The Original 1992 Dodge Viper Was a Ridiculously Basic, Dangerous Sports Car 

Manual transmission, best anti-theft system in the US

*sniffs a massive line* “Here’s my idea. 5000 dollar car, 60000 dollar engine.”

At age 19 I rented a 1994 RT/10, nearly identical to the car Doug's featuring here. I wasn't reckless in the car, but I drove it hard and had blast for the six hours I had it. Looking back after hearing about how dangerous these are considered to be, I'm grateful I didn't push it too much and get myself into trouble. I did get the car sideways in a corner and felt the monster rear tires grab, momentarily launching me forward in a direction I didn't want to go. Straight line it was easy to drive and the brakes were quite good as I remember. It was all I could think about for months afterward.

Can you imagine being a young automotive engineer/designer and going to the bosses and pitching this car? Also, the rust on the steering wheel bolts is a nice touch.

"I present to you an engine, a steering wheel, and some brakes. Whatever you do is up to you."

To quote Mr. Regular: "It's only safety feature is FEAR OF DYING."

It’s crazy how little those cars changed aesthetically over the next decade. I remember walking through dodge dealerships in 2002 as a senior in high school and drooling over cars that looked nearly identical to this.

My late father owned a 1993 Viper. I sold the car for my mother after dad died. I drove it a few times and I immediately noticed the quirks with the access to the car. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen on a vehicle! I showed my wife and we laughed about it. This car could do 60+ in 2nd gear. What a beast! RIP, Dad!

This viper is so barren it doesn’t even come with a background

"What were Dodge engineers doing the early 1990s?" "Probably a lot of cocaine."

Viper Engineer: No door handles, they create negative pressure zones. Other Engineer: But what about the windows? Or the roof? Viper Engineer: Shut up.

I was born in ‘92 and I still keep one of my very first toys which was this exact viper red and everything in a die cast scale model. I always thought it was pretty basic and lacked a lot of real details, now I realize how detailed it was made.

It’s weird just how popular the Corvette is but the Viper is SUPER rare. I’ve only seen a Viper once on the road before. To put that into perspective I’ve seen McLarens and Rolls Royce more often.

"I present to you an engine, a steering wheel, and some brakes. Whatever you do is up to you." -Mr. Regular

The Original Viper is one of my all-time favorite Cars. Thanks for the review Doug.

So glad someone still gets the point and enjoys what the Viper is all about!! When I was a kid I used to see these im videogames and movies since you'd have to be a billionare im order to have one of these in Brazil. As I grew up I became obssessed with them exactly because of all of what they are. At least driving one of these true Vipers is something I hope to do at least once before I die

To all people who've ever driven a 90s viper, congrats on reaching 2021 alive, all 6 of you

Not only did my grandfather have a new one in 92, he raced it too. Now I realize he was insane

Always had a thing for the viper, I fell I love with the 1989 concept, I want that one

Thanks Doug. I really appreciate, that you appreciate, what the Viper was really all about. All the "stuff" is just . . "stuff". The most enjoyable video I have seen from you.

Doug: "Yes the interior might be really f'n bad but that's by intentional design" Viper Interior designer: "yep, that was definitely the point" *sniffles*

Doug crashing the car and dying: "I just love it, this is the purpose of this car, it's so cool. *

I worked at a dealership and this was the only car that we could never drive. It happened more than once that they were crashed between taking delivery and the customer making it home.

I remember in the early 90's the Vipers became really popular. Especially after the Viper tv series became a hit. I seem to remember they were about 88 to 100 grand for the car depending on which magazine you read. They were built at a time when Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy, so the lack of features and the cheap interior is not surprising.

Doug: this car doesn't have windows Steve Jobs: *heavy breathing*

"One of the greatest car collections" CNC Motors: "He doesnt love us anymore..."

a beautiful car, regardless of its countless inconveniences.

I worked at a Cadillac dealership in the mid 90s and I was the used car lot attendant. We had a 94 Viper traded in and I got to drive it daily as it had to come in every night and go out every morning. The manager didn’t want it sitting out over night and someone fucking with it. One Saturday morning I got in early and the back side of the dealership had a long straight road, maybe 200 yards. I laid into it and it scared the hell out of me. It took off harder than anything else we had and we had fast cars, Northstar STSs and ETCs…I never wanted to drive it hard again till we sold it.

Dodge: "Just don't die lmao"

I was a seat engineer at Chrysler in ‘89. My Yugoslavian supervisor announces one day that they’re looking for engineers for the “Wiper” program. We all look at each other like “who the hell wants to work on windshield wipers?” We didn’t figure it out for weeks. Doh!!

I think that Caterham, Ariel and KTM would disagree that high power, stripped out, no frills sports cars without windows, traction/stability control etcetera are not still manufactured today. Whether Americans count them as a main manufacturer or not is a different matter but Caterham, at least in the UK, would surely be considered so. The viper only sold 285 cars in its first year, so it was hardly miles ahead of Caterham sales. Great video with loads of info that I didn't know. Thanks for all your effort.

I remember the first time I saw this car and I totally disagree giving a 7 for styling. I was mesmerized. Her style was everything back in 1992. It deserves 11 out of 10 for style.

Shout out to every 90s kid with poster of this car on their wall.

This is the fifth Viper ever, with 30 year old tyres. Doug: Goes 70 in a residential

Great video. I love how you describe the viper and how great it was and not complain about traction control and other helpers. So many other You tubers try to compare with newer cars. Which isn't fair.

The door-mounted seat belts were because the car didn't have an air bag. The door-mount is how they got around the passive-restraint requirement. If you read the manual, you'll see they're designed to be left buckled at all times and you're supposed to just slide under them to get in and out. In practice, no one did that but that's the reason for the door-mounted belts. When they added an airbag, they went to conventionally mounted belts. These door-mounted belts were common in this time period, especially in GM vehicles. Most other carmakers used motorized belts or added a driver airbag to get around it.

Only Doug will give us a minivan and a Viper in the same week

Тhe exterior design has aged quite well. It still looks cool for me.

I just got my first Viper. It’s a Red 1995 RT/10 Gen 1. Black and tan interior looks just like the one here with 21,000 miles on her (named her Beth) she’s hell on wheels and I give her a healthy dose of respect. Looking forward to taking her to play on the Auto Cross track next summer. I love every inch of her. She’s raw and beautiful. My husband has had his for 27 years (they look like twins!) his is a 1994 Red (gray interior) The “exposed screws he’s pointing at on the dash” aren’t screws they are snaps for a leather cover that they come with that you can put on the passenger side and drive with it on, there is a detachable side on the driver side you can zip on and snap into place on the dash and behind the headrest. I’ve pulled mine out and tossed it on for fun. It’s unusual and interesting. I’ll do it again. Our Vipers get a ton of attention when we drive them. One got a ton of attention, when we take both they get even more, when we get together with my Father in Law and Brother in law and have 4 of them together it gets fun and loud. I’m not concerned about random people opening the hood. (Or the doors if they even figure out how, people are to busy taking pictures and or just looking at her) I had to open the hood for the two emissions testing places I had to take her to. (One didn’t have the CO2 needed to test her) They do nothing but pop hoods all day and both places had to ask me to open it for them. (I also requested them to get me to close it, for Beth’s protection) I feel fortunate to own one myself. She’s never boarding to fire up and pull out of the garage. She’ll mess up your hair in the best way. I hope to get other old muscle cars in my garage, but even if I don’t, she’s the only one I really need.

One of the last of the 'analogue' vehicles where one actually had to have some driving skill to extract any kind of performance from this vehicle without crashing it. High performance car for highly skilled drivers...obviously.

This just in: Petersen Museum adds interactive Doug Demuro exhibit

Viper owner: *burns ankle on exhaust or crashes and dies* Dodge: "that's on you, idiot"

I remember seeing one just like this back in like 1994 or 1995. I was just a kid but I still remember how low and freaking wide it was. It made a Corvette look high and narrow in comparison.

This was my absolute favorite car as a kid. I had multiple posters, die cast models, and it was even the first model kit I made (redid later when I was better). To this day, even with all the crazy stuff out and the newer models too, this one's simplicity still puts it in my top 5 all time favorites at least. The wheels are even awesome and unique lol.

True advertisement from back in the day: Airbags? ABS? Traction control? Forget it, you will be going so fast even dental records won't help.

I like that Doug is still keeping the undershirt-under-a-t-shirt trend from 1999 alive.

All I want to say is you will never appreciate the viper unless you have worked on other cars. The real treat to this car is how easy it was to work on. Everything comes off easily and is super accessible. It really is a work of art any mechanic that has worked on one will agree.

My friend had 1 in 1997 , we were both teenagers. Ridiculously fast

"How many times has your Viper been stolen?" "Not sure, but it's MY Viper now."

Practicality : "well at least it has 2 seats" oh ok so we've reached that point

I remember reading Road & Track's Exotic Cars edition featuring the prototype Viper and it literally had red and black leather baseball for a shifter grip.

Was fortunate enough to have grandpap, dad and a dozen other family members as owners/employees of a Dodge franchise from the 80s-10s and I can remember the first time my dad brought home an RT in like 93, I was 10, and it was a ride I'll never forget. (Have owned/driven MUCH faster stuff since then but still..) It was like a street-legal race car to me.. such an iconic, "in it's own league" type of car.

This car is stupid dangerous, I learned that since Gran Turismo1

i feel like this is one of the most iconic cars ever.

Work of art

You have chosen the ultimate Viper. When this car was introduced, it was BADASS. It was scary and brutal. It eventually became a sorry shadow of what it should have been with all the creature comforts to attract buyers that couldn't drive... In my humble opinion, that's what killed it...

me: Let me drive the viper Viper: sure just let me arrange a funeral

Doug: "Ridiculously basic and dangerous sports car." British laugh in TVR...

19:15 yo that engine looks gorgeous wtf that’s one of the most stunning intake plenums I’ve ever seen 😭 literally looks so menacing like it has arteries going through it

Never understand how the hell they couldn't make this car look better than it's first incarnation.

Dodge: “fuck it, they’ll buy it.” America: “oh hell yeah, did you say v10?!”

The viper has no stability control? Sure it does. Back then, we called that the steering wheel.

The interior felt like driving a dodge neon of the same era. The shaking also gave it a feeling it was about to break and send parts flying away. And yet it looked amazing for the time.

Not only the viper is one of the most beautiful car of all times ,it also has one of the greatest badge ever.The viper is just straight badass.

Had a 94....in green. Was awesome. Every time I drove it....it wanted to kill me and yet I still managed to get 72,000 miles out of it over 4 glorious summers. From the cool sound...the instant acceleration, then insane cornering.....it sounded sweet, drove insane, the clamshell hood and every kid wanting to sit in it every time I stopped for gas.

People: wow the Cobra is just a simple car with a big engine Chrysler: hold my cocaine

6:49 That's how you open the hood on every American car all the way into the 1970's. It's a classic muscle car feature, and the Viper was all about back to the muscle car basics.

Why I have GTA 3 vibes ?

Gordon Ramsay : It's f*ckin RAW! Chrysler : *Yes*

The three spoke wheels are almost aggressively 90s. They’re like the wavy purple and blue soda fountain cup of wheels.

The lack of electronic aids like traction control and such are what made it great. That and it was built to exclusively be a drivers car. For someone that REALLY knew what they're doing

I remember driving this and losing the rear end going straight, dry roads, 4th gear, @ about 40 kph!

“Back in my day we carried around our windows in bags.” Child: “I think grandpa needs to back to the nursing home.”

“How cheap can this Dodge Viper’s interior get?” Viper: “Yes.”

15:20 those wheels! When I see them I know it's a viper. One of a kind love it!

As far as the security on this vehicle, remember that in 1992, everyone (and I mean everyone) had an ADD ON car alarm. If the car were locked by hand then directly after doing so, the owner would arm the ADD ON alarm with the "Wooh Ooot" Key FOB, and walk away. If someone reached inside and opened the door, the alarm would go off because the alarm was armed to the door. The owner had to hit his key FOB to disengage the alarm and then open it by hand. I am sure that Chrysler knew about that trend at the time and expected that consumers were going to put one on the vehicle when it was designed.

I love how the wheels look. It makes the viper look like a real life hot wheels

Fun fact: in the late 80s, dodge toured the viper to our armed forces in quite a few different countries. My father told me that as he was stationed in Germany, dodge visited the base and tried to get them to buy one. The part that always stuck out to me; apparently they were allowed to ask questions, things like how much horsepower, etc. Two of the selling points were the exhaust and the stereo( because of course). Well, an officer asked " can you hear the stereo while you're driving? The exhaust seems loud" to which dodge simply laughed and said " of course not"

I remember when one of the dads of someone in school rolled up in one of these in ‘93. We all stopped walking home to go back and stare in awe. What an awesome alternative to a Cobra replica. Just an insanely large engine with two seats :). Those exposed screws on the dashboard are buttons for the tonneau cover, like the Cobra has as well.

The Viper was the most iconic car designed ever made. Coming in 2nd only to the Countach. . .🤩🤗😎👌🏾💯

V10, rear wheel drive, manual transmission. Cars like this will stand the test of time.

Chrysler: Let's make a big go kart.

i remember falling in love with this car as a little kid in gt3 and gt4, racing the srt version.

Oh, how I loved the Viper. At 16 or 17 I got to test drive one, so that would make it 1994 or 1995 - the car was identical to this one so far as I remember. Somehow my best friend Mark - who has since passed - convinced the dealership to take the Viper down _off the stand_ and give us a spin. The salesman came along for the ride - first Mark took it for a spin and then I did. Even at that age we had been driving performance vehicles for two or three years (don't ask about the canal incident) and my personal car was a 351W '69 Mustang, I'm sure that helped the convincing. And even coming out of that 'Stang, I nearly wiped out the Viper making the U-turn around the road where the salesman directed us. I could hardly handle the clutch. And I was laying on it, I didn't hit the second-gear lockout that Doug mentions in the half-dozen or so starts I had with it. Luckily we didn't burn our ankles either! Mark has since passed, I sure hope he's up there tearing up the clouds in some rear wheel drive over powered underweight stick shifting without a care for ABS in the world.

Are you locked? Viper: well yes, but actually no

Styling and cool factor are 10/10 in my vision. There is nothing more iconic in terms of design than this red beast.

What a timeless design this car still looks amazing ❤

Your sarcasm is always hysterical, but was especially epic in this review. I was laughing so hard. Thanks Doug.

I was around 8 years old or so when this thing came out, and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Still looks mean. Love it.

People at Dodge... - Damn forgot to put the outside door handle. - Nevermind, we don't have time for that just don't put the windows.

Rented such a beast in Las Vegas, man, that was a ride. And the start up procedure was complicated...the guys at the hotel told us they can`t bring the car. We went to Red Rock canyon which was a hell of drive. Loved it and still love this car

i loved the 92 viper. it was my favorite car when it came out. closest i got to one was sitting in one at a dealership bc i was a teenager at the time and didn't have a license. my next favorite for a short time was the yellow 94 mustang when they changed the body style. nowadays im not a mustang fan and ill take a RAM air firebird over one any day of the week from that era when they had the needle nose body.

1:43 - Petition for Doug demuro to review lightning McQueen

I bet the Petersen wouldn’t let Autotrader borrow their Viper! Go Doug!

Happy to see the RX-7 on that list at the end. I was going to comment about its lack of super-visible doorhandles as well.

Had a 94. It was truly a car for a driver. You felt connected to it, a part of it. It was the equivalent of being on 70s triumph motorcycle in the way you had to handle the bike and not let it handle you.

I grew up not to far from the Dodge Viper assembly plant. Growing up, we use to watch them test drive the cars. After they finished building each car they would have the cars screaming down the road. We would hear those motors before we seen the actual cars. We always knew it was a Viper coming. Great Memories, watching those cars come and go in the summer all day.

These are insanely easy to steal. I steal one every time I see it driving around Los Santos.

So in other words it requires that you be an actual driver instead of requiring your car to drive for you. Sounds like a true sports car to me.

Yeah, if you can’t handle real power. We grew up with old muscle and lived. Easy to make the same power, and had bad breaks and poor handling… way beyond that of a viper. We survived.