Ralph Gilles, Chrysler’s chief of design and SRT: Motoramic Q&A

No one in Detroit's car business holds quite the collection of jobs that Ralph Gilles does for Chrysler, overseeing vehicle design for all brands, running the SRT vehicle lines, including the SRT Viper, and managing motor sports. For this interview, I asked car enthusiasts online what they'd want to ask Gilles. Here's his answers to their questions and mine on everything from Viper's return to LeMans, the new Corvette Stingray's styling and what owner modifications to Chrysler designs bug him the most:

Where does Viper production stand?

We've allocated our first 800 cars -- those are pretty much spoken for. We just started building cars a couple of weeks ago, it's been a painstaking process. You've heard about the gaps, the carbon fiber has been a bit of a bear for us, but we fired up production last Monday…We're making sure we're happy with the trend and we can go full steam.

How many Vipers can you build and sell this year?

Our demand that we expect is just under 2,000 cars a year. This year we'll be short demand; We can't get there this year, but in our peak year we can hit 2,000. And that's all we need to make the business case.

You've had a few weeks to process the new Corvette. What do you think now?

People like to say they're similar, they're American, they're big displacement cars with rear wheel drive. But they're different. The Viper is about being a bespoke car, it's customizable, unique, very low volume. The Corvette is, dare I say it, a mass-produced sports car. The Viper is a step more exotic yet.

Styling wise, I'm glad they went the direction they did, because it's very different from us. People try to say they're similar, but whatever…

Round tail lights: Yes or no?

I'm surprised at the execution they chose. I'll leave it at that.

You're going back to the 24 Hours of LeMans GTE class this year with the Viper.

Luckily we're ready. We can finalize our plans. LeMans is a different stress level than any other race -- we have to have a different set-up. We're coming back racing in a big way. We couldn't have picked a better time. Porsche's back, Aston Martin's back, of course there's Ferrari, Corvette and BMW. For the fans, it's nirvana.

What's your expectations?

I'd love to see us in the top quartile, but we have to be realistic. We're relatively new, and Corvette's been there for a decade now. For us, there's teething, there's learning...If we can place on the podium three to four times a year, I'm happy.

What other racing series holds the most interest for SRT?