1996 Dodge Viper RT/10

This lot comes to us as part of a fine collection of classic cars and motorcycles belonging to the late Professor Christopher H. Bovis FRSA, a widely published and respected expert in international and European business law, public procurement and public/private partnerships, and he was clearly a bit of a petrol head too!

Built in 1996, presumably in some dark satanic mills near Detroit by men with sledgehammers and flamethrowers, this brutal beast came to the UK in 2010.

It was bought by the Professor in 2011 and promptly joined his splendid collection.

It is showing just 10,632 miles on the odometer today, which means that the 8-litres of angry pig-iron under the hood has barely had a chance to warm-up or clear its throat.

In common with everything else in the Professor’s collection, it has evidently been maintained and looked after without cutting corners or compromising on maintenance and care.

It is in generally very good condition, inside and out, with just a few cosmetic issues to consider here and there.

We’ve started the car but not driven it more than a few metres.

It hasn’t been used for quite some time and will need some basic recommissioning before it’s ready to once again make birds fall from the sky and people dive headlong into hedges.

Nothing else quite matches a Dodge Viper for sheer brooding presence.

You don’t need to know anything about Vipers, or indeed cars, to understand at some primal level that you should run away as fast as you can if it suddenly decides it doesn’t like the cut of your jib, or the way you’re looking at it, or your choice of trousers.

This one has lost none of the model’s ability to intimidate.

The low, seek profile and mahoosively fat tyres project an air of barely disguised menace with more power and immediacy than virtually any other car we’ve seen in recent times.

The bodywork is true and straight with no unplanned dinks, dents, creases, folds or ripples that we can see.

The panel gaps and shut-lines are as good as they would have been when it left the factory.

In other words, they’re decent, but probably wouldn’t have got past the quality control department at Zuffenhausen without triggering sirens and alarms.

The white paintwork is pretty decent throughout, as are the blue stripe decals. But while there is plenty of shine and lustre in evidence, there are also patches of flat and slightly rough-to-the-touch paint in places, plus a few areas of what feel and look like overspray.

There is some blistering to the paint on the passenger door.

This is a convertible, remember, and will almost certainly always be driven as one.

Yes, it has a removable roof and, yes, it has some strange black fabric and see-through plastic arrangements for the side windows, but you’ll want to drive this thing with the wind in your hair and the low rumbles and thunderous rasps of that mighty V10 in your ears.

For the record, the removable top and side panels are in very good order.

There are a few small stone chips around the front valance, bonnet and the ‘nose’ of the car, and we spotted some scuffs and chips at the top of the offside ‘C’ pillar.

The gargantuan wheels (shod in Michelin rubber) are in exceptional fettle, you’ll be relieved to hear, and are accompanied by another complete set (wearing Kumho Ecsta V700 rubber).

The front tyres are 275/35 ZR18.

The rear tyres are 345/30 ZR19.

The lights, lenses, badging, decals and other exterior fixtures and fittings all look to be in fine fettle.

Once you’ve clambered over the wide sills that stand between you and the inside of this car, you’ll find yourself in a simple, functional place that’s all about driving.

Luxuries and indulgences are thin on the ground in here.

The interior has held up pretty well overall and largely just needs an introduction to some decent cleaning products.

That’s particularly true of the black plastics on and around the dashboard, which have been left with a scruffy coating of some sticky residue.

The only other issue we encountered concerns the driver’s door handle, the surround to which is loose and comes away in your hand.

The black leather upholstery is very good and the seats are supportive and comfortable.

The quilted fabric roof-lining is also good, as are the carpets, mats and door cards.

As far as we’re aware, all dials, gauges, buttons, switches and knobs do what they’re supposed to do.

Opening up the clamshell bonnet on this car reveals an engine that takes up most of the horizon.

It really is very big and very red, indeed.

You wouldn’t want to drop it on your foot.

Everything looks to be clean, dry and in its right and proper place.

The car’s undersides are equally clean and dry. Everything we can appears to possess oodles of structural integrity, and nothing we’ve spotted has given us any cause to frown, shake our heads or tut.

This car comes with less history than Clint Eastwood in any of the countless films where he turns up, wearing a poncho and chewing a cheroot, at some desperate, fly-blown town inhabited by terrified Mexicans.

But it does come with some old MoT certificates, a V5C and some copies of Viper enthusiasts’ magazines.

If ever a car embodied the good ol’ boy American muscle car mantra of “No replacement for displacement”, it’s this one.

Under the bonnet, sorry, hood, you’ll find the equivalent of 16 Fiat Cinquecento engines.

Mercy.

Modern European supercars have become so high-tech and bristling with algorithms they could probably beat you in a game of chess if they felt that way inclined, and weren’t booked in for a pedicure that day.

But the Viper doesn’t play chess.

Or have pedicures.

It spends its spare time with a towel round its neck working the heavy bag in a Bronx boxing gym.

This low-mileage Viper RT/10 is, in our opinion, a particularly good example of one of the most fearsomely potent, unashamedly macho cars ever to venture forth from a US car factory – and that’s saying something.

Feeling brave?

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £40,000 - £50,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.