Formed in 1993 as the successor to Special Vehicle Operations, the Special Vehicle Team gave us a performance-oriented truck in the guise of the Lightning. Produced through 1995, the first generation was offered only with the standard cab and short bed to keep the weight down.
A total of 11,563 examples were made, which is why the Lightning is more collectible than the Chevrolet 454 SS that sold 16,953 units over four years. Original trucks are the most desirable, and this red-painted fellow here appears to be as original as they come as far as the oily stuff is concerned.
Listed on Facebook Marketplace with 135,000 miles (217,261 kilometers) on the clock, the F-150 SVT Lightning was found in a barn in New Jersey according to the seller. The photographs uploaded on the e-commerce platform appear to confirm the “barn find” part, and yes, the V8 cranks.
First-gen Lightnings feature the fuel-injected 351W under the hood, a workhorse of a powerplant in terms of reliability. Special touches over the 5.8-liter Windsor in other trucks include the GT40 high-flow intake and heads, shorty headers made from stainless steel, and hypereutectic pistons that are stronger than aluminum pistons yet not as strong as forged pistons.
The small-block V8 cranks out 240 horsepower and 340 pound-feet (461 Nm) of torque, which pales compared to modern-day engines or the third-gen Lightning. The all-electric comeback is officially rated at 563 horsepower and 775 pound-feet (1,051 Nm) of torque to whom it may concern.
Capable of hitting 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 5.2 seconds despite the E40D four-speed automatic that doesn’t like to be hurried between gears, this blast from the not-so-distant past needs a fair bit of tender loving care. More specifically, it needs a thorough wash, bodywork repair where rust has started to rear its ugly head, new fluids, and new brake lines too.
As for the asking price, the seller wants $6,500 for this very promising time capsule. Hagerty’s valuation tool estimates a fair-condition truck at $5,000 or thereabouts while a concours-condition F-150 SVT Lightning is more like $25,000.
Listed on Facebook Marketplace with 135,000 miles (217,261 kilometers) on the clock, the F-150 SVT Lightning was found in a barn in New Jersey according to the seller. The photographs uploaded on the e-commerce platform appear to confirm the “barn find” part, and yes, the V8 cranks.
First-gen Lightnings feature the fuel-injected 351W under the hood, a workhorse of a powerplant in terms of reliability. Special touches over the 5.8-liter Windsor in other trucks include the GT40 high-flow intake and heads, shorty headers made from stainless steel, and hypereutectic pistons that are stronger than aluminum pistons yet not as strong as forged pistons.
The small-block V8 cranks out 240 horsepower and 340 pound-feet (461 Nm) of torque, which pales compared to modern-day engines or the third-gen Lightning. The all-electric comeback is officially rated at 563 horsepower and 775 pound-feet (1,051 Nm) of torque to whom it may concern.
Capable of hitting 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 5.2 seconds despite the E40D four-speed automatic that doesn’t like to be hurried between gears, this blast from the not-so-distant past needs a fair bit of tender loving care. More specifically, it needs a thorough wash, bodywork repair where rust has started to rear its ugly head, new fluids, and new brake lines too.
As for the asking price, the seller wants $6,500 for this very promising time capsule. Hagerty’s valuation tool estimates a fair-condition truck at $5,000 or thereabouts while a concours-condition F-150 SVT Lightning is more like $25,000.