The Ford Maverick Hybrid is more-or-less the platonic ideal of a small pickup truck in 2024. It’s efficient, practical, reasonably priced, and offers a great balance of sensibility and capability. However, what if you wanted to spend similar money and go in the complete opposite direction? What if you wanted to end up on a Greenpeace list, lay elevenses for blocks, and arrive home from Lowes having completely destroyed whatever you put in the bed? Say hello to the Dodge Ram SRT-10, a glorious moment of insanity.
I believe I speak for all of us when I say that I miss street trucks. Sure, they don’t make a ton of sense objectively as trying to get a pickup truck to handle on tarmac is like trying to guide a recalcitrant bull up a fire escape, but there’s just something cool about going fast and hauling plywood at the same time, the ultimate test of ratchet straps.
If the nostalgia machine’s been ratcheting up your interest in street trucks once again, I have some good news. Both the Maverick I talked about earlier and a Ram SRT-10 can be had for similar coin. Ain’t depreciation beautiful?
What Are We Looking At?
Before us today sits the baddest-assest pickup truck ever sold with a warranty. Look, the decade that brought us Freedom Fries isn’t exactly known for a zeitgeist of making sane decisions, so hey, why not cram the V10 engine from a Dodge Viper into a half-ton pickup truck?
To fit this monstrous engine into a Ram, Dodge changed the exhaust manifolds, oil pan, oil pickup, water neck outlet, throttle linkage, motor mounts, and wiring harness, then slightly modified the Viper upper idler pulley boss to accept a wiring clip. That’s it. The result was 500 horsepower and 525 lb.-ft. of torque, and regular cab models backed that up with a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual transmission. While Car And Driver instrumented acceleration figures of 4.9 seconds from zero-to-60 mph and a 13.6-second quarter-mile run at 105 mph aren’t quite in the same league as today’s electric pickup trucks, a top speed of 154 mph makes this the fastest stock mass-produced pickup truck in the world. Boom. Also, the job of road-testing the Ram SRT-10 when it was new fell on John Phillips and Brock Yates, so we ended up with one of the most unhinged road tests of all time, with the most publishable excerpt being:
Listen, I’ll admit to liking the SRT-10’s steering—accurate, even light, which is amazing, because those 22-inch Pirellis (what’s that, a “dub plus two”?) must each weigh about as much as Orson Welles. And the clutch is lighter than I expected, although I still can’t depress the pedal through an entire red light.
The bottom line? This thing went in one direction, fast. Although a four-doored quad-cab variant with an automatic transmission came along later, you really want the fully mental regular cab short bed model with a manual gearbox, and lucky for you, it’s still possible to pick one of these things up for sensible coin.
How Much Are We Talking?
When I said these things go for Ford Maverick money, I wasn’t kidding. A 2024 Ford Maverick XLT Hybrid, the mid-range hybrid trim, stickers for $29,410 including freight. If you want a driver-spec Ram SRT-10, you might even be able to score one cheaply enough to budget in shipping and still spend less than a new mid-range Maverick hybrid. This one sold on Bring A Trailer earlier this week for $24,500, and from the looks of things, there’s nothing obvious wrong with it aside from a scuffed bumper and some stains inside the bed. Sure, it has 100,000 miles on the clock, but it has a clean Carfax, its brakes have been recently serviced, and it’s a Georgia truck, so the underbody almost looks showroom fresh.
Oh, and here’s another black regular cab Ram SRT-10 that went for cheap, hammering for $23,500 on Bring A Trailer last month with 73,000 miles on the clock. Are there any downsides aside from the questionable aftermarket taillights? Sure. There’s a minor hit on the Carfax with a damage estimate of roughly $89, and this truck’s been just about everywhere, having registration history in Texas, Colorado, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Minnesota. It’s in Canada where the conversion from miles to kilometers confused Carfax, as a service center entered the mileage in kilometers instead of miles, which means a call to Carfax is likely necessary to sort that flag. However, as something to keep, that’s not a dealbreaker, and it kept the price of this one low.
Not a fan of black trucks? It might take some time, but Ram SRT-10s with paint colors that are easier to keep clean do pop up now and then for Maverick money, such as this 2004 model that hammered last year on Hemmings for $28,351 including buyer’s fees. Interestingly, it failed to sell on Bring A Trailer and was then listed on Hemmings Auctions, which proved to be the right call for the seller. With just 67,374 miles on the clock and a clean Carfax, it’s surely brought some fun to its new owner’s life.
What Can Possibly Go Wrong With A Ram SRT-10?
Well, other than the financial implications of getting as little as eight MPG, not much. In stock form, these are exceptionally reliable trucks, and they don’t cost an arm and a leg to maintain either. While a handful shipped with loose harmonic balancers, that issue would’ve reared its head exceptionally quickly, and just about every truck that doesn’t have delivery mileage on it will have seen that potential issue tended to. These days, a more common issue with age is leaky oil cooler lines, but you can pick up a set of braided lines from The Viper Store for $309. Yep, the most common issue is a typical old car leak, which is great news for anyone looking to pick one up.
Should You Buy A Dodge Ram SRT-10?
Oh hell yeah. Look, a muscle truck that sucks this much gas isn’t for everyone, but it’s hard to imagine a better straight-line smiles-per-dollar deal than one of these. They’re fast, absurd, reliable, and come with a freaking 8.3-liter V10 under the hood. I’m honestly amazed they aren’t more expensive, because as long as you can keep the tank filled, the Ram SRT-10 is one hell of a ride.
(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer, Viper Parts of America, Hemmings)
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I’d be curious to know how the values on these are holding up vs their rival of the day, the Ford F150 Lightning. My guess is the lightning demands more coin today. The Gerneral fired a whimper of a Salvo in the form of the Silverado SS, which honestly was probably the most livable option of the three. I wonder if they’re starting to creep up in value.
My asshole spoiled neighbors brat has one of these. I laugh at all of the black marks he leaves in the alley. I hope that little 30 year old prick is spending half the allowance mommy gives his spoiled worthless ass
every month on tires. His truck is copper. Love the color of that jerk’s truck
I worked with a mechanic who had one of these, single cab manual. He drove it like a grandmother. I’ll never understand that.
Those SRT10 Rams are notoriously easy to roll and the cab folds like a piece of paper. There have been a lot of severe injuries and deaths from them. There are several videos on youtube of it happening and we even had it happen to a guy locally a few years back. Not saying not to get one, just something to be aware of if you look into them.
I was looking at Ford Maverick prices just this morning. If you could find one, a very base hybrid was only like $390 per month. Very sensible.
But then my car guy side kicked in and said, “My guy, what are you doing!? Imagine what $390 per month would buy in mods for your e36!”
Live and never learn.