When Lightning Strikes: 1993 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning
The ninth generation of Ford’s legendary F-series pickup was the first to get its own hot rod version — the SVT Lightning. It was an attempt by Ford to offer a special version of the F-150 for hauling ass instead of hauling logs, and the handling was developed with the assistance of ex-Formula 1 and Scottish clay pigeon shooting champion, Sir Jackie Stewart. The SVT Lightning won’t exactly keep up with a Cosworth powered Matra through Eau Rouge at Spa, but it is a cheap way to get into an interesting car with a good chance of being collectible some day. Find this 1993 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning offered for $3,500 in Cincinnati, OH via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
The original incarnation of the F-150 Lightning might not be as fast as the later supercharged 10th gen based model, but it looks slightly less ridiculous (who puts a body kit and giant rims on a truck?) and only 11,000 examples left the factory instead of the 28,000 of the later Lightnings. Rare is good…right?
Power under the hood comes from a 351 cubic inch (5.8 liter) version of Ford’s small block Windsor V8 that was modified with special high flow “GT-40” heads (shared with the Cobra Mustangs from the same era) , forged pistons, and a set of stainless shorty style exhaust headers. Power was up from the 200 horsepower in the basic 351 and was rated at 240 horsepower and 340 ft-lbs of torque. The engine was mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox and to a 4.10:1 limited slip rear end via an aluminum driveshaft
Modifications to the pickup continued on the inside, where the driver was coddled with electrically adjustable cloth seats with side bolsters and extra lumbar support. The seats did help keep the driver in place while taking full advantage of the thicker sway bars, stiffer suspension and 0.88 G capable chassis. It isn’t a Corvette, but 0.88 G isn’t a bad skidpad result for a full-sized pickup.
See a better factory hot rod pickup for less? tips@dailyturismo.com
Ford introduced this lightning at the Baja 1000 in race spec. A friend raced it for them and just wanted to be sure to finish, as he did. For me it is the first production race truck, not that makes any sense.
I always considered the Dodge Little Red Express the first race/track truck.
When I think of racing and trucks in the same sentence I always think of Tatra
tatratrucks.com/about-the-company/press-and-media/news/dakar-2015-started-the-africa-eco-race-2015-in-full-swing/
In Africa the TATRA brand is represented by Tomáš Tomeček, who runs this year in the main sponsors' colours – Excalibur Group and Promet Group. His racing truck TATRA 815-2T0R45 4×4.1 VK is, as its pilot says, 100% Tatra, as it is fully equipped with standard units used by the mass production – 12-cylinder air-cooled TATRA engine of 19 liters, 2x turbocharger and 20-speed TATRA 14TS 210L transmission. The front axles are suspended with air bellows with the ATESO shock absorbers The maximum vehicle speed is 155 km/h."
I actually am more of a fan of their big 8 wheel drive race trucks but the little ones are nice too.