Is Dodge's halo sports car set for a return? That's the word from Car and Driver, which reported on the Viper's rebirth with new speculative details.

Recall, the Dodge Viper ended production on August 31 last year at the Connor Avenue assembly plant. The Viper was truly the only American sports car built in Detroit. However, C&D's report claims Dodge's snake is alive and well inside the halls of Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, and the next Viper will reportedly put the mid-engine Chevrolet C8 Corvette and Ford GT in its sights. That seems like an odd pairing because the two cars should be priced hundreds of thousands of dollars apart.

Motor Authority reached out to Dodge for comment on the Viper's future and we were told that Dodge can't comment on future product speculation.

Details are slim, but along with the potential return of an icon, Dodge may also have plans to re-introduce the sports car sans V-10 engine. The Viper exclusively featured V-10 power its entire life and the final variant of the engine displaced 8.4 liters and produced 645 horsepower. FCA is, instead, reportedly engineering a new V-8 engine to power the reborn Viper.

Rumors have floated across the 5thGenRam forum that a new Banshee 7.0-liter V-8 engine and a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine are currently in development for two separate Ram Rebel variants. It's possible either of these speculative mills could also find their way to a new Viper. On a separate note, such a move would actually honor the Viper V-10 legacy as the original 8.0-liter V-10 engine came from a cast-iron block V-10, which was designed for trucks.

2015 Dodge Viper SRT

2015 Dodge Viper SRT

C&D added that Dodge will likely offer multiple performance levels. Specifically, 550 horsepower and 700 horsepower-plus variants were mentioned.

If Dodge does have a new slithering snake in the works, the car could show face as soon as January 2019 at the Detroit auto show. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the Viper concept bursting onto the scene as a roadster in 1989.