This Rescued 1993 Dodge Viper Bought Sight-Unseen Left Its Buyer Embarrassed To Drive It
Ryan Lopez and the Cars & Bids team bought a 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10 sight unseen because the deal seemed too good to be true. It was also a car Lopez had always wanted to own and drive, with a 400 hp V10, a six-speed manual, and plenty of ’90s poster-car appeal.
That dream lasted until his first drive, when all he wanted was to get the Viper back to the office and out of public view.
Only 113 Black Vipers Were Built For 1993
This RT/10 is one of just 113 Vipers finished in Viper Black for 1993, out of 1,043 built, according to the International Viper Registry. The other 930 wore Viper Red, so a black one stands out even among Vipers.
This Dodge supercar uses 8.0-liter V10 makes 400 hp and 465 lb-ft, all of it sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual. There are no exterior door handles and no A/C, because this car was built for people who really want a V10.
It had also covered only about 37,500 miles, which is modest for a car more than 30 years old, and the Carfax was clean. On paper, this looked like a smart gamble.
The Tribal Flames Nobody Wanted To Be Seen With
The Viper was sitting in a driveway wearing tribal flames, non-OEM stripes, and dark tint on its headlights, fog lights, and taillights. Its white wheels were filthy, and Lopez said it looked like something out of Midnight Club: Dub Edition.
The clear coat was failing, and the rear quarter panels needed fresh paint. Ghosting suggested the stripes had been on for about 10 years or more, and Lopez joked about 30 spiders living around the top.
The V10 started but idled rough until Lopez fitted a new MAP sensor in the driveway. His first drive came on the hottest day of the year, with the top off, no A/C, heavy steering, and spongy brakes. “Oh my god, the arms,” he said during one low-speed turn.
Other drivers stared, so Lopez avoided eye contact and worried that someone he knew would spot him. “I do not want to be seen in the thing,” he said on the way back to the office.
The Flames Came Off, And The Viper Returned
The power steering got a new pump, drive belt, and billet aluminum pulley, while all four corners got new pads and rotors. A damaged wheel stud was replaced, and every major fluid was changed.
A heat gun and plenty of patience removed the non-factory option stripes and flames, revealing surprisingly decent paint underneath. The quarter panels were repainted, the rest got paint correction and ceramic coating, and the wheels returned to their factory color on new tires.
Less than a week after finding it, the Viper was on the Snake, a 2.4-mile stretch of Mulholland Highway that reopened in December 2025 after a seven-year closure. The brakes worked, the steering felt great, and Lopez said it performed flawlessly on the way to the coast.
The car he didn’t want to be seen in now looks like a ’90s poster come to life.
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