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The Trylon Viper was created during the 1990’s by Rick Murphy and was sold as a kit by Trylon Inc, Arlington Heights, in the USA. The Trylon Viper is a futuristic vehicle and advertised and sold in a manner that would suggest it is something out of a Battlestar Gallactica movie rather than a road vehicle. It features a body that is created from a 1-1/2” x 3” box steel tubing frame that surrounds the perimeter of the body and is bonded inside the mould resulting in a stronger body. The body itself is a colour impregnated impact resistant fiberglass with an inner laminate of core mat. Entrance to the vehicle is via a canopy at the centre of the vehicle that rises allowing access from either side. The body houses two seats with the passenger seat being directly behind the drivers. The Trylon Viper is 15’ 4” long, 43” high and 76” wide at the Stern.
Power comes from a Volkswagen 1600cc or 1835cc dual port air cooled engine giving the Viper a top speed of around 120 mph. More power can be added by fitting an adapted 250hp rotary RX-7 motor. In addition to the engine being Volkswagen the running gear and rear suspension are also from a 1969 (or newer) type 1 Volkswagen whilst the front is a motorcycle type that incorporates dual spring overshocks with a leading arm over an 800x815x8 tire. Thanks to its futuristic design the Trylon Viper has an extremely low drag coefficient of .193 (Computer tested at the Northrup Aerospace Facility, Palatine, IL, USA) giving the vehicle a petrol consumption of around 45 - 48 mpg.
To continue its spacecraft type design inside, the Trylon Viper has a vast assortment of switches, gauges, and LED bar graphs to relay information to the driver and also includes a backup computer, radio and CB radio. To start the Viper the driver has to enter a 5 digit code.
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