Yahoo Autos 1999-2004 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning | Used car spotlight
Few models embodied the upsizing frenzy of the early aughts quite like the supercharged 1999-2004 Ford SVT Lightning. This F-150-based pickup launched with 360 horsepower (it would get another 20 ponies with the 2001-model-year update) and the later examples would hit 60 mph in less than six seconds, which was pretty darned quick for a pickup truck in 2004. Heck, it's quick for a pickup truck now. Ford is reviving the nameplate for use on its new all-electric F-150, and while that's cool in a futuristic way, we can't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia for the good old days of Ford's Special Vehicle Team.
1999-2004 was the second generation of the Lightning, and the final one to be powered by gasoline. While it's easy to look around and think we are living in the heyday of the performance truck, we actually saw a fairly similar market two decades ago — just prior to the global financial collapse — when it looked like there was virtually no limit to what OEMs would offer in terms of size and capability.
After 2008, it took nearly another decade for performance trucks to be revived, and with buyers frantically downsizing their rides in the face of the economic slide and high gas prices, the Lightning fell off many enthusiasts' radars as a potential used buy.
Why the SVT Lightning?
For starters, it's pretty impressive in a vacuum. As we mentioned above, a 0-60 time under 6 seconds was impressive for the time. 380 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque might be pretty typical for a V8 or turbocharged V6 in a current-generation half-ton, but today's trucks are also a heck of a lot bigger and heavier than they were 20 years ago. The SVT Lightning may not be quite as weird or unique as its gussied-up sibling, the Lincoln Blackwood, but with its blown 5.4-liter Triton V8, locking rear differential and lowered suspension, the "Flareside" street-performance pickup certainly turned its share of heads.
Plus, this was the last time performance pickups were really built with the drag strip in mind. While you'll see no shortage of new F-150 Raptors or Ram 1500 TRXes trying to put down impressive quarter-mile times, they're engineered with a priority on all-terrain capability that just wasn't as commonplace back when Y2K was still a relevant conversation topic.
