Viper Plant to Become Home of FCA Car Collection
FCA has announced that they will be honouring the legacy of the Dodge Viper in a couple of different ways. First the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant, which was where the Viper was produced, will be converted into an internal meeting and display case where FCA will be able to showcase some of its concept and historical vehicle collection. Second, FCA will be auctioning off Viper memorabilia with the proceeds benefitting the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. The former assembly plant has since been renamed the Conner Center and is found in a Detroit neighbourhood south of the famous 8 Mile Road. It will have space to exhibit 85 of the nearly 400 concept and historic vehicles that are now able to be stored under the same roof. FCA estimates that nearly 77,000 of the plants 400,000 square-feet of floor space will be dedicated to displaying vehicles such as the 1902 Rambler and the 1924 Chrysler Touring. The administrative offices at the site will be converted into 22,000 square-feet of meeting space. FCA left open the possibility of opening the doors to the public in the future. After the production of the Viper came to an end for the final time on August 31st, 2017 the decommissioning of the plant began and with it uncovered hundreds of pieces of Viper memorabilia, plus a few Plymouth Prowler items as well. The pieces were saved and the decision was made to auction the items off to benefit the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. FCA’s Historical Services group selected the items that would be kept on display, which still left nearly 1,800 items remaining that will be available during the auction. Many different sorts of items will be offered including signed hoods, art pieces, signage, portraits and more. The auction goes live on March 21st and will run through April 13 with a full list and descriptions of available items available at https://auction.unitedwaysem.org/.
