HispanicBusiness

Chrysler delivered the first 2013 SRT Viper to a customer today at its Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit.

"Viper is Chrysler," CEO Sergio Marchionnne said during a ceremony at the plant today in a video posted on Chrysler's media site. "If there is a car that defines what we are as a carmaker out there to people who are into carmaking, this is the car."

Marchionne, SRT Brand President and CEO Ralph Gilles and employees of the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant presented the first 2013 SRT Viper to Scott Thomas, 40, of Oklahoma City.

Thomas purchased a Stryker red Viper.

Introduced as the Dodge Viper in 1992, the high-performance sports car was sold through 2010 when the automaker's financial crisis caused Chrysler to put the brakes on production.

The new Viper returns with an all-aluminum, 8.4-liter V10 engine that delivers 640 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque.

Production of Viper began Dec. 5, 2012, and shipments are expected to begin in February. The base price for the Viper is $99,390.