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High-Performance Pickup Trucks: A Deep Dive

It was 1925 when the first factory-built pickup truck became available in dealerships. It was called the Ford Model T "Runabout with Pickup Body" and sold for 281 dollars. It took Ford another three years to deliver the first closed-cab pickup, based on the Ford Model A, and nearly nine more to introduce the Australian ute. By 1936, the Blue Oval company had already produced three million trucks, some of them being powered by the iconic flathead V8 engine.
2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 1 photo
Photo: Dodge
As expected, it didn’t take long for General Motors, Chrysler and smaller manufacturers like Studebaker to join the pickup bandwagon, and for America to experience a truck craze that grew larger and larger beginning with the late 1940s. By 1950, Ford had already introduced the F-Series, while GM marketed the Advance Design series, later to develop into the Task Force series (1955) and the C/K line (1960).

Dodge had the B to E Series, Plymouth came up with the PT, while Studebaker offered the E series from 1955 through the mid-1960s, not long before going bankrupt. Big V8s were pretty common in these trucks by 1965, but very few of them produced more than 200 horsepower. There was an exception though, Dodge, who just could not help fitting their 426 cubic inch mill in the D Series, but that's a truck we'll have to get back on a bit later. Things changed in Detroit when musclecars began leaving rubber marks on American roads, and the “Big Three” started dropping larger powerplants in their work mules. Ford had the 390, Chevy the massive 402, and Chrysler the 383 RB (Raised-Block).

To make a long story short, it’s enough to take a look at a 1969 Chevrolet C-10 with Baldwin-Motion style stripes and Rally wheels to realize that the late 1960s brought the first high-performance pickup trucks. However, power figures dropped as the Malaise Era kicked in, and the muscle truck fell into hibernation mode for nearly two decades.

Until 1990 to be more specific, when Chevrolet introduced the 454 SS, also known as the first
high-performance racing focused production truck. Wearing a badge reminiscent of the mighty 1970 Chevy Chevelle, the Super Sport truck was powered by a 7.4-liter V8 that cranked 230 hp and 385 pound-feet (522 Nm) of torque. Less powerful than the Chevelle, but impressive nonetheless thanks to its Onyx Black exterior, unique Garnet Red interior, sport bucket seats and 3.73 rear axle ratio.

A 1991 model year update added 25 horses and raised torque to 405 lb-ft (549 Nm), the four-speed auto replaced the initial three-speed Hydra-Matic 400, while the new 4.10:1 rear-axle ratio improved the truck’s launch from 0 to 60 mph. Poor sales beyond 1991 prompted GM to tie a brick around its neck and call it a day.

Meanwhile, the folks over at GMC, known for slapping a different badge and grille, additional trims and a heftier price tag on Chevrolets, were
selling a performance truck of their own - the Syclone. But unlike Chevy’s 454 SS, the Syclone was fed by a tweaked 4.3-liter V6 engine with a Mitsubishi turbocharger attached to it. Output was rated at 280 hp and 350 pound-feet (474 Nm) of torque, making it the fastest factory-built pickup in the world. Based on the GMC Sonoma, the Syclone was built in only 2,995 units, most of them in 1991, and sold only with a single cab body and all-wheel drive. Before being axed in 1992, a special edition Marlboro Syclone was made in 10 units with help from Larry Shinoda. These came with “Cobra” wheels designed by tuning icon Boyd Coddington, Recaro seats, a Momo steering wheel and a targa style roof.

By 1993, General Motors was out of the muscle truck game. But a new cowboy was in town. Actually two - Ford and its Special Vehicle Team (SVT) division. Together they penned the SVT Lightning, a competitor for the 454 SS, who was busy writing its will as GM was grinning from ear
to ear, while holding an axe in the same hand that bred the performance truck two years earlier. Ford and SVT adopted a classic recipe as well - single cab, V8 power and updated suspension and frame for better handling. Production lasted through 1995, with about 11,500 of these 240-hp trucks being built. But unlike the 454 SS, the Lightning made a comeback for the 1999 model year, now with a 5.4-liter V8 under the hood that delivered 360 hp to the wheels via an F-Series Super Duty-sourced four-speed automatic. The second-generation model lived on until 2004, when it was discontinued after a 28,124-unit production run.

Fortunately, the Lightning's final year on the market wasn't the last one to see muscle trucks being offered. The SVT already had a competitor since 2003, when Chevy made a spectacular comeback by putting its Super Sport badge on the Silverado full-size truck. And the SS
emblem wasn't there just for styling purposes, the beefed-up Silverado came with a 6.0-liter VortecMAX V8 that churned 345 hp and 380 lb-ft (515 Nm) of torque. A four-speed automatic was in charge with sending all that power to the four wheels. Two-wheel drive wasn't offered until 2005 and the AWD model was dropped altogether a year later. The Z60 suspension and a set of 20-inch aluminum wheels were on the truck's long list of performance oriented goodies. The SS even got a bench seat as part of Chevy's effort to reduce pricing.

The 2006 model year also marked the introduction of the Chevrolet Intimidator SS, a special edition of the Silverado SS
built to honor Dale Earnhardt, who had died during the 2001 Daytona 500. Only 993 were built, each of them painted Black Onyx and fitted with minor appearance upgrades, including a lowered suspension with multi-leaf springs. Production of the entire SS lineup was ended in 2007.

Before we move further into the 21st century and look upon the only performance truck that's still around, we need to make a detour and go back to 2004. And there's a
good reason for that, as 2004 was the year when the most extreme muscle truck was launched. We're talking about the Dodge Ram SRT-10, or, as most enthusiasts call it, the "Viper Ram". I bet all of you know why, but I'm going to say it anyway: because eight point three liters of vee ten power! Or 510 hp and 525 lb-ft (712 Nm) of torque if you're into numbers. The snake's heart enabled the SRT-10 to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in only 4.9 seconds, a figure that most 2014 model year sportscar are unable to reach, and complete the quarter mile in 13.6 seconds at 106 mph. These number were available for the Regular Cab and dropped to 5.2 seconds and 13.7 seconds (at 100 mph) respectively for the Quad Cab.

Retired two years later, the SRT-10 wasn't the only wild truck built by Dodge. It had the smaller 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engine that sent
"only" 345 hp and 375 lb-ft (508 Nm) of torque to the wheels, but had a great deal of heritage attached to its Rumble Bee badge - it came with the bumble bee stripes that adorned the legendary Dodge Super Bee. Offered only in a regular cab, short-box SLT configurations with either two or four-wheel drive, the Rumble Bee was built in less than 10,000 examples in 2004 and 2005, the latter sold as the Second Swarm. The special edition truck was revived as a concept vehicle last year and rumor has it Chrysler might bring it back in production form.

With the Ram SRT-10 no longer available after the 2006 model year and the Silverado SS discontinued by the end of 2007, the high-performance pickup truck industry lagged for about three years, until Ford and SVT returned with a different approach. Power and speed were no longer the only features that mattered. Ford wanted a performance truck with greater off-road ability. A pickup that was able to deliver performance on any kind of terrain, not just on the highway or at the drag strip. Thus the Ford SVT Raptor was born.

Ready to take on the most unforgiving terrain, the Raptor was fitted with FOX Racing shocks, long 11.2-inch front and
12.1-inch rear suspension travel, exclusive cast-aluminum control arms and the latest tech Ford has to offer. Wider than the F-150 it's based on, the Raptor also sports a front-end design of its own, including a massive, unique brick-wall grille with Ford lettering. As far as power goes, the 6.2-liter V8 mounted under the hood produces 411 hp and 434 lb-ft (588 Nm) of torque. In short, if you're looking for an omnipotent, aggressive-looking truck, than you need to take it to Ford. In fact, you kinda have to, because the Raptor is the last factory-built performance truck.

Unfortunately, with the aluminum 2015 F-150 around the corner and no engine bigger than the 5.0-liter V8 in sight, the Raptor will be retired by the end of the year and it's future is rather uncertain. Will enthusiasts have no choice but go back to aftermarket tuners for a performance truck in the future? Guess we'll just have to wait to find out, but it would be a real shame if these factory-built machines will be gone for good...

Oh wait, we're not done. We saved an ol' mule for the finale - the Dodge D Series we mentioned earlier. It's the only pre-1990 factory truck that packed something
a little more special under the hood. A 426 cubic inch Wedge V8 engine that was offered in 1964 and 1965 on the D100 and D200 LWB models as part of the High Performance Package. The mill was Chrysler's main performance engine until the introduction of the iconic 426 Hemi and generated 365 hp and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm!!!) of torque. It was borrowed from B-body Plymouths and Dodges and had an angrier cousin that powered Super Stock Mopars. The truck had a three-speed automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, 6,000 rpm tach with heavy-duty gauges, dual exhausts, and rear axle struts. Word has it Dodge built less than 50 of these Wedge-powered trucks, which makes the HP D Series one of the rarest classic pickups out there and our favorite.

Which one do you prefer? Or maybe we missed something on the way? Either way, feel free to leave your opinions and nominations in the comment box below.
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About the author: Ciprian Florea
Ciprian Florea profile photo

Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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