Dodge announced that they have started production of 2010 Viper ACR-X at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit. Now this is an occasion because the ACR-X is the hottest street-legal version of this supercar to date, and also because it is the swansong for this generation of Viper, as it’ll be replaced with a whole new model in the next few years.

The new Dodge Viper ACR-X (American Club Racer) features the same 8.4-liter V-10 engine developed by SRT team, but it’s tweaked to give 40 more horsepower than the last year model. Now it has 640 hp and 605 lb.-ft. of torque which makes it a monster, literally!

The car is also 160 pounds lighter than the regular Vipers and comes with an upgraded track-focused suspension system. The MSRP for the ACR-X is set at just $110,000, which is a bargain really considering what you receive. They will also make a special Competition Coupe version which is for track use and comes with factory-designed and installed fuel cell and race seat and factory-designed roll cage.

“The 2010 model year is going to be unique for the Dodge Viper in many ways both on and off the track, so to kick it off with production of our ultimate special-edition Viper ACR-X is our way of paying tribute to the performance engineering expertise of our SRT team, combined with the passion and dedication of Viper Nation, to keep the tradition going strong,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, Dodge Brand. “With its amazing on-track performance, the Viper ACR-X is going to seriously turn the heads of all road-racing enthusiasts, whether it is the grassroots driver all the way up to the professional.”