The first Dodge Viper ever made has just sold for $285,000

1992 Dodge Viper RT/10

Estimate £76-95,000, sold for £218,476

Bonhams calls this the world’s most desirable Dodge Viper, and you can see why. It’s not just that it was the very first one off the production line or that it has covered fewer than 6,500 miles. It is more that the single name in the logbook is that of… Lee Iacocca. For serious fans of American muscle, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Lee Iacocca, who died aged 94 in July 2019, was the legendary US auto executive who headed Ford – where he put the Mustang into production – and went on to spice up things at Chrysler whose range at the time was based around minivans. The Viper began as a skunk works project dreamed up by Bob Lutz and envisioned as a latterday Cobra. It was a project designer Tom Gale, Cobra mastermind Carroll Shelby and (then Chrysler owned) Lamborghini as engine supplier were only too keen to help with. Iacocca was impressed and at a press debut of the concept in 1990 famously told Lutz: “Build the damn thing!”

More sports car than muscle car perhaps, but with its huge V10 engine the Viper was certainly not short-changed under the bonnet, and in a long road and racing career has gone on to become an American performance icon. The car in the sale, with its 400bhp V10 and six-speed manual ‘box, is chassis 001 and from 1992 up to Iacocca’s death was in the personal collection of this automotive industry legend. It’s surely a car, and a back story, to wow everyone at any American car meet.

1993 GMC Typhoon

Estimate £11-15,000, sold for £9,439

Everyone loves a performance SUV right? Well this is one of the daddies. In its day the Typhoon, along with its Syclone pickup twin, made headlines for rivalling Italian supercars for straight-line performance. Its 4.3-litre turbocharged V6 delivered 280bhp to a four-speed automatic transmission and thence to all four wheels. Result: 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds. Fun? It had to be with its live rear axle and rear drum brakes! Well, this was America in the early 1990s…

The defiantly boxy, three-door Typhoon was unsurprisingly a big hit with muscle car enthusiasts and today survivors from the 4,697 examples made in period have a big following. Rare, highly collectible and still cheap, the Typhoon in the Bonhams sale sounded exceptional: just one owner in rust-free California and under 25,000 miles from new. The wheels are chromed, the interior black leather… and the outside is very, very red.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

Estimate £76-92,000, sold for £60,066

“For the first time I have a Corvette which I am proud to use in Europe.” So said Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov about his re-engineered second-generation Corvette, with its new styling, ladder-frame chassis and independent rear suspension. Made between 1963 and 1967, the car in the sale was an exemplar of this golden age of the ‘Vette with its 427 big-block V8, Holley carbs, 390bhp, four-speed manual ‘box, four-wheel independent suspension and all-round disc brakes.

One of the highlights of this particular car is its complete documentation, from original order form to owner’s manual and photographs and invoices from its recent mechanical fettling, which included a full engine rebuild.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro 'The Blue Devil'

Estimate £110-140,000

No ordinary ’69 Camaro, this. It’s called the Blue Devil on account of its deep blue custom paint job, but that’s just the start of its customisation. The result is not just a show-stopper but, as Bonhams says, a pro touring machine with classic looks but very modern capabilities.

What else could be under the bonnet but supercharged LS9 power – that’s a 6,162cc fuel-injected V8 in English. It’s mated to a four-speed overdrive ‘box and, in current “street trim” with minimal boost, delivers 551bhp. The frame-off custom build was handled by Route 66 Motorsports and updated by Dave Salvaggio of Speedkore, all names that will need no explaining to custom car fans.

Other names to impress include a custom chassis and polished aluminium subframe by Chris Alston Chassisworks, Bowler built transmission, custom Magnaflow exhaust, 19-inch SRRC polished aluminium wheels, vented Wilwood disc brakes, Air Ride Technologies Shockwave adjustable air suspension and a complete custom interior by Krist Kustoms, notable for its steel dash, pearl-white leather seats and hand-made billet door handles.

With all that going on, plus a load more besides, it is no surprise that the Blue Devil has been a feature car in several magazines. As Bonhams says, the car is a “masterful collaboration of some of the greatest builders, designers, and aftermarket innovators”.

1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

Estimate £230-310,000

Fifty years ago this very Camaro was a bit of a TV star. It featured in the Gulf Oil ads shown on American television during the Moon landings. And why not, for even among Camaro Z/28 race cars this one stands out. Today the car is just as it was then, complete with Bolero Red livery and Ermine White stripes with prominent Gulf Oil decals.

It is also complete with a history file detailing its recent transformation in Belgium into modern-day historic racer. In 2015, the car did the Spa Classic, among other events. It is no stranger to motorsport. As car number 17 of 25 pre-production Z/28s, it was built by Chevrolet as a factory racecar; in the SCCA Trans-Am between 1967 and 1969 it clinched 11 race wins.

The Z/28 has been authenticated as a matching-numbers example by a Camaro authority, and unusually is believed to be the only one of its type still with its original engine. And that would be? As a Z/28 it got the 302 cubic inch (4.9-litre) V8 with twin four-barrel carburettors. It unleashed around 450bhp to the live rear axle via a four-speed manual ‘box.

And to think that in period the all-important Z/28 spec was just a $458 option!

1965 Shelby Mustang GT350

Estimate £270-340,000

There are lots of Mustangs, even lots of Shelby Mustangs, but there only ever were 562 first-of-the-line GT350s in 1965. Today these cars, of which this is one, have acquired almost mythical status according to Bonhams, and remain hugely collectible as well as eligible for all sorts of premiere driving events.

Surely this is everything you want a Shelby Mustang to be: Wimbledon White (as they all were in ’65) with optional Guardsman Blue stripes, optional Cragar wheels, bonnet scoop and black interior with a roll bar and competition seat belts. This was after all essentially a race car in street clothing, witness the racing-derived suspension and small-block Ford 289 V8 uprated by Shelby from 271 horsepower to 306. It’s even got its period blue and yellow California licence plates.

This car is said to be original and unrestored, and fresh from the care of a line of dyed-in-the-wool Shelby enthusiast owners over the decades (including blues singer John Mayall’s roadie!).

Images courtesy of Bonhams.