Pennzoil Says Goodbye to the Legendary Dodge Viper in a Short Film Full of Insane Stunt Driving

Among dedicated muscle car fans, the Dodge Viper will live forever. Google vp of engineering Ben Sloss owns one. He even purportedly drives it to work on occasion. Unfortunately, the company announced earlier this year that the car had effectively "[run] out of good reasons to live" after more than two decades in production, and Dodge is no longer accepting orders—even from tech millionaires. Longtime Dodge partner Pennzoil, however, has taken steps to ensure the Viper remains immortal with the help of its creative agency of record JWT Atlanta and Rhys Millen, the stunt driver famous for his work on The Fast and the Furious movie franchise. The Viper's successor, the Dodge Demon, made an unofficial debut at a private New York Auto Show event Tuesday night as Pennzoil launched what may be the very last film to feature the Viper. The new ad centers on a mysterious "driver for hire" paid to find and return a stolen Viper. But you really just need to focus on the stunts. [kickout id="1"] "When we found out Dodge was going to discontinue the Viper, we were heartbroken," said JWT executive creative director Jeremy Jones, who led the project. "It's the only American car that competes for international track records." But Jones told Adweek that Pennzoil and Dodge were more than happy to give the car "the send-off it deserves," with a Miami shoot that required a bit of creative traffic control from the local police. He also described the scene in which the Viper briefly leaves the ground as a "happy accident." "Once we thought it was possible, we planned for it and set up the shot to make it work," he said. "We're trying to reach the same audience as Fast and Furious, but this is rooted in realism," Jones added, noting that the campaign includes "no CGI except in the cleanup [of footage]. So, we basically drive the piss out of these vehicles in the ultimate demo of the motor oil … capturing that kinetic energy." Millen and director Ozan Biron explain a bit more about the work in this making-of film. [kickout id="2"] In case you couldn't tell from the cliffhanger finale, JWT's next spot in the series will focus on the Demon, which Jones called "the world's most powerful street-legal muscle car." Images of the new model have already begun circling among car fanatics along with claims that it might be "good for 1,023 horsepower." Let's see Vin Diesel handle that. CREDITS Client: Pennzoil Agency: J. Walter Thompson Atlanta Campaign: "The Last Viper" Chief Creative Officer: Vann Graves Executive Creative Director: Jeremy Jones Associate Creative Director/Art Director: Lucas Heck Associate Creative Director/ Writer: Marcos Piccinini Account Director: Erin McGivney Producer: Rhett Kearsley Production Company: Lemonade Films Director: Ozan Biron Producer: Trevor Cawood Executive Producer: Ted Herman Production Supervisor: Philip Fyfe DP: Tim Sessler Editorial: Cycle Media Editor: Matthew Griffiths Compositor: Peter DeBay Additional editorial: Ozan Biron Visual Effects: The Embassy VFX supervisor: David Casey CG Supervisor: Michael Blackbourn Executive Producer: Winston Helgason VFX Producer: Danielle Kinsey VFX Production Manager: Annie-Claude Lapierre Asset Supervisor: Paul Copeland Sound Design: Source Sound Inc. LA Supervising Sound Designer & Mixer: Charles Deenen Sound Designers: Csaba Wagner Sound Editing: Braden Parkes Sound Recordists: John Fasal, Travis Pratert, Charles Deenen Composer: Colin E. Fisher Colorist: Billy Gabor, Company 3 "The Last Viper: Behind the Scenes" Content Production Team: Grain & Glass Director / DP: Michael Nielsen Camera Op: Joey Fisher Editor: Dan Luce

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Pennzoil Says Goodbye to the Legendary Dodge Viper in a Short Film Full of Insane Stunt Driving

Rhys Millen of The Fast and the Furious fame takes the wheel

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