1996 Dodge Viper Carroll Shelby Edition RT/10

The 1996 Dodge Viper Carroll Shelby Edition RT/10 may confuse you with its Wimbledon white finish and Guardsman Blue stripes. Somehow Dodge was able to borrow iconic Ford colors to honor Carroll Shelby’s Cobras from the 1960’s. Talk about rare! There were only 19 Shelby Edition RT/10’s ever built, although the dealer installed Shelby package originally called for a production run of 50. This one remains a rare exotic car with the Shelby legend attached.

Chrysler, Fitzgerald Motorsports and Carroll Shelby himself all collaborated in the design for the 1996 Dodge Viper Carroll Shelby Edition RT/10. Fitzgerald Motorsports out of Laconia, New Hampshire rose to be the pre-imminent Viper dealership in the country. Carroll Shelby and Dan Fitzgerald were friends for over 35 years at that point. Fitzgerald Motorsports was the only dealership in the U.S. allowed to sell the RT/10 CS.

Cars-On-Line.com features this rare Shelby Edition Viper in its newsletter this week. It is a fresh listing by Valenti Classics, a collector car dealership in Franklin, Wisconsin. You may view dozens of fresh photos at this link. You will note the finer points of this detailed exotic build. They include Italian designed custom engineered 3-piece wheels with a CS center cap logo, custom windshield graphics, a 4–point street legal Schroth harness on both seats, a Shelby signed leather steering wheel and an upgraded alarm system. Carroll Shelby’s signature was also found on the glove box door, sail panel and front fender.

This Viper roadster bears the mark of the master builder Carroll Shelby from nose to tail. Modifications include an open Cobra-style front grille reminiscent of the classic roadster, a rear contour spoiler, a striped composite hardtop, and front and rear custom Carroll Shelby emblems.

The Lamborghini Company, then owned by Chrysler Corporation, designed the V10 Viper engine by recasting the block and heads in aluminum alloy. They attained peak horsepower, 415 hp at 4,100 rpm, and peak torque, 480 ft/lbs at 3,600 rpm.  Powered by an 8.0-liter, 10-cylinder engine and a 6-speed manual transmission, the Viper roadster gets a 35 hp performance boost with an improved rear-axle gear ratio, free-flow air cleaner and exhaust and high-performance ignition wires, all kept in line with a heavy-duty suspension. The rear axle gear upgrade to 3.73 to one was an improvement over the standard Viper 3.07 ratio. 

The Viper RT/10 CS came with 4-wheel independent suspension with unequal upper and lower control arms, coilover shock design, double acting gas shocks with rebound adjustment, and tubular design front and rear sway bars. The Shelby Viper engaged its rear wheel drive with a limited-slip differential, power-assisted rack and pinon steering, energy absorbing tilt steering column, and power assisted 4-wheel vented disc brakes.

This rare 1996 Dodge Viper Carroll Shelby Edition RT/10 is said to be No. 5 out of the 19 which were actually built. It has a custom black interior with full leather seats embroidered with the Carroll Shelby logo in blue and white. 

An engraved data plate was installed under the hood, and Carroll Shelby personally hand-signed and numbered the glovebox. It comes with a letter of authenticity and a photo log of the car’s conversion signed by Fitzgerald Motorsports and Carroll Shelby. 

According to Shelby-Dodge.com, Fitzgerald Motorsports completed only 19 Shelby RT/10 Vipers. They say 18 1995/1996 RT CS’s were built, with 16 in white with blue stripes, 1 blue with white stripes, 1 black with gold hood emblem, and one 1997 GTS Shelby S/C in red with gold stripes.

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