**The Dodge Viper: A Iconic Car with a Wild Past**

This GTS has the exhaust in the rear, when the first gen had side exit exhausts that became notorious for burning people's legs when they climbed out of the car. My leg! Just look at the side profile lines of this automobile. There's nothing else like it. Has the massive fender cutout to relieve air pressure from the wheel wells? It came stock with these sweet, super '90s, very small-by-today's-standard wheels.

And before we check out the rear, where you can see how wide the wheels are, let's talk about the piece resistance, the livery. After this car was purchased, it was shipped all the way to Tokyo, where it received this makeover. Flames? Check. Stripes? Check. Japanese restaurant sponsor? Check. Bunch of dudes' names all over it? Check -ity-check, check, check.

A bunch of other decals? (mouthing sounds) Check. And because OEM stereo systems sucked back in the day, it's got a sweet Eclipse sponsorship. A frickin' race car with a sound system. This sounds like it could belong to Steve Aoki. And back here, the car looks insane. Just look at the way it sits. The rear tires are wide AF - 335s to be exact. That is almost five Prius tires wide. The exhaust just pokes out right in the middle under this massive trunk lip.

Right under the lip is what has become the iconic Viper badge. This car is so bad that it has its own badge. This is a very Dodge thing to do. They do it with the ram, they do it with the hellcat. It's also easy to see the massive groove in the roof from back here, which was purposefully shaped to look like the head of a frickin' snake. Dodge Viper, Kentucky Cobra, nice to meet ya.

Let me in on a little secret pal. Were you ever owned by Steve Aoki? Not talking, huh? Cool, I don't snitch either. (screaming) Yeah, more engine baby! I mean look at this frickin' hog. First off, the hood opens up just like an E30 or Jesse's Saab, like a frickin' clam shell. Sick.

This engine is an eight-liter, all aluminum, V10, hooked up to a six-speed manual transmission, paired with an LSD. All in all, this Viper puts out roughly 450 horsepower, which might be kinda whoa by today's standards, but because it has a lightweight tube frame chassis, with a composite body, the power-to-weight ratio makes this little snake boy sizzle.

Because Chrysler owned Lamborghini in the '90s, most of the tuning and architecture for this V10 engine was done with the help of Lamborghini. Hence the Magneti Marelli logo on the throttle bodies. Did I mention that I went to Steve Aoki's 26th birthday party? Your boy's always been cool.

Let's go check out the inside. (shuffling) (spitting) As expected, the interior follows the same design principle as the rest of the cars punk rock, bare bones, DJ aesthetic. Keep it simple, make it go fast. There's not a single button on the steering wheel. But thankfully, this one does have AC, because you know, your boy runs hot.

The coolest part about the interior? It's got a frickin' mini-disk player in the dash. This is peak 1998. Let's start her up. (car engine starting) (car revving)

It's got more inside noise than I thought it would have. All right, I'm gonna turn it off so we don't smoke out the boys. With a sound like that, one could believe that this car was owned by somebody who is obsessed with sound. Maybe a musician/record mogul, influencer, party boy, DJ, that throws cakes at people's faces? I don't know, I don't know, maybe.

So, can you imagine Steve Aoki driving this cardown the busy streets of Tokyo? I can, but that literally never happened. The Interwebs said that Steve Aoki owned this car and we believed it. There are articles out there, outright saying that Steve Aoki owned this Dodge Viper. But we made some calls.

Our boy, Felipe, director of this show, he's bit of a hustler. He knows how to use a phone, is what I'm saying. He got in touch with Steve's manager and sent photos of the car to Steve. Steve said,

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Have you ever heardof a dude by the nameof Steve Frickin' Aoki?(cheering)He's known for throwing a cake or two.Heck, dude has nicer hair than my mom.Sorry Liz, he does.So why is his signatureon this Dodge Viper?Why does it say Benihana on the hood?Well I'm about to tell you.We're gonna go bumper to bumper on this,maybe owned by Steve Aoki, Dodge Viper.(upbeat music)I'd like to thank NOS Energy Drinkfor partnering with Bumper 2 Bumper.(can opening)Aah.NOS Energy Drink givesme the energy I needto make it through anentire day of filming.This video might just be14 minutes to you guys,but I've been here 14 days.They won't let me leave.Thanks NOS Energy drink.Now, back to the show.(electro music)Before I tell you why this car is so cool,and the real story behindthe Benihana connection,you need to know about a guyby the name of Hiroaki Aoki,aka, Rocky Aoki.(crash and suspenseful music)Rocky was born and raised in Tokyo.He was an athletic stud,competing in track and field,wrestling, and karate.He was so good at wrestlingthat he left Japan for the U.S.To wrestle on tour.Now I'm not talking WWE wrestling,I'm talking Greco-Roman,oily boy wrestling,like Eddie did.(suspenseful music)At one point during his wrestling career,while he was in New York City,he made the bold decisionto stay in the United Statesand not return to Japan.He then rented an ice-cream truck,working seven days aweek, to make ends meet.All while studying restaurantmanagement in his free time.So what does this haveto do with cars, James?I know you're asking yourselves.Well here comes the good part.In 1964, he was able toopen his first restaurant.Benihana of Tokyo.You ever frickin' heard of it?Rocky Aoki was able tocreate a dining experiencethat fused showmanship and entertainmentwith sick Japanese cuisine.Mr Aoki flew in some ofthe best chefs from Japanto cook for his guests.And by 1965, people like theBeatles, and Mohammed Ali,were dining at his restaurant.I'm gonna talk aboutthe car soon, I promise.With his newfound success,Aoki did what anyone would do,pursue adrenalin-filled,life-threatening sports.He developed a passion for boat racing,where he competed vigorously,became a champion,and almost lost his life a few times.He also managed to floatacross the Pacific Ocean,in a frickin' hot air balloon, in 1981.Dude flew a frickin' hot air balloonfrom Japan to NorCal,without any fancy tech,in a balloon, for almost 85 hours.Where did poo poo?Just about every endeavorhe was involved inwas used as a marketing toolfor his restaurant business.So naturally, dude foundhimself in one of the coolest,adrenalin-filled forms ofmarketing, motor sport.(rhythmic music)Rocky Aoki partnered with various teamsover different forms of racing.Among the most notable, andthe reason that this caris sitting next to me right now,was his partnership with Team Taisan.Team Taisan is a private tier racing team,that has been most activein the Super GT Series,since it was founded in 1983.Aside from racing Porsche's, R32's and Ferrari F40's,Team Taisan raced good oldAmerican cars like this,Dodge Viper.At the time of the releaseof the first Viper in '91,Mr Aoki's son, Steven Aoki,was living in California with his mom.By the time Steve was in high school,he realized that he was a misfit.It was in college,during his years at UCSBthat Steve came intohis own in the hardcoreand punk rock music scene.And it was also the place where he startedhis record label, Dim Mak.Eventually, the label tookoff, which led him to LA,where he stumbled uponthe up-and-coming electro music scene.Steve quickly found himselfbecoming an electronic music DJ.By now, you probably knowthat this dude is non-stop.I went to his 26th birthday party.Much like his dad, SteveAoki is an adrenaline junkie,and it's no surprise that hetoo has developed a passionfor extreme activities,like sky-diving, and cars.Hell, even his sister is on it.Her name is Devon Aoki, butyou probably know her as Suki.Yup.(engines blaring)Your last name is Aoki,what car do you driveto stand out amongst thebusy streets of Tokyo?(upbeat music)This 1997 Viper GTS wasoriginally bought in Canada,the country up top of the United States.Just like the first gen Viper's,this GTS has the iconic longnose, the itty bitty cabin,where you gotta put yourfeet over like this,and the short but juicy rear end.It's a classic sports car look.The front hangs low, ithas cutouts in the hood,that vent hot air out of the engine bay.It's a big engine, it gets hot.Unlike the first gen Viper's,this GTS has the exhaust in the rear,when the first gen had side exit exhauststhat became notoriousfor burning peoples legswhen they climbed out of the car.My leg!Just look at the side profilelines of this automobile.There's nothing else like it.Has the massive fender cutoutsto relieve air pressurefrom the wheel wells.It came stock withthese sweet, super '90s,very-small-by-today's-standard wheel.And before we check out the rear,where you can see how wide the wheels are,let's talk about the piecede resistance, the livery.After this car was purchased,it was shipped all the way to Tokyo,where it received this makeover.Flames?Check.Stripes?Check.Japanese restaurant sponsor?Check.Bunch of dudes names all over it?Check-ity-check, check, check.A bunch of other decals?(mouthing sounds)Check.And because OEM stereossucked back in the day,it's got a sweet Eclipse sponsorship.A frickin' race car, with a sound system.This sounds like it couldbelong to Steve Aoki.And back here, the car looks insane.Just look at the way it sits.The rear tires are wide AF.335s to be exact.That is almost five Prius tires wide.The exhaust just pokesout right in the middleunder this massive trunk lip.Right under the lip is what has becomethe iconic Viper badge.This car is so badassthat it has its own badge.This is a very Dodge thing to do.They do it with the ram,they do it with the hellcat.It's also easy to see the massive groovein the roof from back here.Which was purposefully shapedto look like the head of a frickin' snake.Dodge Viper, KentuckyCobra, nice to meet ya.Let me in on a little secret pal.Were you ever owned by Steve Aoki?Not talking, huh?Cool, I don't snitch either.(screaming)Yeah, more engine baby.I mean look at this frickin' hog.First off, the hood opensup just like an E30,or Jesse's Saab, likea frickin' clam shell.Sick.This engine is an eightliter, all aluminum, V10,hooked up to a six-speedmanual transmission,paired with an LSD.All in all, this Viper putsout roughly, 450 hrsprs,which might be kinda whoa,by today's standards,but because it has alightweight tube frame chassis,with a composite body,the power to weight ratiomakes this little snake boy sizzle.Because Chrysler ownedLamborghini in the '90s,most of the tuning andarchitecture for this V10 enginewas done with the helpof Lambor-(beep)-ghini.Hence the Magneti Marellilogo on the throttle bodies.Did I mention that I went to Steve Aoki's26th birthday party?Your boy's always been cool.Let's go check out the inside.(shuffling)(spitting)As expected, the interiorfollows the same design principleas the rest of the cars punk rock,bare bones, DJ, if I dare, aesthetic.Keep it simple, make it go fast.There's not a single buttonon the steering wheel.But thankfully, this one does have AC,because you know, your boy runs hot.(squelching)Coolest part about the interior?It's got a frickin'mini-disk player in the dash.This is peak 1998.Let's start her up.(car engine starting)(car revving)It's got more inside noisethan I thought it would have.It all sounds supercharged.(car revving)All right I'm gonna turn it offso we don't smoke out the boys.With a sound like that, one could believethat this car was owned by somebodywho is obsessed with sound.Maybe a musician/record mogul,influencer, party boy, DJ,that throws cakes at peoples faces?I don't know, I don't know, maybe.I don't know.Anyway.(rhythmic music)So, can you imagine SteveAoki driving this cardown the busy streets of Tokyo?I can, but that literally never happened.The Interwebs said thatSteve Aoki owned this carand we believed it.There are articles outthere, outright saying,that Steve Aoki owned this Dodge Viper.But we made some calls.Our boy, Felipe, director of this show,he's bit of a hustler.He knows how to use aphone, is what I'm saying.He got in touch with Steve's managerand sent photo's of the car to Steve.Steve said, "Nope, not my car."How did you get this number?"Turns out it belonged toa very close family friendof the Aoki's, then was recently soldto a buyer here in the States.Which is how it's here.So that sucks.But, like I said a little while ago,this isn't the only Benihana Viper.There was a 2003 ViperGTSR with a black liveryand Benihana logo.It was used as a driftdemo car in the early daysof D1 GP and Formula Drift.The black Viper was drivenby Eiji Tarzan Yamada,and although the Viper never competed,due to the car not being fully legal,or safe for competition,many say, its participation indrift demos played a big rolein getting Americansexcited about the sportand building it to what wouldbecome Formula Drift today.(car revving)It's really cool that this islike the most American car.But it lived in Japan.Jesse and I were in Italy last year,and we saw a frickin' Z06just cruise down the street,and we were like, that's the move.Everybody's got a Lamborghini here.You gotta get an Americanbig boy, that's the move.