At one time, the Viper helped resurrect the Dodge brand, serving as the savior of the muscle-car division and its parent company, Chrysler. In 1992, when Dodge introduced the six-speed V-10 two-seater sports car to the market, the economy was in a tailspin.

Yet, unlike today, we weren't in a deep depression (okay, I'll call it a recession), everyone wanted to own one.

In this new post-bankruptcy era, Dodge has struggled to find a buyer for the Viper brand. Yes, I'll refer to it as a brand, since the car had its own identity. Not only did average folks who could afford one line up to buy a Viper when the model first hit the market, but Hollywood A-listers like Jay Leno also had to have one for their personal collection, too. The first Viper also served as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 and made countless appearances in a number of movies (and video games, too).

According to the Detroit News, Chrysler had been having difficulty finding a buyer for the Viper assembly plant. Since August, the Viper plant in Detroit, which hand-produces every vehicle, has been on the market for $10 million. In 2008, prior to bankruptcy, the Viper plant was worth about $16 million. In a surprise and welcome move, the new Chrysler team recently decided to hold on to the Viper franchise. This is good news to Detroit, where the Viper is being built; to the Viper loyalists; and, foremost, to the hundreds of employees needed to build the sports car. Although the Corvette has been in GM's family longer than the Viper, could you imagine GM without the Vette?