The first prototype was tested in January 1989. It debuted in 1991 with two pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Japanese-built Dodge Stealth, because of complaints from the United Auto Workers, and went on sale in January 1992 as the RT/10 Roadster.[12]

Lamborghini (then owned by Chrysler Corporation) helped with the design of the V10 engine for the Viper, which was based on the Chrysler's LA V8 engine. A major contributor to the Viper since the beginning was Dick Winkles, the chief power engineer, who had spent time in Italy overseeing the development of the engine.