Charity lots at Barrett-Jackson usually follow a script: a nice car, a good cause, a celebrity on the block, everyone goes home feeling decent. This one has a wrinkle worth paying attention to, because Ram is putting the very first retail-production example of a truck its own customers can’t buy yet on the block — and then modifying it past factory spec before it gets there.
Per the announcement, a 2027 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee SRT and a customized 2005 Ram 1500 SRT-10 sell together on Sept. 11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with Barrett-Jackson waiving fees and commissions so the entire hammer price goes to the Folds of Honor Foundation, plus a portion routed to Hispanic charities through the UFC Foundation. Dana White is working the block alongside Craig Jackson. The winning bidder also gets a UFC VIP experience — remember that detail, because it matters at tax time.
What the new truck actually is
By Ram’s own numbers, the Rumble Bee SRT runs a supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat HEMI producing 777 horsepower and 680 lb-ft, good for a claimed 3.4-second 0-60, an 11.6-second quarter mile and a targeted 170-mph top speed. It’s a Quad Cab short-bed widebody, and it wears 325/40R22 rubber — the widest tire Stellantis has fitted to anything since the Viper went away. Ram lists it starting under $95,000 plus destination, with the SRT arriving in the first half of 2027.
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The truck on the block is the first retail-production unit built, which is the part collectors will chase. In a world where “first VIN” cars routinely bring multiples of sticker, that provenance carries weight independent of the charity premium — and it’s the reason this lot can plausibly clear six figures by a wide margin.
The modifications are the interesting engineering story
Ram’s design team and SRT’s Direct Connection group are adding a 3.0-liter supercharger upgrade the release describes as capable of more than 900 horsepower, plus a Direct Connection Magnaflow stainless cat-back exhaust, hand-painted two-tone bodywork and satin black 22s.
Going from the factory 2.7-liter blower to a 3.0-liter unit is not just a pulley swap. More rotor displacement means more air per revolution, which means more boost, more charge-air temperature, and a correspondingly harder job for the intercooler and its heat exchanger circuit. It also means more parasitic drag on the crank at low load and higher peak cylinder pressures at the top. Anyone shopping this kind of upgrade on their own truck should budget for the supporting cast — fueling capacity, spark plugs a step colder, a calibration that actually accounts for the new airflow, and a hard look at the driveline behind it. Torque management exists to keep 8HP transmissions and rear axles alive.
There’s a regulatory wrinkle too, and it applies to your truck as much as this one. Section 203(a)(3) of the Clean Air Act prohibits tampering with emissions controls and prohibits selling parts whose principal effect is to defeat them. EPA’s tampering policy reaffirms enforcement discretion for parties with a documented, reasonable basis that a part doesn’t adversely affect emissions — which is exactly why the paperwork trail on a forced-induction upgrade is worth as much as the hardware. If you live in a state with an inspection regime tied to OBD readiness or a visual under-hood check, that documentation is the difference between a registration and a headache.
The old one earned its badge on a proving ground
The 2005 SRT-10 in the pair carries the 8.3-liter Viper V10 and 500 horsepower, and the record it’s famous for is real and specific. In February 2004, with NASCAR’s Brendan Gaughan driving a truck fresh off the Saltillo line and unmodified for power or aero, a Ram SRT-10 averaged 154.587 mph over a flying kilometer in both directions on the 4.71-mile oval at the Chelsea proving grounds, certified by Guinness World Records and the SCCA. It beat the Ford SVT F-150 Lightning’s 147.54-mph mark set the previous July.
That two-direction, flying-kilometer protocol is worth understanding, because it’s what separates a legitimate speed record from a GPS screenshot. Running both ways cancels wind and grade. Averaging over a measured kilometer at steady state means the truck actually held that speed rather than touching it once on a downhill.
Practical notes for anyone playing along at home
This particular SRT-10 has been repainted two-tone yellow and black, fitted with custom wheels, Alea leather, RealTruck running boards and a soft roll-up tonneau, and built by ProMotorsports with Ram design VP Mark Trostle involved. Understand that as an exception, not a template. In the general SRT-10 market, originality is the currency — documented factory paint, unmolested interior, the original T-56 or 48RE, low miles and a clean history. A heavily customized example normally trades at a discount to a clean stock one. This truck is worth more because of who touched it and where it’s crossing, which is provenance you cannot replicate in your own garage.
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On the money side: the IRS says buyers at a charity auction may deduct only the excess of the purchase price over the item’s fair market value, and the donor has to be able to show they knew the item was worth less than what they paid. Two trucks plus a UFC VIP package is a substantial benefit received. Whoever wins this should get a written acknowledgment stating the good-faith FMV before assuming the whole hammer number is deductible, and should talk to a professional rather than a forum.
Insurance is the other thing people botch. A one-of-one build with a supercharger swap and hand-painted bodywork is not something a standard actual-cash-value policy will make you whole on. An agreed-value collector policy with the modifications disclosed and documented is the only version of this that works after a hailstorm.
Barrett-Jackson says it has helped raise more than $172 million for over 200 charities since 1971. The Las Vegas sale runs Sept. 10–12, with the pair listed on the charity docket.
Images Via: Barrett-Jackson
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