The F-150 Lightning Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Hiding in the South
With a 650-horsepower supercharged V8 under the hood, this low-to-the-ground badass pays homage to the F-150 Lightning that once was.
“Build it and they will come,” they say. This couldn’t be any more applicable for the Georgia-based Pioneer Ford and their “new” F-150 Lightning.
As you might remember, the last hot rod pickup from the Blue Oval laid to rest in 2004, and with it, the dreams of a niche community of truck enthusiasts. Since then, Ford has focused on their newest high-performance F-150, the Raptor, which although an incredible machine, it’s the complete opposite of the Lightning. Well, nestled somewhere near Nascar country is something called a “tribute truck.” And while it may not roll out of the Rouge River plant in Detroit, it’s just as much badass (and then some) as the old icon.
According to messages we shared with Pioneer Ford’s Facebook page handler, this Lightning tribute began as a one-off build for a special client. As word broke out about a legit-looking Lightning, a couple more orders trickled in. Then, the media got word of the thing and that’s when things went really crazy. As of recently, there were three Lightnings on their lot, and each one of them found a home within days.
How can they not? Under the hood is a 650-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8 motor directly sourced from Ford, which is then treated to a Stage 2 Roush supercharger. In addition, the ride height is lowered via shorter, stiffer springs, and 22-inch SVT wheels wrapped in sticky rubber are added for optimum traction. And speaking of traction, while there aren’t official figures on this bad boy, it’s got enough ponies to challenge (and beat) the hottest sports cars to a drag duel.
Now that you know the exciting bit, let’s take a look at the “normal” stuff. The truck arrives at Pioneer Ford just like every other single-cab F-150 pickup. The only difference is that the dealership asks for the factory V8 to be installed, instead of the V6 or EcoBoost engines typically found in the smaller, more basic configurations. At the end of the day, this is still a $35,000 truck, and guess what? It still qualifies for all available pricing incentives!
The only area where you won’t get a discount is in the $15,000 “Pioneer Ford Lightning Tribute Package.” That being said, because of Ford’s relationship with Roush, the F-150 retains its full factory warranty, and the supercharger receives its own 3 year/36,000-mile warranty on top of that. This could be the only hot rod project truck to ever carry a freaking factory warranty, seriously.
In the end, you can get all of this hotness for only $49,660. And hey, that’s a heck of a lot less than any Raptor or Shelby Mustang out there.