We know there's going to be a new Dodge Viper next year, but sadly we can't tell you much about it with any degree of certainty. However, just to keep our juices flowing, Dodge has published this official image of a development mule undergoing winter testing - along with an oddly contrived press release that labours a 2012 'Olympic' metaphor.
The slew of rumours/reports circulating around the new car have included speculation it will share a platform with the Mercedes SLS and have a Ferrari-derived engine.
We're pretty sure both of those suggestions are fanciful, so we're going with the crowd who think the 2012 Viper will feature an engine derived from the last car's V10, perhaps with Fiat group MultiAir tech helping to push output up to 600+ hp. Oh, and Stability Control, as per the release below.
As for the 2012 car's styling, apparently Dodge CEO Ralph Gilles has suggested it's going to look like 'a naked woman on a beach'. Something to do with a double-bubble roof, we hear. Pending the arrival of any official pics of the new car itself, we were tempted to illustrate Mr Gilles' simile instead. Bit only tempted.
"April 15, 2011 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - The long, cold and snowy winter presented a perfect environment for the ultimate American-built sports car and icon of the Dodge brand's performance car lineup to prepare for its imminent return. Using a 2010 chassis as a test subject, SRT engineers expanded the development scope for the next generation Dodge Viper to include stability control tuning for the first time. The development comes just in time for the next "Super Car Olympics," sure to take place late in 2012 when the all-new performance icon returns."