Twenty-eight years in the sky will do a number on a car. A 1996 Dodge Viper RT/10 that spent nearly three decades bolted to a 30-foot pole outside Audubon Chrysler in Kentucky finally came down for inspection, and what crews found inside wasn’t pretty. Hoisted up in May 1996 as a marketing stunt, the red Viper had become a local landmark, lowered only once before in 2009.
The dealership put it up there instead of parking it on the lot, betting that a bright red sports car floating over the property would pull more eyes than any sign. With just 12 miles on the odometer, the Viper stayed perched for decades. In November 2024, fifteen years after its last touch-up, the dealership brought it back to earth for a real look.
It didn’t survive the altitude clean. Up close, the Viper showed heavy wear from years of sun, wind, and weather — plus a few surprises no one ordered. Mold had crept into the interior, and a bird had built a nest inside the car at some point during its long stretch above the lot.
From there it went to Keen’s Auto Body and Paint for a full refinish, the kind of cleanup a car needs after nearly thirty years of exposure that no garage could match.
Cleaned up and restored to display condition, the Viper keeps doing the job it’s done since 1996 — being the thing you can’t miss when you drive past.
Via Viper Club of America/Facebook
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