1992 Dodge Viper RT/10

The Story

When the Dodge Viper RT/10 broke cover, it looked less like a 1990s production car and more like a Le Mans racer that had escaped onto public roads. There was no roof, no exterior door handles, no side glass and no anti-lock brakes. What it had instead was an enormous 8.0-liter V10 engine, born from Chrysler's truck-engine program and reworked with help from Lamborghini, then a Chrysler subsidiary.

That aluminum V10 produced 400 horsepower and a tidal wave of torque, channeled through a six-speed manual to fat rear tires. The result was raw, loud and faintly terrifying. Side-exit exhaust pipes scorched the rocker panels, the cockpit baked in summer heat, and the snap-on vinyl roof was an afterthought you carried in case of rain.

Only 285 cars were built for the 1992 launch, every one finished in red with a gray interior. They sold for around $50,000, and demand far outstripped the tiny initial supply. The Viper instantly became a poster car, a defiant American answer to European exotics that cost two or three times as much.

More than three decades later, the original RT/10 remains the purest, most uncompromising Viper of all. It demanded respect and punished carelessness, with no electronic safety net between the driver and that thunderous V10. For collectors chasing the analog 1990s supercar experience, the first-year 1992 roadster is the one that started the legend.