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2021 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning Imagined With GT500 Engine and Red Wheels

Can the Ford F-150 Raptor really compete with the monster that is the Ram TRX? Nobody can deal with the unprovoked aggression of a Hellcat, so why not bring back the SVT Lightning, a sports pickup from a bygone era.
2021 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning Imagined With GT500 Engine and Red Wheels 5 photos
Photo: wb.artist20/Instagram
2021 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning Imagined With GT500 Engine and Red Wheels2021 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning Imagined With GT500 Engine and Red Wheels2021 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning Imagined With GT500 Engine and Red Wheels2021 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning Imagined With GT500 Engine and Red Wheels
When a guy mentions he has a Lightning, we expect one of two things. One is that he wants to be Paul Walker but can't afford a Skyline. The other is that he'll probably tell you how it had the wrong wheels before. What is it about Lightning owners and OEM wheels?

In any case, we're only a few hours away from the launch of the new Raptor. Ford is undoubtedly going to reveal massive improvements in the suspension department, but people just want to know what it's going to be like in a race. And so we wonder if the sports truck world wouldn't be better off with something like the SVT product, which was pretty good at drag racing for its day. The whole electricity striking the earth thing also works well in the context of the hybridization of Ford's powertrains.

The SVT "skunkworks" division made two generations of the Lightning between 1993 and 2004, with a 3-year hiatus in the middle. It was intended as a rival for the Chevy 454 SS. The original model made something like 240 horsepower and was slower than its competitor. But most people remember the 2nd-gen, which got a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 with 360/380 horsepower.

It came with numerous modifications, like a transmission from an HD pickup, stiffened suspension, a stylish body kit wrapped around the shortest body, and a Flareside bed. It's this design that inspired rendering artist Oscar Vargas to make a modern version which we rather like.

With a short cab and lowered suspension, this looks so different from what the modern truck has become. I suppose there's no market for a "classic" utility vehicle like this. But if it were fitted with the Shelby GT500 engine making 700 hp, like the artist envisions, defeating a TRX wouldn't be a problem at all. Heck, you might even lay down some cool rubber.


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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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