Posted on 01/10/2024 3:10:19 AM PST by Red Badger
The American-made speed machine could sell for up to $150,000.
The Dodge Viper may have gone production years ago, but you it’s still possible to find examples in impeccable shape.
One of those Vipers, a 1997 GTS, is about to go up for grabs as part of RM Sotheby’s annual Miami sale in early March. The bright red coupé doesn’t just look good, though—it’s also got just 64 miles on the odometer.
Dodge may have started building muscle cars in the 1960s, but it didn’t get into the sports car game until the beginning of the 1990s. That was when it launched the Viper RT/10, an outrageous roadster with a serpentine design inspired by the Shelby Cobra Daytona from the mid-‘60s. An ostentatious look wasn’t the only aspect that set it apart from the rest of the automaker’s lineup. It was also powered by a potent V-10. The car was never a hit per se—although it did inspire a surprisingly long-lived sci-fi series— but that didn’t stop Dodge from introducing a coupé variant called the GTS was introduced in 1996.
The GTS going up for bid looks just the same as when it rolled off the line. The car’s entire body, including its trademark “double bubble” roof, is finished in a bright red and it has a black leather interior, as well as silver wheels with the Viper logo at their center. Under the hood, you’ll find an 8.0-liter V-10 that pumps out 450 horses (which was 35 hp more than the roadster) and 490 ft lbs of torque. All that oomph is sent to the back wheels via a six-speed manual. It could sprint from zero to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and hit a top speed of 185 mph when it was brand-new, numbers that it should still be capable of reaching owing to their only being 64 miles on the car. The vehicle, which has only been owned by two private collectors, has been regularly maintained over the years and promises to be in great shape.
The pristine Viper is scheduled to hit the block during RM Sotheby’s two-day Miami auction, which starts on March 1 at the Biltmore Hotel Coral Gables. The auction house expects the car to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000. That means some collectors might stand to get a bargain, considering the car started at around $70,000 when it first went on sale.
Inside the 1997 Dodge Viper GTS.. JASEN DELGADO/RM SOTHEBY’S
If you want a Viper that’s a little more recent, there are some other options out there, too. Dodge does not seem to have exhausted its stock of brand-new Vipers just yet, even though the model went out of production more than a half-decade ago in 2017. Last year, the Detroit giant managed to sell two examples of the defunct sports car. That marked an increase of 100 percent in “new” Viper sales over 2022, when Dodge only sold a single unit.
I wouldn’t want a sportscar, but I would love to find a decent car, in great shape, of a recently deceased owner.
Sportscars in general are very impractical cars. Can’t carry much more that yourself and one passenger and a set of golf clubs.............................
What about all the seals? Good chance there’s some dry rot.
Would love to drive that thing..But I'm too old to fight off the chicks.
You can get a Corvette new or used for much less that’s better looking and easily outperforms this car, BUT beauty is in the eye of the beholder so best wishes to whomever buys it. Most likely it will continue as a museum piece.
POS if you ask me.
These don’t handle well at all either.
I wouldn’t touch a Chrysler product with an 11 foot Hungarian.
The Viper will always try to make the driver dead. Like the old Porsche 911 Turbo.
I’d much rather a 2019 BMW M5.
I’d rather have a Suburban.
Yep. They’re impractical. And I love them. My first car was a Mustang GT Convertible and my second was a BMW Z4 (convertible). Both were impractical as hell. They sure were fun though. I drove those two cars for 30 years. Only with my latest car did I get something more practical. I still miss the quick responsiveness of a sports car though.
Nice. Speaking of cars, anyone notice that the cost of car insurance has gone through the roof? What is going on here? More “advantages” of the fantastic Biden economy? Mine has gone up no joke 30% the past year and now in 2024 another 3%, so that’s 33% in one year alone and I’ve had NO accidents nor any moving violations, not even a parking ticket.
YOU are SUBSIDIZING (paying for) somebody else’s EV.
EV’s cost more to insure and they cause more damage to other cars because of their excess weight.
A wrecked EV, even a minor accident, can scrap one out if the battery is damaged.
The insurance companies spread this cost around to every policy holder.
And yes, it’s Biden’s fault....................
The M5 is sweet. I went for about one step down from that and got a 440I. I couldn’t justify the extra $20K to myself for an M5.
I have a 2014 Mustang Convertible, not a GT though.
My wife has a Z4.................
Holy cow, you’re right, that’s what it is isn’t it. This bum once again stuck it right up our rears while he lives like a King. Now I’m really ticked off, that freakin’ bastard. I’m getting killed financially. Under Trump I was debt free and had savings, now I have zero savings and a lot of debt. All these bums who push this climate scam, all of them are millionaires and when it comes to the middle class, poor, they just do not give one rats ass do they. 33% increase, absolutely outrageous.
and hoses................
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