I Found A Daily-Driven Dodge Viper In Worse Shape Than A Typical 20 Year-Old Camry

Have you ever seen a daily-driven Dodge Viper? I hadn’t either until yesterday when, in Santa Monica, California, I stumbled upon the roughest roadworthy supercar I’ve ever seen. Here’s a look at this beat-to-hell first-generation Dodge Viper, whose owner I have a deep respect for.

A major downside of supercars is that they’re typically too impractical and valuable to drive each day, which is a shame because they’re such a joy to whip around. The owner of this Dodge Viper that I spotted last night, though, clearly lives by their own rules, as the rough shape of the supercar makes it clear that this thing is a daily driver and not a garage queen.

I actually spotted this Viper shortly after seeing a mint condition 20-year-old Honda CR-V, leading me to wonder if I’m living in some kind of alternate universe. And an amazing alternate universe, because for years I have lamented how important, high-volume cars for the masses are rarely preserved while less culturally important sports cars that are awesome to drive are rarely driven.

The owner of this Viper gets it:

It’s a first-gen Viper that I spotted in a Santa Monica parking garage, and right away I noticed a bit of a “cateye” — the fiberglass hood had cracked in such a way that it appeared to add a little taper to the outside of one of the Viper’s headlights.

Those headlights, by the way, are thoroughly faded, and they don’t seem to fit quite right in their housings (which by the way, are surrounded by plenty of just-not-quite-right touch-up paint):

There was quite a bit of this not-quite-a-color-match touch-up paint, in part, because this Viper is covered in scrapes and bruises and cracks. And I mean covered:

The passenger’s side of the front bumper has been through some stuff, and much of the turn signal lens just isn’t present:

Here’s some not-quite-right touch-up paint on the front right “fender”:

Here are some scuffs that appear to be either from a black car’s bumper or from a tire:

The mirrors are thoroughly scratched:

The rear trunk lid has a big touched-up crack in it:

The passenger’s side exhaust appears to have hit something, with the surrounding black paint thoroughly scuffed:

And I’m not entirely sure what’s going on near the front of the driver’s side exhaust pipe — did it melt the surrounding trim? Is that what’s going on here? Why is all this white?

The paint’s clearcoat is peeling:

And each rather filthy wheel has had its fair share of curb run-ins:

Then there’s the interior, whose seats are covered in duct tape and whose speakers are missing their grilles:

This Viper, outfitted with dealer plates, is possibly the most amazing Viper I’ve ever seen. It’s actually being driven, like the car-gods intended. Is this owner probably having to make major compromises just to get around? Sure. There’s not a lot of room in a Viper. Is the vehicle worth a lot less than if it had been stored in a garage? Definitely.

 

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But a garage queen is just artwork, and a daily driver is an actual car. Much respect to whoever this is who has decided they want their supercar to be an actual car.