Last week I published the article “The Greatest Diesel Pickup Truck Of All Time Is Up For Auction Right Now” in reference to a 1998.5 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins five-speed extended cab for sale on Cars & Bids. In the article, I described why that P-Pump-equipped 12-valve Cummins “Five Nine” is among the greatest engines of all time, and why that — along with the truck’s extreme rarity as an extended cab with a stickshift — makes this Ram the greatest diesel pickup ever. Anyway, as I suspected, the truck auctioned for a pretty penny; here are five supercars you could have bought for the same price.
The Holy Grail Dodge Ram sold for $40,250 last Thursday, and I think that sounds about right. Had it gone for twice that, I wouldn’t have been surprised either given its rarity, but 40Gs seems…reasonable.
It’s a gorgeous machine coveted by all truck-lovers, and folks spend $40 grand on new work trucks anyway, so why not give up some creature comforts so you can have the reliability GOAT? That Cummins isn’t going to die if you replace its oil, and that NV4500 manual may be crude, but don’t be an amateur and it will last forever, too.
I won’t lie, if I had lots of money, I’d probably have bought that Ram. 40Gs for any automotive GOAT sounds reasonable, though a random question I have for you, dear readers, is: Is the truck worth more than these supercars?
A Salvage Title BMW i8
The BMW i8 gets a lot of flak for its lack of performance credentials. Zero to 60 mph in the 4-ish second range just isn’t very quick, and it was only so-so back when the car debuted for the 2014 model year. You could buy an M3 seven years earlier that could do 0-60 in a similar time. The i8’s seating position and its only somewhat sporty handling added to the not-particularly-supercar-like vibe, which could be confusing given how the car looks, especially with its doors open. Here’s what CAR Magazine had to say about its i8 long-term test car:
After a week with i8, I’m no closer working out where it fits into the supercar spectrum – and if it needs to fit anywhere at all. It’s got the looks, but I found steering and general agility a bit more vague than you’d expect. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t handle like a saloon, but its seating position and general feel is more more M5 than R8 – and I think my Type R could probably have it on a track.
Despite its stiff, robust chassis the BMW feels more like a GT car; and that’s not really a bad thing at all. Yes, it isn’t as sharp as you’d expect, but it is significantly more comfortable – especially on poorly maintained motorways and B-roads
Still, just look at it. The styling is sensational, and it features a carbon fiber chassis and a hybrid synchronous electric motor fed by a 7.2 kWh lithium-ion battery. The electric motor assisted a 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbocharged engine to yield a combined output of 357 horsepower to the rear wheels.
The i8 was a hugely futuristic car in 2014 and still is in many ways. But its lack of performance, its plug-in hybrid system that wasn’t familiar to most buyers, and its oddly unsporty driving position/interior/exhaust sound probably contribute to its rather low resale value. A salvage title one can be had for about $40 Gs while a clean-title one can be had for around $48 large.
Dodge Viper
Another supercar you can have for the same price as the Greatest Diesel Pickup Of All Time is a first-gen Dodge Viper. I don’t need to say much about the Viper, since its tales have all been told. But as a refresher, there’s a firebreathing 400 horsepower V10 under the hood feeding a six-speed manual transmission feeding ridiculously wide rear tires gobs and gobs of torque.
There’s very little in the way of creature comforts or even safety features, and yet the fiberglass-shelled Snake from Chrysler remains one of history’s finest supercars. And you can snag this 1994 for only $42,000!
Alfa Romeo 4C
Like the BMW i8, the Alfa Romeo 4C has a carbon fiber body, an automatic transmission, a mid-mounted sub-2.0-liter boosted engine, and a 0-60 mph time of around 4 seconds. But unlike the i8, the Alfa is small, uncomfortable, and absolutely a driver’s car. Here’s what Car and Driver had to say about it in a review:
This pocket-rocket convertible provides sharp handling, gut-punch acceleration, and a sassy exhaust note. As a bonus, it looks so striking it turns heads in any color. But, it also requires compromise. The interior is poorly outfitted and cramped, there’s almost zero room for cargo, and you can forget about fancy infotainment features and driver-assistance tech. The 4C is a focused sports car with the heart of an Italian thoroughbred—no more, no less.
The fact that you can snag these rare carbon fiber Italian sports cars all day for 50 grand would surprise me except for the fact that there’s no manual. As more and more EVs show ICE cars what “quick” really is, I think it’s the analog driving experience that ICE fans will really value, and the 4C has plenty of that except for in the transmission department, and that’s a shame.
Still, $43,000 seems like a bargain.
Aston Martin DB9
Imagine buying a car designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker, powered by a 5.9-liter V12, featuring a convertible top to let you listen to an incredible exhaust soundtrack, and having an Aston Martin Badge up front — all for just $30,755. You could snag this and still have $9,500 left over for the same price as that diesel Ram.
Of course, the truck will outlast pretty much every one of the aforementioned vehicles, and cost way, way less to maintain. That also applies to this next machine, which I think would be a great pairing for that Cummins Ram if you wanted to create the ultimate Ram two-car garage:
The Viper-Truck (With A Stick!)
The Dodge Ram SRT-10 was my favorite car as a kid. I’d just moved to America from Germany (or the third time), and I was totally enraptured by the third-gen Ram. How can the grille be that big? How can the engine be that big? How car cars in general be this big?
I’d been living with Audi A2s and Mercedes A-Classes and Renault Twingos; the third-gen Ram — especially the SRT-10 — blew my mind. It was a regular cab pickup truck with a Viper V10 and Viper six-speed manual transmission, and people were just…driving them around to the store? How absurd.
Everything about the truck was absurd, which is why this famous video — which hit YouTube over a decade ago — was no surprise:
Such a classic!
Anyway, in truth, I’d have the Cummins Ram over any of these. But I figured I’d tell you what it sold for in a fun way that involved me searching for some cheap supercars. Lemme know which of these six machines you’d take for $40 grand in the comments below.
I would get the Viper,no doubt.
And then try not to die
I did, can confirm, great choice.
Man, you’re looking at $70K CAD for an i8 up here in America’s Hat. That’s 2018 1LT Corvette Stingray or 90% of brand-new Mustang Dark Horse money. Preposterous.
SRT-10 or Viper
Man I’ve been talking shit about getting a DB9 coupe (I’m not a convertible guy) for so long that I actually started with a DB7. Now the 9s have gotten so cheap I can actually afford one. I swear if I wasn’t married I’d have that V12 coupe in my driveway right now. Damn the consequences!
> Zero to 60 mph in the 4-ish second range just isn’t very quick
What a world.
Re: i8, I’ve always thought it was the closest thing anyone has done to an original NSX since the NSX. It’s supercar tech and thinking, shoved into a car you can drive every day.
I guess I’d take the Viper/Truck. I’ve spent $50k+ on a car once in my lifetime. I raced that car for 5 years and then sold it for nearly what I’d paid. I’ll never spend over $5,000 on a car again. Why should I? I can fix them myself and a $5k car gets me where I’m going the same as a $50k car.
I’d like to have the DB9 available to drive but wouldn’t want to own it, ditto for the Viper. If I had to buy one of them I’d probably have to go for the Viperized pickup as it is pretty much the craziest one of the bunch.
I’d have the Alfa. The SRT-10 Ram is appealing in its goofy way. The owner of the dealership I worked at had one with a full titanium exhaust on it. I got to move it around a couple times. Sounded stupid. Clutch was stupid heavy. Shifter was stupid stiff. Fabulously stupid that truck.
So many bad decisions collected on one page. Must run away.
I kinda want an i8, but not that particular i8. I agree with the adage that you don’t buy based on the car, you buy based on the previous owner.
I see an LS swap in its future. Oh, someone’s already done it with a Tesla.
I’d take either the Aston or the Viper (not the truck). Both of those are nice rides!
Buying a salvage title i8 from the person who wrote that ad might be crazier than the “cheap” V12 Aston.
I’d like a Ram SRT10 that has a few scratches on it already. I can cruise in it and load it up with mulch and lumber for house projects.
Are these ads ever written well? I mean I get it, this is an Exotic BMW so one would think at the very least that gets you punctuation, but it’s the current year so…
Well besides the poor editing there, bragging about two new tires is also not what I want to see on an AWD German car that stickered for $150k.
The salvage title might have accelerated the cars descent to “4th owner who cannot afford maintenance”.
Oh yeah, this is wannabe influencer vibe
Who posts a car for $42k and in the text of the ad says they will take $40k? Who would ever offer them $2k more than they already said they were willing to take?
In the end I think they will gladly take the $35000 they claim they will not.
Its possibly the worlds worst decision, but of this group, I want that 4C. I suppose if it gets too Italian on me and the electrics go crazy, I gut it and do a honda K20 swap or something else just as absurd, throw a painless wiring kit at it for the essentials, and go back to driving. No tech or amenities? Hells to the yeah.
I would sort of like an i8. A silly bit of my brain wants to park it next to the Lagondas but it would be cheaper and easier to ask someone who already has both to take some pictures. Does anyone know someone who might be able to do this?
Among these contenders I would go with the Viper truck. It’s obscenely American, more American than planting the flag on Iwo Jima on the 4th of July while pleasuring yourself to the Star-Spangled Banner. $12,000 left over buys you at least a couple year’s worth of gas and tires.
I went down the 7.3 PowerStroke rabbit hole. Ended up with my 3rd EcoBoost in my Transit camper van after having 2 in Flexi’s. And then of course for some reason Diesel has been less or equal than Ethel in my area since December. The article on this site on the 5 ways the Sprinter diesel can fail was all the info I needed. Had a 74 Alfa Spider and want the 4C. Apparently if the front clamshell cracks/fails it gets totaled out by insurance. Who needs a hood? Maybe that’s how I’ll get one. The i8 seems like a natural progression from the i3 David… Your Hollywood transformation will be complete.
Ooh that Aston is crazy cheap. I want it!
I am sure there is no more financially dangerous statement in the world than this.
“I should buy a used Alfa Romeo 4C”, maybe? ????
You totally should!*
*Disclaimer: I make terrible automotive decisions and you should NOT under any circumstances, follow my advice.
Haha right? The one thing more expensive than a cheap German car is probably a cheap British supercar!
Diesel guys are insane, for 43k you can buy a new enough modern diesel that’s not going to have emissions issues anytime soon, or an even nicer gas truck. At the end of the day it’s still 25 years old truck, the emissions issues you could face on a modern truck will be outweighed by the aged parts on this.
That all depends on where you live. Some states have no emissions inspections.
Not all truck lovers! Some of us have sworn off diesel and all its downsides forever!
A modern gas-powered HD will last at least as long, have lower running costs, and have at least as much capability.
But can you blow BIG coal onto hippies EVs, and Prii with that gasser?
No?
Dealbreaker!
Still rather have that 12v than any of these. I sold my ’96 5MT, 12v, ext cab, 4×4 with 356K miles for 10K back in 2003.
Just awesome.