It seems like for several months now, everyone is going on and on about the new Ram TRX. And I totally get it, it's an amazing truck. Sure, it might have its flaws, and it might be inclined to deliver better results when going off-road, but then again, you should never judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. The question is if you look back at older trucks, is there anything as cool out there?
I was just about to embark on my first trip to Poland back in 2011, as I was about to attend the famous Karpacz mountain-drift event held there that shocked the entire motorsport world through its sheer madness. As I was talking to the local organizer, he said the usual "Have a good trip" and added an "I hope your car doesn't have a Viper V10 engine in it, you'll have to put in a lot of fuel to make it over". I didn't understand why he had mentioned such a thing until I reached the event and noticed he was driving a Dodge Ram SRT-10.
The Ford F-150 SVT Lightning was certainly a cool truck too, but did it really come close to the insanity that is the Ram SRT-10? I mean, after all, this thing is packing the same engine that you would get in a Dodge Viper, and we all know that Vipers are the definition of sheer lunacy. Is there any manufacturer today that would still opt for installing a V10 sports car engine in a truck, and mate it to a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive?
The 2006 SRT-10 I came across on Bring a Trailer is no ordinary one. Because the previous owner has made it even more insane, by fitting a Paxton NOVI 2000 supercharger to the already ridiculous 8.3-liter V10 engine. Judging by what similar builds have managed to achieve with such a setup, this truck should now deliver around 650 horsepower to the rear wheels, while torque figures might be in the 700 lb-ft (949 Nm) neighborhood.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
With this being a regular-cab, it should weigh around 5,130 lbs (2,327 kg). The 2021 Ram TRX comes in at over 6,000 lbs (2,721 kg), and even though it does have more horsepower, it would be interesting to see what the outcome would be should these two trucks have an all-out battle at the dragstrip. The fact that this SRT-10 comes with a Supercharger means it will not pass a California smog test, but everwhere else it should be fine.
The 22-inch Viper-style wheels are wrapped in some highly-capable 305/40 Toyo Proxes ST III tires, which should provide enough grip for when you decide to awaken the beast. Improved driveability also comes thanks to the use of a set of aftermarket QA1 shocks, and you can pretty much drive this thing back home right away, as the brake fluid was changed just last month. And whenever there's no whining coming from under the hood, you can enjoy the Infinity audio system that also features a subwoofer behind the seats.
The overall condition of the truck seems to be good, except for a few minor rust spots underneath, and the total mileage is just 59,000 miles (94,951 km). We've seen trucks like these go for around $30,000 last year, but it would not come as a surprise if this would hit the $50,000 mark. Right now, with 7 days to go, the highest bid stands at $12,000, and you do have to consider an additional dealer charge of $140.
The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S. Full profile
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