Dodge Vipers for Sale

Dodgeâ€™s Viper came from Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby, who had a relationship that stretched back to the â€˜60s at Ford. Following their success with turbocharging front-drive Mopars in the â€˜80s, and at the suggestion of Chrysler exec and world-class car n...

Dodgeâ€™s Viper came from Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby,...

Dodge’s Viper came from Lee Iacocca and Carroll Shelby, who had a relationship that stretched back to the ‘60s at Ford. Following their success with turbocharging front-drive Mopars in the ‘80s, and at the suggestion of Chrysler exec and world-class car nut Bob Lutz, Chrysler set out to build a Shelby Cobra for the modern era: two seats, giant engine, and precious little else--while still conforming to federal regulations. It was a back-to-basics sports car in an era when technology was seen as a buffer between driver and driving experience.

Dodge’s first Viper, sold from 1991-95, was called Viper RT/10. Its all-aluminum 8.0-liter V-10, offered power (400hp!), torque (450 lbs.-ft.!) and displacement (488 cubic inches!) not seen from a factory-built car since the ‘70s. Early Vipers included leather-trimmed, manually adjustable bucket seats, large-diameter alloy wheels, and an AM/FM stereo cassette player with clock. Yet it lacked air bags, air conditioning, roll-up windows and external door handles. Sidepipes let out the exhaust just ahead of the rear wheels.

Viper’s first facelift came in 1996, when the exhaust was routed out the back. Dodge added a new model: the Viper GTS coupe, the Daytona Coupe to the original open Viper’s Cobra. Along with the aero-slick top, GTS came with standard airbags, air conditioning, power windows, power locks, and a 450hp rating. The RT/10 gained the GTS’ equipment levels in 1997. An ACR (American Club Racing) package arrived for 1999, deleting the radio and A/C, plus adding a five-point racing harness; the rare Viper GT2 Championship Edition (just 100 made) featured BBS wheels, a unique lower body kit and trunk wing, and America’s international racing colors: white with blue stripes.

For 2003, Viper received new skin, as well as a new name: Viper SRT-10 replaced the RT-10 and GTS names. A convertible, sans targa bar, was the sold body available; engine displacement grew to 8.3 liters (505 cubic inches) rated at 500hp. The 510-hp SRT coupe version would launch for 2006 but would be short lived; no ’07 models were built, to give engineers more time to launch the ’08 model.

A vented hood is the big tell for 2008-10 models, though far more was going on under the skin: the 8.4-liter (511.5-cubic-inch) V-10 was rated at 600 horsepower thanks to improved heads, twin electronic throttle bodies, and variable valve timing on the exhaust cams. The ACR model returned in 2008, which included aerodynamic improvements, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires, two-piece brake rotors and more; the Hardcore Package deleted all of the audio equipment and air conditioning. (In 2011, a Viper ACR was the fastest production car around Germany’s Nurburgring.) The last fourth-generation Viper rolled off the Conner Assembly Plant line in July, 2010, and was not scheduled to return.

But a fifth-generation Viper appeared in 2013; the SRT Viper, as it was renamed, was only available as a coupe--and boasted a 206mph top speed from its 640 horsepower, 8.4-liter V-10. It featured a carbon-fiber-and-aluminum body, electronic stability control, full UConnect accessibility, four-piston Brembo brakes with aluminum calipers; bi-xenon lights; and multiple modes of traction control--a long way from its back-to-basics beginning. Customers could select the Viper TA (Time Attack) model, with specially selected shocks, tires, brakes, and the downforce-adding Advanced Aerodynamic Package. By 2016, Viper customers could also choose from the ACR model and the GTC (wherein customers could choose a unique paint/interior/stripe/wheel/bodykit version from among 25 million possible combinations). Flagging sales saw this generation soldier on through 2017 and retire. Over its 26-year lifespan, roughly 31,500 Vipers of all varieties were sold--making it a more rarely-seen proposition than its cross-town competition.

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