Considered by many to be the crudest example of a Viper, the first generation models still have a charm all of their own, likely due to the subpar build quality and outrageous concept car styling. This example has a mere 39 miles from new on the clock, and is listed for $52,400 here on Autotrader.com. A near new first-gen or a later GTS coupe with some miles on the clock? That is the question.
I believe these early models are already well on their way to becoming collector’s items, especially now that the Viper has sailed off into the proverbial sunset. They were one of the few cars we saw on the spinning carousel at the auto shows that actually looked like the concept that graced magazine pages as rough sketches. Combine that with their brutish qualities as far as the driving experience is concerned and you’ve got a combo that isn’t often repeated.
If you’re looking for an exotic cockpit with all the trimmings, look elsewhere. The Vipers featured acres of hard plastics and minimalist design with no real creature comforts available. But that was the heart and soul of such a model, with a footwell so cramped from the size of the transmission tunnel that the pedals are never where your feet expect them to be. When a car is otherwise so good and extreme, however, those sins are quickly forgiven.
Then there’s the styling: over the top targa body with a huge clamshell hood and wheels straight out of the early 90s. I personally love these, and even though I didn’t relish my time spent driving one, they’re arguable one of the most significant muscle cars ever made. The crazy low mileage on this example means you can’t use it like you could an example with 25K or so on the clock, but it sure is tempting as a piece of garage art.
62.5% of the mileage was actually put on recently. It recently was a no sale at $40k on an online auction and at the time had 24 miles. Seems the $40k was not a strong enough offer for what is going to surmount to garage art.
Word has it that the Viper will be back in 2021 albeit without the V-10.
I think FCA would be forgoing an incredible opportunity if they didn’t bring it back, V10 or not. The business case is there.. Ford and GM are pumping hundreds of millions into development of lower volume performance models.. the Viper has a market and is still relevant.
It all depends on how their parent company feels about pumping money into an American automobile. They have dumped almost all standard cars except for Charger/300 and Challenger (basically all the same anyway).
They are close to announcing the killing of the Chrysler brand, which is no big loss (except for the idea of another car company biting the dust) considering they sell only 2 models – the 300 and Pacifica.
I hope they come back with another Viper, just not sure it is in the cards.
from what i here, it will be a hemi 8 and will not be called “viper”
Still waiting for them to bump the 392 up to 426 and resurrect the legend, maybe they’ll finally do it. Of course it’ll be extremely difficult to tune but on special track days Don Garlits will show up and give you a hand.
Viper is all but dead.
Article for 6/1 where FCA chairman states that it will not be returning:
http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/challenger-charger-have-futures-fiat-124-spider-stays-viper-finito
My brother had two Vipers, back when they were first launched: An RT-10 and a GTS coupe.
My impression of the open-top was that it was quite a performer (although I wasn’t allowed to drive it at anywhere near its potential, my brother remembering that I used to compete in road races in SoCal), but the build quality was similar to a badly assembled kit car…
…Sadly, both had serious quality issues and were returned to the dealer…
I guess some ‘investor’ will eventually buy the one posted above.
What model years were your brothers? The earlier cars, 92-96 had issues then got better for 97-00 and were at very acceptable level for 01-02. I have an 01 GTS ACR and I’m happy with its build quality level.
Aren’t those kilometers?
Yes they are. The car really has 25 miles on it.
The open top idea doesn’t fly in my part of the world not enough days in a year you’d want to be in it. Our summers are short enough without adding that problem. Who’s going to want to be in it on a morning where it -5c or pi$$ing down rain. Or how about Arizona in the summer with no a/c. I thought open tops went out in the 20’s. How pleasant of a trip would it be to travel for 3 or 4 hour being battered by wind noise. At least on a bike you have a helmet and you can equip it to communicate or listen to some tunes. I think the later models were much better and one of those models I wouldn’t mind having. I remember you could get the v10 as an option in pickup trucks, even had a chance to drive one once, and found for that so called horse power it was quit unimpressive. As Adam said garage art while your daily driver sits in a snow bank.
Well the comparison to the truck V10 goes as far as the same cylinder count. That’s it. The V10 in the Viper is aluminum and was developed by Lamborghini exclusively for the Viper when Lamborghini was a subsidiary of Chrysler. I hear that it’s just a truck engine all the time and that is just incorrect as the V10 available in the Ram HD had many dissimilarities.
The automotive press perpetuates the truck engine story by always comparing the sound a Viper makes to a truck.
Pure B.S., I’m sure, but it is always mentioned.
I think the srt10 truck had the exact same motor as the viper
Yes it did, it had the 505ci version but that was a purpose built sport truck utilizing the Viper V10. The previous comment from @canadainmarkseh was referring to the mid 90’s HD Ram available with the optional V10. The Ram V10 and the Viper V10 were two completely different engines, just with the same cylinder count and 488ci, until the Ram Viper truck was released for 04-06 with the 505ci Viper V10.
The Viper snake logo looks too dorky for me to take the car seriously. I always see a rolling cartoon.
Rotate the Mustang logo a few degrees counter-clockwise and it looks like it’s taking a dump, that doesn’t seem to affect the rest of the car though.
I was lucky and got to attend a Chrysler Corp Convention right before the release of the Viper. They only had one car and it was smoke and mirrors at the convention center, they were moving it from one area to the other, hoping people would think they had lots of them. Iacoa was there and spoke , it was very classy affair, we got to see Iacoa up personal and he certainly was a gentleman to the group I was with. Another story for another time
Sounds similar to what Shelby did with his first Cobra, except he would repaint it to make it look like he had more of them.
100% true. Ol Shelby only had 2 and he’d keep repainting them to give the illusion he had a bunch made! Love it
Wanted one of these for so long.
Bought a 1998 rt/10 salvaged in 2005 or 6. Needed front hood unit and coolers. Had 36k .
Put it all back together perfectly.
Hated every minute of driving it, from mile 1..
Never got used to that weird exhaust note from v10.. Just fell flat on my ears.
As mundane as my zo6 vette is in terms of comparison it was much more fun to drive and the size of my manhood was never in question either.
Cool cars, important to the industry and so on but I never missed it in my garage when it sold.
It is too bad this car has never been enjoyed and it is doubly too bad this car has never been taken out and ran out.
Have to jump in on this, as I have some experience with a number of Vipers, starting with a short-but-memorable ride with Bob Lutz in a prototype some months before the Viper’s public introduction, and ending with a twin-turbo modified Viper that was claimed to make northward of 1000 horses (sure felt like it did!). I agree with Beatnik Bedouin that these seemed like kit cars in terms of assembly and materials quality — they made Lotuses feel like BMWs, as, BTW, did the Plymouth Prowler — but that’s only a small part of the story.
The first-gen Vipers were hairy-chested, you’d-better-pay-constant-attention monsters, with no tricky electronics to help pull you out of a jam, and very little in the way of refinement or amenities. In short, they were bigger, more powerful, but not-more-refined 427 Cobras. At the time, I suggested that prospective buyers go through a driving school, and that would go double for someone raised in today’s computerized, traction/stability-control cars. And when you’re behind the wheel, the Viper sounds like a 5-cylinder Audi with a bad muffler….
Would I buy this? In the Real World, no. But if I had the requisites for a 10-car collection, I’d give the Viper a serious look. They are rotten DDs, and only fun if you’re in the mood. But they are outrageous enough to put you in the mood!
LOL! Not sure if the 2 engines are related, but my wife’s 08 Beetle convertible (manual) has a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder and I agree that the sounds that engine makes are like no other, pretty nasty.
But I love to rev it and when it jumps to the second cam, it is an enjoyable drive.
A bad investment like my Hockey cards from the 1990s. I give Chrysler credit for this car but would never want to own one.
I have memories of Kelsey Grammar wrecking one in LA back in the day. I doubt if he would recommend owning one.
There’s one of these with just over 9,000km on the clock in Saskatoon, SK on kijiji with an asking price of $45K Cdn for anyone interested. 1994 SRT 10 Red with grey interior. Looks to be the twin to this one.
Always liked the Viper. Never a vette fan.
Still want to buy a car for an investment? Somebody got their ass burned.