132079 / 1996 Viper RT/10

For more information on this vehicle visit http://tinyurl.com/dxtpe85 Say what you want about its brutish nature, but if not for the Viper, I don't think we would have today's Corvette Z06 and ZR1, or the Shelby Mustang GT500, and while cars like the Porsche 911 Turbo would be around, they probably wouldn't be packing 600 horsepower. No, I'm pretty sure the original Viper was the catalyst that got automakers interested in pushing the envelope as far as how much horsepower they could cram into a performance car and still market it to the public with a warranty. The Viper is unapologetic about what it is, and it has stayed true to its nature, only reluctantly becoming more refined up until its demise this year (a new Viper will likely be on the market by 2012, never fear). Dressed in appropriate and sinister black, this 1996 Viper RT/10 is an iron fist in an iron glove. No sneaking around, no subtlety, no pretext of being a law-abiding citizen, this sledgehammer of a car is, brutal, nasty, and blindingly fast. Vipers don't last long here in the RK Motors Charlotte showroom, and the last RT/10 roadster we had ended up with celebrity ownership and extensive modifications that include brakes, wheels, tires, and a killer stereo system. These are fun toys, amazing track weapons, and terrible daily drivers, which does exactly nothing to diminish their appeal. The GTS coupe debuted in '96, making the roadsters somewhat rare only 721 RT/10 roadsters were built that year. The inky black hide on this snake belies its 14 years of fun and it looks every bit as good in person as it does in photos. Vipers were largely hand-assembled and enjoyed far better build quality than some of their Mopar siblings of the era, and this one shows you how much the guys on Team Viper cared about their jobs. Good panel gaps all around and the massive hood fits tightly and doesn't move around on the road no matter how hard you hammer it. Road rash is minimal despite the cars 34,472 miles, and like almost every RT/10 roadster (which had only a flimsy cloth top and side curtains) it has probably never been driven in the rain. This is one clean snake.