Here’s Everything We Know About That Old Dodge Viper That’s Been Sitting On A Pole For 28 Years

If you love Dodge Vipers I regret to inform you that indeed, the one you see here on a pole in Kentucky is real. Not only that, but it allegedly went up there back in 1996 with only 12 miles on the odometer. That’s right, instead of putting a shell up there or using a salvage car that could never drive again, this was a useful sports car before it was sentenced to a life sentence of solitary confinement, watching other cars get sold to new owners. Now the Viper is coming down for a refresh.

Before digging too deeply into the weeds, let’s set the stage. Henderson, Kentucky is home of Audubon Chrysler. It made waves this weekend as its hallmark advertisement, a real Dodge Viper stuck on a stick. came back to earth. No, it didn’t fall, thankfully, but instead, it’s getting a refresh before going back up there.

The man evidently responsible for the idea is the owner of Audubon Chrysler, Larry Bennett. Used-car manager Brandon Shults tells The Autopian that Bennett put it up there almost 30 years ago. The refresh currently going on is only the second in the Viper’s history. The plan is as straightforward as it could be for a car sitting in the elements for that long; clean it off, repaint it, and put it back.

After 28 years perched above a Kentucky dealership, a Dodge Viper is back on solid ground.

The car, which has only touched the earth once in 15 years, shows sun-faded paint, algae-coated windows, and even bird nests under the hood.

It has only 12 miles on the clock! ???? pic.twitter.com/R2Oee6s72q

— AR12GAMING (@AR12Gaming) November 10, 2024

In fact, Shults says that the team is going to ditch the aftermarket wheels to re-install factory Viper ones now that the car is out of the sky. Moving it to and from its perch atop the lot at Audubon Chrysler wasn’t too tough either, he claims. The entire car rests on a custom-built plate that bolts to the subframe and then onto a 10-inch post. Shults also revealed that the cabin is basically bare. The team removed the seats before installing the car on the post.

Of course, this refresh won’t do much to salvage the car’s ability to do things like run or move people around. Photographs from the scene show that it has literal decades’ worth of debris and detritus under the hood. There is no telling how bad the cabin must look given the less-than-super-tight seal that the soft top is known for.

Amazingly, this entire idea isn’t a new one. In fact, Bennett pulled this same trick at another of his dealerships in Indiana. That time though it was a series of brand new Chevrolet Corvettes that he allegedly let sit up in the sky to rot. “It’s something that’s expensive, and the more expensive it is, the more ridiculous it seems,” said Bennett to Corvette Blogger in 2012. “And the more ridiculous it seems, the more people are going to notice it and start talking about it.” The dealership would even sell “rides” in it for $100 each.

That article seems to indicate that there was an additional layer of risk added into this whole gimmick I hadn’t thought of. “Flake (an employee at the dealership) and his crew will have to wash and wax the car every three months., even though it won’t be driven.” That’s right, the Corvette received better body treatment than pretty much every car I’ve ever owned. Of course, it received that care at the risk of workers who would have to be 42 feet in the air to wipe down the car. Hey, anything to increase sales right?

It doesn’t appear as though the Viper has received the same level of care. Shults expects to strip down the paint before the team reapplies a new shine. Photos of it from around the time of its initial installation are hard to come by but videos aren’t. In fact, here are a couple of commercials with it in the background featuring Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell.

According to Road & Track, getting the car running isn’t important to Audubon Chrysler. “At this time, there are no plans to get it running since it will be remounted on the sign pole,” said Margaret Herrmann, Internet Sales Manager at Audubon Chrysler. Another worker there, Alec Girvin says the car went up on the pole with just 12 miles on the odometer. I can’t speak for everyone, but count me out on handing over cash to a place that clearly is willing to burn some in this sort of manner.