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1994 Viper R/T 10
V10-Fuel Injected 6 Spd.
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Detroit's First SuperCar
In the mid to late 1980's, Chrysler was enjoying success with the K-Car pulling
them out of the Red Ink, Jeep going strong and a vehicle not big enough to
be a van, but roomy like a big van, that was easy to drive and no one else produced.
Chrysler Corporation, with Chrysler's Chairman Lee Iacocca and Chrysler's
President Bob Lutz, was as healthy as the day Walter P. Chrysler opened the doors of
Chrysler Corporation. In 1989, when the Viper concept car was introduced at
the Detroit Auto Show, Viper was intended to show Chrysler's Vitality.
With Carroll Shelby on board, Chrysler was turning out pocket rockets like
the CS Daytona Turbo, Omni GLH, GLHS and CS Spirits. Carroll Shelby
wanted to build a show car with many of the characteristics found on the famed A/C
Cobra that Carroll Shelby built back in that Airport hanger in California.
Chrysler put together a team of engineers Called "Team Viper" to build that show car .
The original Show car, powered by a LA 360 V-8, was a hit at the 1989 Detroit
Auto Show. Even though not a single Viper was produced at this point, the
other manufacturers felt the heat from the show car and started to panic.
Magazines were filled with ink on the incredible new SuperCar coming out
of Detroit. GM even built a Corvette in 1989 called the Snake Skinner, and
still not a single Viper was sold or even given the green light at that point to become
a production car.
With the great success of the Show Car, the team was on track to take the
Show Car to the next level. They were not after a car for the masses to own,
they wanted to build the only US SuperCar to ever come out of Detroit. With
the help of Lamborgini (a Chrysler subsidiary), they commissioned the power
train team from Lambo to build them a SuperCar power plant like no other.
Using the LA block as the platform, Lambo was on their way to building the
largest displacement all aluminum gasoline motor to come out of Detroit in a production car!
The all aluminum 488 cubic inch R/T 10 powerplant produced 400 horsepower,
the most to come out of Detroit since the early 70's, and Torque ratings unheard of by
SuperCar lovers, 450 ft lbs of torque.
In May of 1990, the official approval was given by Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca.
One year later, Carroll Shelby piloted a pre-production R/T 10 Viper as the
Indianopaolis 500 Pace Car. The first Vipers were released January of 1992.
First Generation Vipers were considered by some as a crude "kit car".
Chrysler translated that into the most sought after production line vehicle to
come out of Chrysler Corporation.
This R/T 10 was purchased in New Jersey on August 11, 1994 at
Warnock D-C-P-J-E. Base Price was $54,500 Total Price with A/C and
Gas Guzzler tax was $58,500. Due to the low production numbers, Vipers
were being sold at market adjusted prices up into and over the $70,000.00 range.
With only 13,700 miles, this Viper is original from it's paint to it's tires.