From the December 2017 issue

My number-one worry was spinning it into a tree. Second to that, fueled by a quarter-century’s collective bench-racer wisdom on the Viper, was the fear that the car would be a shoddily whacked-together animal—no brains, all muscle.

And sure, the brake pedal of this 1993 Viper is so much higher than its accelerator that heel-toeing the thing would require some sort of quadruple ankle joint. The dashboard could only have been conceived with the help of the Fisher-Price design team. And your long-of-torso, five-foot, eleven-inch correspondent found the windshield’s top frame exactly at eye level, precluding use of the Dodge’s bikini top.

View Photos MARC URBANO

Exactly none of that matters. The RT/10, displayed as a concept in 1989 and fast-tracked into production for 1992, is fundamentally a first-generation Mazda Miata designed by a brass band’s worth of star-spangled idiots. Every input is rewarded with a predictable output. The Dodge’s six-speed shifter snaps into position with welcome precision. Its steering exhibits a magnificence that no modern car can touch; the steering wheel, with no airbag, speed-reads tarmac Braille and spits the translation directly into your hands. Brake feel could be generously described as wooden, but the binders never lack for power, and the modern Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 rubber fitted to later stock-size wheels on our test car help bring the proceedings to a quick halt.

Stoking the 488-cubic-inch V-10 begins with an inauspicious rumble through the Viper’s side pipes and builds, via honking crescendo, into a jungle roar. Look around the windshield frame and through a left-hand corner, hit apex, apply throttle upon exit, look down through the glass at the upcoming right-hander, decelerate, thrill to the basso profundo overrun, repeat. Or just point the long nose at the horizon and let 8.0 liters carry you away.

View Photos When Chrysler owned Lambo, the Italians helped modify a truck engine for sports-car duty; the Viper's V-10 had 100 horsepower on the Ram's. MARC URBANO

A bold anachronism from the very beginning, the RT/10 is an elemental testament to the pleasure of mechanized movement. The Viper was far too weird to last 25 years without further refinement, but that doesn’t stop us from concluding that the car in its original form was a paragon of bizarre perfection.

Specifications 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10*

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door roadster

PRICE AS TESTED: $61,975 (base price: $61,975)

ENGINE TYPE: pushrod 20-valve V-10, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 488 cu in, 7990 cc

Power: 400 hp @ 4600 rpm

Torque: 465 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 96.2 in

Length: 175.1 in

Width: 75.7 in Height: 44.0 in

Passenger volume: 48 cu ft

Trunk volume: 5 cu ft

Curb weight: 3534 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 10.5 sec

Zero to 150 mph: 38.3 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 5.0 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 12.8 sec @ 109 mph

Top speed (drag limited): 168 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 180 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.98 g

FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA combined/city/hwy: 14/11/20 mpg

C/D observed: 14 mpg

*Specs and results, July 1995.

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