Back in 1991, Ford formed a team of passionate driving enthusiasts from within the company and select few suppliers. This team was named the SVT (Special Vehicle Team). It involved a cross-functional group of professionals from different departments like engineering, product planning, and marketing, all bunched together with a shared vision of developing vehicles with balanced performance attributes, exclusively for hardcore gearheads. In 1992, they revealed their first creation, a high-performance truck SVT Lightning along with an SVT Mustang Cobra in the ’92 Chicago Auto Show. SVT arm has now been merged into Ford Performance.
F-series has been the best-selling pickup of the US and Canada since 1977. The Ford F-150 Lightning was one of the few limited production cars and trucks that wore the SVT badge. Launched for sale in February 1993, the Ford SVT Lightning was a high-performance variant of the F-150 with a special focus on speed, handling, practicality, and value. It was one of the first trucks to bring sports and style into the pickup world. Fun fact: the SVT Lightning was launched as a competitor of the Chevy 454SS. The first generation of this highly trendy model lasted through 1995 and in 1999, Ford launched the second generation with refreshing upgrades. Unfortunately, due to low sales, the Ford SVT Lightning was discontinued in 2004. Fans have been campaigning for the revival of the Ford F-150 Lightning for years. However, F-150 has grown too fat to be turned into a street performance model.
Ford SVT Lightning was crowned as the world’s fastest production pickup in 2003. Over the years, this pickup has acquired cult status and a huge fan following.
If you are thrilled at the prospect of it coming back, you are not alone. Why should the Ford SVT Lightning make a comeback? Read on to find out our thoughts and chime in, in the comment section to add your own.
New SVT Lightning Can Take The Auto World By Storm With Latest Engine Options
The first generation of the SVT Lightning was powered by a 5.8 liter 351 cubic inch Windsor FI V8 engine that churned 240 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque. The engine was paired with a heavy-duty four-speed automatic transmission. These first-gen models came with similar towing and payload capacity as a standard Ford F-150. The second generation received a newer supercharged version of the 5.4 liter Triton V8 that made over 360 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque in the 1999 and 2000 models. The power was bumped up to 380 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque for the models of 2001 onwards until the last production year, 2004. Despite having such humble engine options, these second-gen models could hit a top speed of 147 mph which made them the world’s fastest production pickups at that time.
The SVT Lightning was built for speed. With the kind of powerful engine options that are available these days, they can give several sports cars a run for their money. Especially the third generation could be an instant hit. It was unveiled at the 2003 North American International Auto Show but could never make it to production, as per Anderson Ford. The 3rd gen version was equipped with a 5.4 liter V8 mated with a six-speed manual transmission that made over 500 horsepower and 500 pound-feet torque. Unfortunately, the high-performance truck lovers could never realize the dream because Ford felt they could not translate the concept into production. With new technology, Ford can easily go back in time, fix the complications, and bring the world’s fastest truck back.
Power, Speed And Handling, The Ford SVT Lightning Had Something For Everyone
Most of the trucks are made for hardcore work but the Ford SVT Lightning was different. Fans love it because it had much more. According to Hagerty, it has emerged as a powerful and capable collector's truck.
The simple idea behind the Lightning was to make a performance model so they took an F-150, modified it, and swapped its suspension for high speed and better handling. Of course, the Lightning could handle way better than most of its rivals. The second-gen SVT Lightning models received Mono-tube Bilstein shocks that improved the handling and ride quality even further. Overall, these were not only fast and powerful but handled much better than regular trucks (or some cars) too. The cherry on top was they could tow and haul exactly like the F-150. It’s easy to see how better they would do with modern engineering and a little tinker here and there. A light aluminum frame and revised suspension will literally make them lightning fast.
They Must Come Back Simply Because Fans Love Them
Even though these trucks were brilliant, powerful, more practical, and faster than the regular trucks, unfortunately, they didn’t sell as well as they should have. As they say, sometimes, we only realize something’s worth after they’re gone forever. Times have changed. Buyers have matured. The Ford SVT Lightning was way ahead of its time and fans now know its value. If brought back the right way, the brand new SVT Lightning is guaranteed to be the Ford best seller for generations to come.