Slideshow: Father of the Viper Tells Why it Died
Bob Lutz shares his views on BMW, the demise of the Viper, Telsa as a 'cash incinerator', and the dominance of the SUV.
Viper Goodbye
Bob Lutz doesn't mince words. As a former U.S. Marine Naval Aviator, Executive Vice President at BMW and Ford, President and Chief Operating Officer of Chrysler Corporation, and Vice Chairman at GM, shyness in sharing his opinions was not part of his job description. Still working at age 86, he's not the sort of man who'd be content to retire to a life of golf and naps, so when Road & Track asked him to say a few words from time to time he stepped right up to the mic. Last year the topic turned to the Viper, a car he ushered into being as head of global product development for Chrysler. When asked his feelings about Fiat Chrysler Automobiles putting the landmark car down after 25 years, Lutz had this to say: "The Viper ran out of good reasons to live: The original premise was 'more power and speed than anyone else.' But the Viper was, in recent years, trumped by the Corvette ZR1 and Z06 and even in its own family by the Hellcat."
Ford, GM, Telsa
Thoughts about Fiat Chrysler turned to questions about the relationship between sales, profits, and stock prices for domestic automakers. When Lutz was asked why GM's and Ford's stock prices were unimpressive in a time of high sales and acceptable profits, his answer was: "I think it's because a company is either cool and cutting-edge, or it's boringly traditional. Tesla, the world's biggest cash incinerator, is the former and has a stratospheric stock price, unhinged from financial reality. GM and Ford are the latter. No matter how well they do, they are old-school, probably because they create value for the shareholder. If you get a better answer than this, let me know!"
BMW
It's common knowledge inside automotive circles that Lutz doesn't own a BMW, which could be seen as a sort of stance against his former employer. When asked about it, Lutz gave reasons: "BMW used to thrill me with superior performance, style, and vehicle dynamics. All those attributes are average now; what remains is the social aura of the brand. I don't need that and won't pay for it. I do own and ride seven BMW motorcycles, though."
Wagons
The next question Lutz addressed came from a Road & Track reader and dealt with the disappearance of the sedan and the slow, steady march toward SUVs. The reader, from Maryland, asked why manufacturers were not "bringing more wagons to the U.S." (known as estates in Europe, the vehicles remain popular there), wondered why Americans hate wagons so much since they are a little like short SUVs, and expressed frustration that he'd "soon have to settle for an SUV like everyone else." Lutz shed a little light: "My last attempt to lure Americans into wagons was the Cadillac CTS and CTS-V. The media loved them. I had one, and so did a few others. Sales were poor. Face it: The crossover has displaced the wagon with almost equal dynamics and a much better package. You don't have to 'settle for an SUV,' just a passenger-car- based crossover."
Bells, Whistles, and Importation
In any discussion you'll get participants who pine for simplicity, when asked if Lutz foresaw a time when trends would turn towards a less complicated interior, with easier interfaces and fewer toys, Lutz said: "There's an arms race among manufacturers, egged on by the media, to put more and more technology into cars—stuff which fewer and fewer people know how to use, or want. I'm with you on the key desirable attributes, and it's why I bought a GMC Yukon Denali instead of a Cadillac Escalade, with its illogical, balky CUE interface."
The final question came back to the topic of Fiat Chrysler America when Lutz was asked whether he though FCA would build small and medium-sized cars again, and about the possibility of the automaker importing designs from Renault or Peugeot. Lutz explained the realities of the situation: "I think they are done, although how they are going to meet the fuel-economy targets without small and compact vehicles escapes me. Due to shipping, federalization expense, and exchange rates, sourcing low-end cars from Europe is prohibitive."
With the Viper now earning classic status by virtue of its demise, we have one more question for Lutz: How long before the model is revived? Classics never die, they merely hibernate.