Roy Sjöberg, Father of the Viper, Has Passed Away

There are legends, and then there are firestarters. Roy Sjöberg was both. Known across the automotive world as the “Father of the Dodge Viper,” Roy passed away on March 30, 2025, at age 86. But anyone who ever saw or heard a Viper in motion knows—this man didn’t just create a car, he created an icon.

Born November 8, 1938, in Erie, Pennsylvania, Sjöberg was raised in a family that moved often due to his father’s engineering career. After graduating high school in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Roy studied mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and later earned his MBA while working for General Motors (GM). Early in his GM career, he had the rare opportunity to work alongside Corvette legend Zora Arkus-Duntov. That mentorship lit the spark that would later explode into something much wilder: the Dodge Viper.

After 25 years at GM, Sjöberg joined Chrysler in 1985. Just four years later, he was tasked with something that seemed unthinkable at the time—build a performance car that could scare Ferrari and Porsche without the fluff. No roof, no airbags, no traction control—just brute power and raw emotion. He pulled together a rogue team of engineers known as Team Viper, gave them 36 months, and told them to make it happen.

In 1992, the Dodge Viper RT/10 was born. It was a monster with a massive V10 engine, a 6-speed manual, and absolutely no interest in playing nice. It was unapologetic, absurd, and exactly what Sjöberg envisioned: a true American street brawler that ignored the rising tide of safety nannies and regulations to deliver pure driving adrenaline.

Roy retired from Chrysler in 1997 but never stopped moving. He consulted for defense contractors, Ferrari, and Maserati. He gave speeches, judged car shows, and raced his own Gen I Viper on the side. He even received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Plastics Engineers in 2013 for his work with lightweight materials in cars.

Still, for all his engineering genius, his friends say Sjöberg was most proud of his family. He and his wife Peg were married for 63 years, and they lived out their later years in Indian River, Michigan. There, Roy kept active in the community and even helped local schools through a nonprofit he helped establish.

The man who gave the Viper its venom may be gone, but his roar lives on in every tire burnout, every canyon run, every wild-eyed smile behind the wheel of a machine that refuses to be tamed. Rest in peace, Roy—you didn’t just build a car. You built a movement.