When choosing a color for a high-end or low-volume vehicle, it’s not uncommon for automakers to send over a sample for the customer to look over. As good as technology is these days, it can’t always beat looking at or feeling things in the real world, and customers of vehicles in this price bracket know exactly what they want and how they want it. Thus, getting something as crucial as color right is of great importance.
However, there are other uses for color samples too. For dealerships, automakers will sometimes create and send over nifty speed forms showcasing colors that are available on a given model. The genius of these speed forms for such a purpose is two-fold: They attract attention from mere bystanders and more serious attention from both fans and potential customers. They’re sort of like teasers, though not quite the kind we’re used to in the automotive world. In any case, this is exactly what Dodge –then SRT– did for the fifth-generation Viper back in 2013. They’d mount these speed forms to a cool-looking Viper stand and dealerships would place the stand –with speed forms attached of course– somewhere on the showroom floor for all to view.
Later, from 2015 to 2017 (after SRT was folded back into Dodge), these speed forms would go directly to buyers as part of the 1-of-1 program. The process went something like this: You’d choose a custom color, Dodge would send over a speed form wearing that color, and you’d get three opportunities to fine-tune the color if it wasn’t to taste. Once you got the color dialed in, you’d get to keep the speed form and have a mini-me of your newly acquired 1-of-1 Viper!
We’re not talking about the latter circumstance though, we’re talking about the former, so let’s continue.
Speaking of the first example, there’s a problem: Finding dealership promotional material can be a real challenge. Unless an employee came into possession of the material, or it just happened to show up mysteriously online for sale, coming across items like this is something of a lottery (let alone an art if perfected). Luckily for me, I’m friends with just such an enthusiast who has both perfected the art and works at a dealership.
Kaleb Coombs, whom you might remember making an appearance on my podcast a while back, is an avid collector of Viper memorabilia (sounds like a man after my own heart, haha). From brochures, posters, diecast cars, to even these speed forms, Kaleb’s collection would impress even the most die-hard Viper enthusiast. As far as how Kaleb came into possession of the speed forms, here’s what he told me: “I was working at the dealership and… one day I was tasked with moving a stack of stock Wrangler wheels out to the shed. I’ve always seen the shed but it was one of those things where it’s like ‘I’ve never been in it, what’s inside?’ and I’m like ‘alright, well, I guess this is my chance’. So I go into the shed and I was like ‘what is that?’ You see all these colors –all these beautiful colors– just on this giant board , it was like 8 feet tall and super heavy. So I start moving some trash around and hear it’s the showroom display board of the Vipers when they relaunched in ’13. And I’m like ‘this is where it is!? In some shed with trash all over it!?’
One thing led to another and Kaleb now owns these speed forms! The rest of this story can be heard in this podcast episode where I interview him (skip to an hour in for that story specifically, or don’t and hear the interview in its entirety).
Now that we know how he got them, let’s take a look at ’em, shall we?
What a lovely array of colors, right? Shown here is B5 Blue, Anodized Carbon, Snakeskin Green, and Stryker Orange (just to name a few). All beautiful colors that wonderfully accentuate the Viper’s sexy curves. The funny part? Snakeskin Green, Stryker Orange, and Anodized Carbon aren’t the original colors these speed forms came with! Dealership speed forms came in Stryker Red, Adrenaline Red, B5 Blue, Shadow Blue Pearl, Race Yellow, Bright White, Black Venom, and Gunmetal Grey. Seeing as all those (sans the B5 Blue, both reds, and yellow) are just white and black colors though, Kaleb –correctly if you ask me– decided to get the speed forms repainted in more flashy Viper hues.
Speaking of flashy Viper hues, how’s this for a stunner? On top of Stryker Orange, Kaleb also has this exceedingly Stryker Red-looking speed form dubbed “Candy Apple Red” that’s wrong in all the right ways. No really, Candy Apple Red looks identical to Stryker Red (as you can see below). In the back is Candy, and in the front is Stryker.
Regardless of what you call this color, one thing is for certain: This red screams Viper.
Those aren’t the only colors in Kaleb’s collection though, as he has three more that require a more in-depth look at their brilliance. For this, I asked the man himself some questions about each of these unique beauties. Starting with…
The Stryker Purple Speedform:
Cody: So of course, why Stryker Purple? Of all the iconic Mopar and indeed Viper colors, what made you choose Stryker Purple specifically?
Kaleb: I chose this color because I think it’s one of the most unique color shifts offered as a factory paint option. In the sun it explodes with hues of purple, and in the complete contrast in the shade it’s as dark as night.
Cody: You told me that the guy who repainted these speed forms goes by tukipaintsit on Instagram. Tell me, what did he say when you asked him to redo the speed form in Stryker Purple?
Kaleb: Travis lives by a very simple philosophy, “if you’re paying I’m spraying”. The Hess family is Mopar royalty and has/had some very unique cars throughout the years. His father Bucky had an SSG roadster at one time.
Cody: Do you know the paint process Travis used to recreate Stryker Purple? Was it a multi-coat process like the Stryker Purple you find on big Vipers or is Travis’s method different?
Kaleb: Travis’s method was just like painting the real cars. Averaging 3-4 coats of paint per car, wet sanding, and polishing. He averaged 3 hours per car, and about 2-3 ounces of paint he uses House of Kolor. With each color change, he had to clean out his spray gun. And the Stryker color are tri-coat pearls.
I have to say, Kaleb couldn’t be more right about the duality of this paint job! I mean just from the photo above you can see how crucial light is to observing the actual color of this speed form, and that doesn’t change with direct sunlight either. Kaleb sent me a video of him holding this model outside and it still looked nearly pitch black even then! Only when the sun hits it does the color explode as he describes. Also, I love that Travis employed the same method Prefix used to paint real Gen 5s in this color! Not that the color needed it, but I feel like it “legitimizes” the paint job. It’s not an off-shoot or a scaled-down version of Stryker Purple, it is Stryker Purple, and I think that’s a testament to the quality work Tukipaintsit blesses all his paint jobs with (seriously, the dude is nuts).
The Anodized Carbon Speedform:
Cody: Compared to the very metallic Stryker Purple and Moon Glow (which we’ll get to shortly), the Anodized Carbon speed form is decidedly more matte in its appearance. Is it a full matte paint job or are there still some flakes present in the paint?
Kaleb: The anodized carbon is completely Matte.
Cody: What made you go with Anodized Carbon as a color? Considering all the other colors are either bright or not completely black, what enticed you about the uber-rare matte paint job?
Kaleb: This color is one of my favorites because it contours the viper’s body lines unlike any other color out there. The look is just so menacing. Nothing quite like putting a fighter jet on wheels!
Cody: Are you worried about keeping this Speedform clean and scratch-less? I read on the VOA forum that apparently Anodized Carbon requires a little extra care to keep fresh. Do you have any specific storage plans for this and the other speed forms?
Kaleb: Storage of my speed forms consists of wrapping each one in what I call “shipping paper”, each individually boxed inside one big box. I have 15-speed forms total and I believe I can fit 16 on the showroom display board. The other side will have interior samples on it. My big picture is to display this board and hopefully one more full of speed forms in my “man cave garage” alongside other viper items I’ve collected over the years, and maybe one day turn it into a mini-museum of viper memorabilia.
Nothing like putting a fighter jet on wheels indeed. This speed form is both the definition of sinister and the answer to the question “what would happen if a snake took shape as a car?” Honestly, tell me that speed form doesn’t look reptilian. Guess the conspiracy theorists had it all wrong, it’s not reptilian people we need to worry about, it’s reptilian cars.
What pleases me most about Anodized Carbon is that it’s a matte paint job done right. Far too often have I seen matte paint jobs where they have little to no reflection in them whatsoever, leading to a painfully low-quality appearance that screams something between“primer” and “putty”. Paint jobs like that are basically light sponges that hide all body lines and design elements. Furthermore, they look particularly horrendous when they’re dirty too, coming off as faded even when they’re not. Needless to say, however, Anodized Carbon doesn’t suffer from any of these criticisms.
The Moon Glow Speedform:
Cody: What’s the name of this gold one? Has it been christened with an “identity” or are you still in the process of figuring that out?
Kaleb: The custom gold color was named “Moon Glow”.
Cody: As we both know, Gen V Vipers never came with a gold color from the factory (excluding all the custom ones from the 1 of 1 program), so is this a gold color from another manufacturer or is this a completely custom color born from your imagination?
Kaleb: With a project of this magnitude I wanted Travis to have creative freedom. He initially did what I call Gold 1.0, however, he threw his signature flake on it and that’s how we got Moon Glow. Travis wasn’t comfortable with laying stripes or any kind of designs due to the size and we both agreed that keeping the colors solid would display better anyway.
Cody: What was the original color of this speed form?
Kaleb: As far as the original color of Moon Glow, it’s hard to say, he told me that he tried to keep the “base colors” similar to the resprays so maybe it was yellow? But I honestly don’t know.
It has to be said, it took a little while for me to realize this specific speed form was the one Kaleb was calling “Moon Glow”. Perhaps it’s just me, but gold is not a color I’d normally associate with the Moon. In my mind, I was expecting a silver speed form with a blue tint akin to the Iridescent Silver Blue Pearl paint job early 2010s Hyundai Sonatas have (but a thousand times better of course). Nevertheless, Travis made yet another utter gem in Moon Glow. If someone melted down bars of gold and dripped it over their car, this is exactly what it would look like. Absolutely exquisite.
What do you all think of these speed forms? Let me know in the comment section below! I hope you enjoyed this article, make sure to check out Travis’s other projects, and I will see you all next time. Bonus: Check out the photo gallery below for more shots!
