SRT Viper: A more refined beast

There's one other thing this Viper will have that none other before has ever had: A profit margin. Chrysler Group insists it will make money selling the Viper.

And it will sell in low numbers with lots of options. There will be more color choices available than ever including one -- a rich candy-apple red -- that will cost $14,000 by itself.

In an age when the focus seems to be more and more on fuel economy, a car like this -- which Chrysler estimates will get about 19 miles per gallon on EPA tests -- might still seem like a dinosaur even despite all its modernization and updates.

Well, that focus on fuel economy is exactly why Chrysler will sell only about 2,000 a year. That way, the Viper will barely make a ripple on the automaker's Corporate Average Fuel Economy.

But it's proof that despite all the belt tightening there's still room for at least a little crazy excess in the world.

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