Friday Night was a Drag

[Coyote]

I saw a car come through town the other day that looked like it belonged more on a track.
I thought I read GTS earteca but that doesn't appear on a google search.
From what I thought I saw - the engine was in the back - with a carb air cleaner above the hood.
Any guesses on what I saw?

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I saw a car come through town the other day that looked like it belonged more on a track.
I thought I read GTS earteca but that doesn't appear on a google search.
From what I thought I saw - the engine was in the back - with a carb air cleaner above the hood.
Any guesses on what I saw?

This look like it? It's a De Tomaso Pantera GTS. The "Pantera" badge on the back looks like it could be misread for "Earteca". They're very rare, only about 7000 produced between 1970 and 1991. Quite a find Coyote:

[Coyote]

That must be what I was following. He was only going 25 mph through downtown, but it sounded like one mean machine. Thanks!

[Coyote]

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[S33]

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Holy |expletive|, that was fast. I'll take one in black. I'm guessing the engine's in the reaR?

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I'm sure most of you know that Woodhouse is a car selling force in the eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa region and maintain a massive Chrysler dealership in Blair. Only a few Dodge dealerships in the country are allowed by Chrysler to sell Vipers new, and Woodhouse is one of them. Not only that, but of these chosen few dealerships, Woodhouse sells close to, if not the most Vipers of any dealership in the country.

As a reward, Woodhouse, and the number 2 and 3 dealerships, were given the opportunity to commission their own special edition Vipers. Woodhouse came up with a black on yellow scheme:

For a Dodge dealer, it couldn't get much better than selling a good quantity of Vipers. As if selling Chrysler's flagship model wasn't sweet enough, we bet seeing the smile on a customer's face when they crank over their new 8.3-liter V10 for the first time is a reward in and of itself. The Viper's time on this earth may be limited, but while it's still being offered, the process just got that much sweeter for three dealers.

As part of its "Dealer Exclusive Program," Dodge has created three special editions specifically for the dealers who've sold the most Vipers across the country. The first is the Viper SRT10 ACR Roadster, commissioned by Woodhouse Dodge of Blair, Nebraska, in yellow with black; followed by the "Reverse SRT10 ACR" in green over black for Texas' Tomball Dodge; and finally Roanoke Dodge of Roanoke, Illinois' Black SRT10 Coupe with a split purple stripe up the middle.

All of them look like a pretty darn sweet way to send the Viper rumbling off into the setting sun, but only 50 will be made in total, so we're betting that more than a handful of these will be stashed away by collectors.

[Coyote]

The nation's largest Dodge Viper dealer -- in Blair, Neb.?

"I sell the bulk of our cars to New York, New Jersey, California," Pemberton says. They contact Woodhouse in Blair, about 20 miles from Omaha, rather than their local dealer, because of its speciality tuning operation, he adds. The 10-cylinder model, soon to be discontinued, costs upwards of $90,000. Woodhouse sold 153 in 2003, its best year ever. This year, it expects to sell around 72. Among them is a special version being made only for the dealership by Chrysler. Two other dealers are also getting their own.

"Woodhouse Dodge is one of the go-to dealers for Dodge Viper customers. In fact, the Blair, Nebraska, dealership has been one of the top-selling dealers and the top-selling Viper dealer in the country for several years. Like all the dealers in this exclusive program, Woodhouse has achieved high sales numbers by taking care of highly loyal customers who are located all over the country," she said in a statement.

She added that "Woodhouse also is very well-respected among performance driving enthusiasts with a very successful record on the road-racing circuit, all with Dodge and Viper. Woodhouse Performance is entering its seventh consecutive season racing the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe in SCCA World Challenge".