At the purest level, being a passionate car guy is a selfish game. Somewhere along the line a bug with gas in its veins and a love for all things mechanical wriggles underneath the skin and settles in for a lifetime of gear-head glory. That’s something Halvor Sorhus and his Chevrolet S10 build know very well. 

As you’ve probably already noticed, there’s very little left of the original truck, which underwent a heart transplant that left it the shocking V10 engine from a donor Dodge Viper.

Sorhus, who lives in Norway, didn’t set out to build the crazy frankencar you see above, but after somebody offered to trade the powerplant to him for his Cutlass Cruiser, he said the decision was easy.

“Having a dad who is really into cars, and especially American cars, this sort of hobby came naturally to me,” he said. “I have been tinkering with cars and bikes all my life, and my motto has [always] been: ‘if it doesn’t scrape, its not low enough.’ This build, however, is a bit of a first for me. Its a bit more radical than what I imagined I could pull off, but here we are, on the homestretch of the build, and it fits together really nicely.”

With the project nearing completion, we asked him what the final product will look like. While he hasn’t fully decided what to do, it sounds like either the orange paint pictured above or a simple gloss black might do the trick.

The trouble is, he won’t ever get to drive what he affectionately calls the “Money Pit” out on the street. Sorhus told us the laws in Norway can be pretty restrictive to modified vehicles, so there isn’t much of a chance his truck will ever see the road. So what’s the point?

If you hadn’t guessed, he’s something of a track nut, so what amounts to a tin can with a crazy engine is probably going to see a lot of race time.

“Everyone thinks I’m crazy for putting a V10 into an S10,” he said. “But who cares what anyone thinks? I’m doing this build for myself, wanting a one-off truck.”

The project originally began in late 2008, but really took off a year ago, which is when he got the Viper engine. With something in the ballpark of around 500 hp and 525 lb-ft of torque, we can’t blame him for feeling excited to take his new baby out.

So what’s he most revved up for? Drifting. “I imagine it will haul ass as a drifter,” he said — and it’s hard to disagree.

GALLERY: Viper V10 Chevrolet S10

Given the long list of high-horsepower sports cars available today, it’s easy to forget where the Dodge Viper came from — or more importantly how it came to be. 

With the launch of Chrysler’s fifth-generation halo car, the company released a video that reminds us of the Viper’s history and how unusual a concept sports car being put into production was at the time. The vidoe features old interviews and footage — even of the original Viper’s unveiling, which is so informal it’s almost funny.

Fast forward to the current-generation Viper’s debut and much has changed. Music blasting, a fancy stage and roar after road of someone squeezing the throttle, letting the 8.4-liter V10 speak for itself.

If you find the new car to be exciting, watch the video below and revisit the history behind one of America’s most legendary supercars. Click below to watch the video.

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Desperate to get a glimpse of the 2013 Viper when it’s unveiled at the New York Auto Show tomorrow? Why wait?

Several screen captures have leaked online showing the American supercar in all its shiny red glory. It’s expected they’re from a video that will be shown during the car’s world premiere in Manhattan tomorrow.

Undeniably a Viper, there’s certainly some Italian flare in the new car with hints of the Alfa Romeo 8C and the Ferrari 575. Other notable style elements include the large side vents, the large hood scoop, side exhaust and sculpted roof.

The flagship of the newly-minted SRT performance brand, what isn’t yet clear is what high-output engine will power 2013 Viper.

GALLERY: 2013 SRT Viper

[Source: InsideLine]

You have to give it up to the folks at SRT, they just don’t give up. Even after their latest teaser campaign on Facebook failed, they still gave the crowd what they wanted. Today they’ve stopped fishing for likes and released a new image (above) for their loyal fans.

The new pictue shows a lightly dimmed front profile of the Viper. You can see a vague outline of the vehicle, including the signature hood-scoop, and if you squint you can notice the new ‘Stryker’ logo.

The new Viper is set to be officially revealed at the New York Auto Show later this week. SRT has set up a live webcast for the reveal, stating that “Hibernation is ending in 2 days.” This of course is in reference to the Dodge Viper ending production in 2010. Now though, the Viper is coming badged as an SRT car, not a Dodge.

Be sure to check back with us on April 4 for full official details on the SRT Viper, live from the New York Auto Show floor.

Despite the small army of auto journalists best efforts since noon yesterday, it seems the social media world is refusing to drink the Kool-Aid on the DriveSRT Facebook fan page.

Literally millions of people collectively read posts on automotive news sites every day, so it’s real shock that the latest teaser campaign for the SRT Viper failed at achieving its goal — garnering 2,013 new “likes” on the group’s Facebook fan page in 2013 minutes. The challenge started yesterday and will end at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and though the page is crawling toward its goal, they still need around 1,000 more “likes.”

Maybe it’s because shocking cars like the Aventador J are stealing the Viper’s thunder that people seem to be snubbing the snake (cue the fail horn).

This is the second time SRT tried to run a social media stunt for the 2013 Viper using “likes.” Last time it worked perfectly: enough people participated and the picture you see above got released. Maybe people got the memo that even if they agree to have their timelines spammed, nothing cool comes to light.

In light of the failed first attempt at revealing the teaser, the DriveSRT folks have changed the paramaters, posting a new update at 9:30pm that explains that if said post gets 300 “shares” they will post the picture. 300 is a quite a departure from the original 2013 “likes” that they were looking for, obviously feeling the defeat and opting for an easy way out. There is no time limit on this one either, so it will undoubtedly eventually hit the 300 mark.

It is simply surprising that the American muscle car isn’t getting the attention that it once did, and surely deserves.

The all-new SRT Viper has had a very strange approach to its inevitable unveiling. First we had teaser photo after teaser photo, then Hot Wheels may have accidentally leaked what it looked like in pixelated picture form as a 1:64 scale model.

The SRT brand is now taking to Facebook to garner up more “likes” on its page, teasing its fans with another glimpse of the 2013 SRT Viper. If the page accumulates 2,013 new likes in 2,013 minutes, we get teased — again.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the page is well on its way. SRT is looking to hit 22,246 fans and at the time of this posting they were about 1,400 short. We’ll keep our eyes out if they hit their goal and we’ll be sure to post the teaser when we see it.

Something tells us we’ll be underwhelmed, as is the case with the teaser photos so far.

[Source: SRT Facebook]

The American version of BBC’s Top Gear has released a video taken from the debut episode of the first season. This footage features a dramatic chase between a Dodge Viper SRT and a Cobra attack helicopter.

The challenge was for hosts Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood to take the Viper on a 10 mile round trip through Griffin, Georgia, all while being hunted by the Cobra. Just like a video game, the Viper had three lives to make it to the finish line. If the Cobra got close enough for the kill three times, game over. The Viper tries to outrun, outwit and out maneuver the Cobra – it even tries to hide out in a car wash and a cemetery in an effort to shake the Cobra off its tail.

We won’t give away anymore spoilers, you can watch it for yourself below.

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Making its debut at the Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR race in Las Vegas this Saturday, a one-of-a-kind Dodge Viper convertible limousine will be taking the first lap around the track.

The Viper limo comes courtesy of Unique Movie Cars, a company that also rents out the Dumb and Dumber Mutt Cutts van and KITT from Knight Rider. It will be chauffeuring Oscar Goodman, the host committee chairman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, former mayor and grand marshal of the race around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway today just before 2 p.m.

Even if you’re not the grand marshal, you can still get a closer look at the custom Viper convertible limousine. Feel free to take a gander of this 25 door “beauty” following the Nationwide series race.

We’re all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the 2013 SRT Viper by Dodge, scheduled to debut in April at the New York International Auto Show. Until then, all that SRT (or Dodge) has done is tease us with images of the upcoming model. Toy maker Hot Wheels may, however, have just accidentally revealed the new Viper.

Hot Wheels released a list of thumbnail preview images of its upcoming toy cars and mixed in all of it was what they titled as a ’13 Viper. And while skeptics might believe that they took a little liberty in determining the design of their toy car, Hot Wheels has a reputation of generating very accurate models.

It is without a doubt what many would envision the next-generation Viper to look like – aggressive, sleek body lines, without abandoning the traditional and infamous shape of the Viper model. Either way, it’s the best that we can get and it will be rather interesting just how accurate this model toy car image is to the real thing.

[Source: T-Hunted]

While we anxiously await the new SRT Viper to finally make its debut at the upcoming New York International Auto Show, it appears that Dodge wants to remind us just how powerful its previous iteration of the Viper was.

The Viper Club of America has released a new video showcasing the race-only Viper ACR-X taking on the Nürburgring with a lap time of 7:03.058, which is almost 10 seconds faster than the street-legal Viper ACR, which depending on who you ask is the current production car record holder.

For a race-only production car, the ACR-X has an impressive time, but it’s no the fastest – not even close. Depending on how obscure you prefer your exotic cars, the Ferrari 599XX managed a 6:58, the Radical SR8LM has posted a 6:48 lap time in the past and the Pagani Zonda R tops them all with a blistering 6:47 time.

Watch the video below:

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The SRT Viper continues its slow reveal to the public eye, and this newest teaser is even more frustratingly secretive than the last.

In the picture, what appears to be a carbon fiber hood scoop is shown, although the shot is so close-up and indistinct it could almost be anything off of the newest generation American supercar.

The teaser was released on the DriveSRT facebook page, and is getting a lot of attention. The detailed shot has ignited a guessing game as to what the picture is showing, with some fans saying its a hood scoop, a rear differential cooling vent, a carbon fiber cupholder, and even a carbon fiber exhaust tip.

Think you know what it is? Let us know in the comments section below.

DriveSRT posted a sign on their Facebook fan page last week saying they would release a teaser of the 2013 SRT Viper if the number of “likes” they got exceeded 10,000 before February 1.

Needless to say, it did so without much difficulty. We published an article last Friday talking about the fan page. The Viper’s return is sure to be one of the more exciting things to happen this year. We’re extremely eager to see how the 8.4-liter, 600 hp V-10 we saw in 2010 has evolved. Dodge cars are seeing some serious changes, like the 2013 Dart, under new owner Fiat.

It’s been a good thing: according to the Detroit Free Press, Chrysler is expected to report its first annual net profit since 1997 at $600 million. That said, we’re curious to see how much of the raw America spirit the Viper maintains.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

GALLERY: SRT Viper Teaser