Whoa! An untouched first-generation Dodge Viper V10 crate engine is for sale on Bring a Trailer, practically new in the box! Wait a minute… doesn’t this sound familiar? You’re right: it’s the very same unused engine that we wrote about when it was sold on BaT last year! And it’s still unused. Ridiculous.
As the legend goes, the engine was mistakenly ordered by a dealership employee who actually wanted to purchase some touch-up paint. But, just like how we input the wrong account number when calling customer service, the employee entered the wrong part number on the order form.
Sure enough, the part arrived. But the unboxing revealed a performance engine for a car that wasn’t even on the dealership lot instead of a tube of red paint. As Steve Urkel would ponder aloud, “Did I do that?” Yup, you sure did.
For reasons unknown, the engine wasn’t returned to Dodge and, instead, has been passed from one owner to another since 1996. Unused for 28 friggin’ years? Sounds more like unloved. Can this be considered elder abuse for this type of engine?
The literal heart of the gen-one Viper, this 8.0-liter naturally aspirated V10 produced 400 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. That was good enough to propel the powerful roadster from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. But apparently, it’s not good enough for a Viper owner, some of whom are more recent than others. Mind-bogglingly, although the Viper was discontinued in 2017, every year or so, one has been sold new since, including in 2019 and 2022.
Okay, so if a Viper owner doesn’t want one, there is a market for other applications of a Viper-derived V10. It can be kept within the corporate family, like in this Dodge Challenger or Jeep Wrangler, both sporting a relative of the OG V10. Or put it in any car like this Honda S2000. But, really, who needs an engine bay? These Brits installed a gen-one variant into a motorcycle. Just give this engine a home, will ya?
The unappreciated V10 making the auction rounds was probably not even looked at during its one-ish year with its current owner. This year’s auction listing is nearly identical to last year’s except for new photos and the ownership info, which was updated from Monarch Beach, California, to Wheatfield, New York. Also, this time around, the auction winner won’t receive a wooden dolly. You’ll still get the engine, engine stand, and shipping crate (for when it is likely relisted in mint condition again).
As with last year, the Viper crate engine is being sold with no reserve. The final hammer price was $16,000 last July. As of this writing, the current bid stands at $7,200 with the auction slated to end on Tuesday afternoon.