97 blue/white for sure, it's the only Viper!
unbiased info as it gets, hahaha.....
difference between 96 and 02 is minimal mostly color choice, ABS big intro in 01, as well as the early Gen II being a little rougher around the edges, some NGR issues to go with that nice burbly overlapped cam that was softened up in 2000. Forged pistons changed to cast ($$$$) in 2000 as well, keep in mind if serious power adders are part of the plans, long term or not.
Other than that, if a newer color suits you fine jump on it, prices are nuts right now, with 02 cars not proportionately higher priced off 96 cars, all within 10K as a rough guess.
Good luck, there is no better bang for the buck than a Z06 though, that's unpopular fact on a Viper board!! Pulling on one stock for stock makes up for the $$$$ difference as fast as you can say 3.9.
