Rutan became interested in aircraft which resisted stalls and spins, and the VariViggen was his first full scale design.

He began working with the design as a student at Cal Poly in the early 1960s, and started building the prototype in his garage in 1968.

In order to increase efficiency, the Model 32 (also known as the VariViggen SP) had a slightly longer fuselage, a larger wingspan and winglets.

Following the crash of one in New Brunswick, Canada in September 2006 due to wing tank fuel contamination,[1] fewer than five are currently still flying.

Rutan also began work on an all-aluminum variant, the MiniViggen, but later abandoned the project and focused his efforts on the VariEze.