Everyone who has a car also has a dream car. And for me, it’s literally any vehicle on the planet without crushed Wheat Thins being ground into the floor mats on a daily basis. I mean… a girl can dream.
Well, one lucky -- and rich -- car lover recently took the title of the very first production model Dodge Viper at an auction in Scottsdale. That’s right: VIN #00001.
Owned by the former head of Chrysler, Lee Iacocca, the car went up for auction in Scottsdale and hit a final purchase price of $285,500 -- a multiple of ten on the average price of a first generation Viper. The first model came with an enviable 400 horsepower, 8-liter V10.
Iacocca, who passed away last year at the age of 94, also had a memorable stint at Ford where he helped to launch the Mustang. Among other Iacocca automotive gems to be sold at this particular auction were, reportedly, a 2009 45th anniversary Mustang and a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country convertible, though neither got close to the quarter-of-a-million-plus pricetag of the Viper. And according to The Drive, the Bonhams auction house that sold it didn’t expect the Viper’s sale price to go much higher than $100K.
But apparently the going rate for what was advertised as “the world’s most desirable Dodge Viper” was higher due to the car’s super low odometer of 6,500 and how shiny and perfectly preserved it was based on its lack of road time.
Personally, if I had that kind of cash to blow on a car, you can bet it wouldn’t be that one. But to each his own.
