A hubbub has been brewing between the Chrysler Corporation and the Viper Club of America (VCA). Chrysler claims that VCA is up to something shady, while VCA has denied any and all allegations. What’s going on here?

The letter sent to Lee Stubberfield. Photo: Jalopnik

Let’s examine what’s known: last week, reports say Chrysler sent a letter to Lee Stubberfield, national president of VCA. The letter, in no uncertain terms, detailed Chrysler’s disdain for the VCA operating with the for-profit Viper Parts for America (VPA).

Apparently, the club was sanctioned by Dodge for a number of years. It was dropped in the early 2000s when Daimler bought Chrysler. It has also been accused of several odd changes in leadership and bylaws which reflected more of a business model than simple changes to fee collection or membership applications.

The scandal seems to orbit one man: Chris Marshall. As a longtime lover of the Viper, he joined the club with more gusto than others, and perhaps as a result of this, he lost his day job in 2007. His fellow members empathized with him, and rewarded him with paid-for trips around the globe.

Chris Marshall addresses his fellow club members.

He was made national president of VCA, and later vice president around this time frame. Rumors spread that new positions were being created, and a new entity, the VPA, was siphoning funds from the club’s membership to start up its business–this at a time when the Vipers were out of production and the VCA was struggling to find new members.

Supposedly, VPA was intended simply to keep the VCA up and running after the Chrysler subsidy disappeared. It did this by buying up loads of spare parts and tools from Dodge.It is alleged that instead, VPA has become its own individual, for-profit business, getting a steady supply of free parts by using the club as a front.

Stubberfield has since denied the allegation, and stated that Marshall has no involvement with VCA-VPA golddigging, while denying that any of it is true. He also cited a study done by Chrysler auditors who gave the club a pass.

If the allegations are true, what will it spell for the club? If you were a member of this club, who would you trust?