Yahoo Autos Why Wait for a Hummer or Cybertruck When You Can Have This Mint F-150 Lightning Today?
Fast trucks have finally taken off. Between the 702-hp Ram 1500 TRX and the ridiculously quick Cybertruck and Hummer EV, massive trucks with dizzying performance are snagging headlines. But long before the Cybertruck, there was the Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, a fast truck before its time.
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The Lightning did not invent the idea of the fast truck; it's been done before and since. But it is an important one. Because the Lightning was the last major performance version of a truck designed for on-road speed. Its lowered suspension, supercharged 5.4-liter V-8, and rear-wheel-drive setup were designed to maximize performance on tarmac. It was a hot rod, not a Baja truck.
That vision has largely faded from the market. With the creation of the Ford F-150 Raptor, Ford found that a dune-crushing supertruck was much easier to market than a slammed road racer. Trucks like the mud-tired 702-hp Ram TRX and ultra-macho Hummer further prove that point. Those trucks capture the aggression, the capability, and the legend of the do-it-all truck while still delivering absurd street performance.
For many, that's the right way. But there's something honest and fascinating about a street-speed truck. It's not asking you to go find a sand pit to play in, it's trying to spice up your daily drives. It may not have the boldness or the go-anywhere possibilities of a Raptor or Hummer, but the F-150 SVT Lightning was a weird, last-ditch experiment to make the hot-rod street truck work. Someone thought that was worth preserving, so now's your chance to own a like-new one.
Disclaimer: Bring a Trailer is also owned by Road & Track's parent company, Hearst Autos.
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