nationwide must be crushed”.

Scroll down to read Chrysler’s press statement in full.

By John Halas

Response to Third-party News Reports of Vipers Being Destroyed

“Approximately 10 years ago, Chrysler Group donated a number of Dodge Viper vehicles to various trade schools for educational purposes.  As part of the donation process, it is standard procedure — and stipulated in our agreements — that whenever vehicles are donated to institutions for education purposes that they are to be destroyed when they are no longer needed for their intended educational purposes.

With advancements in automotive technology over the past decade, it is unlikely that these vehicles offer any educational value to students. Chrysler Group fully understands and appreciates the historical significance of the Viper and is very active in preserving many of its legendary models and designs for historic purposes however, none of these vehicles fit into this category. 

Chrysler Group has no record of any legal proceedings involving Dodge Viper vehicles donated to educational institutions being involved in accidents and product liability lawsuits.”

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