High-performance pickups have a way of splitting opinion. Today, most people love their all round attributes, but back in the 90s, when they were first starting to make waves, they had a tendency to rub many enthusiasts up the wrong way.

It could be that we are just used to seeing them, but when the first-gen SVT Lightning hit the streets, there was a lot more hate out there than even Ford would have likely suspected. One aspect of this was the fact that they could never quite find a class to fit them into. The term muscle-truck is a fairly modern one, and back then it was more of a joke than an accepted class in the automotive industry. Pricing was fairly high for the time, and the production run of around 12,000 makes it a fairly limited edition. The second gen is a lot less rare and by all accounts much better in every respect, and will almost certainly join the first gen as a highly collectable pickup in years to come.

10 Powerful Windsor V8

1993 Ford SVT Lightning
HotCars

By the 90s, the Windsor was already a dated engine choice (although the Aussies used them for even longer). It wasn’t there for its outright horsepower, but its phenomenal torque delivery.

via Pinterest

Its 240 horsepower was pretty decent for an early 90s square-body pickup, but the 340 lb-ft of torque was the real winner. It meant the thing could haul like a regular pickup, then, if the moment struck, outgun just about any contemporary hot hatch.

9 Practical Performance

1994 Ford SVT Lightning
Via-Mecum-Auctions

One thing Ford did right was keep the payload and hauling ability of the F-150, as much as 800 and 5,000 pounds respectively, were not necessarily class leading specs back then, it was a whole lot more than its direct competition.

1991 GMC Syclone Pickup
Via: YouTube

The Syclone (pictured) had a payload capacity of next to nothing and a tow rating of literally nothing. It made no bones about being a pure leisure vehicle, the SVT gave their customers the option of carrying a load of something and towing as much as any other vehicle on the road back then.

Related: 10 Surprising Facts About The GMC Syclone

8 Low Volume

Ford F-150 SVT Lightning
Via: mecum.com

For the original first gen, production wound up by the mid 90s, with only around 12,000 being made. It was very much a niche offering back then, especially when you consider just how many F-150s were sold in the same period.

Via F150Online

Currently, prices are not outrageous, but by definition this is officially a classic vehicle already, so don’t expect it to stay that way, especially for one that wasn’t abused or actually used as a work vehicle.

7 Excellent Reliability Record

red ford f150 svt lightning
Via Hagerty

Any performance version of any vehicle will never have perfect reliability scores, they are inherently highly strung and will usually have shorter service intervals.

The Performance-Oriented Ninth Gen Of 1992
via Pinterest

Not so for the more rudimentary SVT, with a simple pushrod V8 the service intervals were normal and pretty much every spare part can still be bought over the counter and/or found at a junkyard.

Related: A Detailed Look Back At The Ford F-150 Lightning

6 Much Improved Second Stanza

2004 Ford SVT F-150 Lightning Mecum
Via Mecum

After filling a niche with the first gen pickup, the second iteration upped the ante considerably. It needed to, because, by this time, Dodge had rolled out several muscle-trucks.

Ford F150 Lightning engine
Via eBay

By 2001 the now supercharged Triton V8 was making 380 horsepower, 0-60 was improved substantially to just over the 5-second mark, all the while keeping the payload and hauling numbers intact.

5 Future Classic

Ford F150 Lightning quarter front
Via eBay

Unlike the first-gen, the second gen is nowhere near classic status just yet (although technically early examples are now over 20 years old) and far too many were made for it to be considered seriously rare.

Ford F-150 SVT Lightning via road & track

Compared to the literal millions of this generation F-150 that were made, the twenty-odd thousand that were made are a relative drop in the ocean. People will collect these in the future, though, that much is certain.

Related: Here's Why SVT Lightning Should Make A Comeback

4 Face-Melting Acceleration

Ford F-150 SVT Lightning via autoblog
autoblog

It isn’t the horsepower that matters, sure, it is quick and the 0-60 time reflects that, but it is how it makes its power.

2000 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning
Via: Mecum Auctions

The 450 lb-ft of torque thrusts you into your seat as the short-geared transmission transfers the smoothly delivered supercharged power to the wheels.

3 Corners Like A Pickup

Red Ford SVT F-150 Lightning on the track
via CarAndDriver

As quickly as you get going, stopping is not this thing’s strength, which already puts it squarely on the back foot as you approach an apex, then it all goes even more wobbly.

Black 1999 Ford SVT Lightning
Via: Mecum Auctions

It handles, as you might expect, just like any pickup made in the early 2000s might. No matter how much stiffening has been done, this is no planted sports car.

Related: These Muscle Cars Are So Rare, Even Top Collectors Can't Get Their Hands On Them

2 Polarizing Effect

Via RNRAutoblog

It is truly the awful handling that splits opinion, although it shouldn’t. Many muscle cars, even modern ones, can't take a corner if your life depended on it.

2001-2004 Ford SVT Lightning
via Hagerty

It is strange that so many people can’t take these pickups at face value, like a pickup is supposed to have some greater purpose in the name of practicality. They are unashamed of what they are, machines made with only one real purpose; fun.

1 Just Plain Fun

performance.ford.com

Truly there is nothing more to them, although they might have some numbers that suggest otherwise, that is more of an excuse to justify ownership than an actual selling point.

Red 1999 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning
via Fordtruckenthusiasts

For those who get it, these are just some of the best examples of what a muscle-truck should be, for those who don’t, well that is their loss, really.