For all you SVT lovers that have a family, they have the SVT expedition coming out soon, from what I hear, its got the Lightnings front end, lowered, I believe its got the Lightnings 18" wheels on it, 5.4L Supercharged, its supposed to be quick, 0-60 in 5.4 seconds, oh yeah, lowered to, its called the....Ford SVT Thunder Expedition..

 

Did anyone notice that the article from the Detroit News was dated September 29, 1999?!? Don't you think we would have heard something in the past year?

The Thunder Expedition was a concept vehicle from SVE under John Coletti.

 

i would like to see sales figures for regular cad trucks as opposed to supercabs. anybody over the age of 30 needs more than a regular cab. and that who has most of the money. i might be wrong but this has to hurt lightning sales. i know the supercab or thunder would be slower but even at 14.5 it would be quick. with navigators starting at 40,000 i think i could talk the wife into the thunder for 45

 

Wouldn't it be nice to see this actually produced. Wouldn't these things be prone to roll over though?

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2000 Mustang GT Blk/Blk
K&N, Bassani X W/Cats, 2 Chamber Flows

 

The Thunder is one of Colleti's toys, not meant for production. As for Lightning sales going down, in 99 they built 4,000 and sold them out as fasst as they hit the showrooms, in '00 they were going to build 4,750 but bumped it up to 5,000 and even though they sat on lots a little longer, they should all be gone before the '01 hits the floors. More than 4,000 were sold before the run ended, the bump to 5K was made pretty late in the model year.

 

Factory Tech and others,

I mistated what I intended when I said L sales were dropping. I agree that they will sell all of them before production of the '01 truck starts. And, with the minor changes the '01 will have, I'm sure they'll sell all of those, too.

However, they're certainly not moving in '00 like they did in '99. Plus, they can be had for much less than sticker now...unlike most of the ones sold in '99. They sat on the lots MUCH longer this year than last.

Same phenomena happened in the '93 and '94 years of L production. First year they were gone, next year they were selling them cheap, and '95 was the last year produced.

My point is that if L sales dwindle at all, then I believe the SVT Thunder will not have a chance.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/444rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

I hope they don't come out with it, I'll have to change my handle and my plates.

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Red '00 Lightning,
Power Surge Performance enhanced,
Sound effects provided by Flowmaster,
13.227@103.55

 

I don't think its going to happen. As Blue Flareside pointed out that article is over a year old. I don't think that most people who buy SUVs are that performance oriented. They buy them for the practicality, but the gas milage is bad enough to begin with. Has anyone noticed what has happened to gas prices in the last year? I submit that this is the main reason why Lightning sales are slower this year, plus the people who really, really had to have one bought a '99.

 

I seem to remember in a post a while back about the Thunder already being in production out of this country. Not sure where. And wasn't it the Lightnings 5.4L engine but twin turbo? Hell, I guess these SVT vehicles are like urban legands, they get passed and passed, and every time it changes.

-Marcus.

 

Hey Marcus, You have a great memory. that was my post about the expedition being sold in the arab countries but not using the thunder name. it is named after some arab sheik from some royal family. the truck is a black expedition with lightning wheels and has the 5.4l engine but it is twin turbocharged not supercharged. My friend Pat Barrett at Level 10 Transmissions was fortunate enough to get the job of beefing up the trannies on these beasts for Ford. He has many pictures in his showroom of the truck and the beautiful facility ford has over there in one of the arab countries. Pat goes over there once in awhile when they need some work done on these vehicles. He says about 20 or so of these expeditions have been sold in these areas. He says the truck is rated above 520 horsepower and tops out over 160 mph. Pat is always pleasant to talk to so if anyone feels free to talk to him about this truck or the lightnings tranmission call him at 973-827-1000. He has done some wonderful things for my lightning so far and next saturday he will install the 3.73 rear gears. cannot wait. thanks 95rcobra.

 

I forget what magazine it was, but it was an October issues and they had a whole article about it, I'll try to fing out which mag it was..

 

It was Motor Trend... and they _explicitly_ say that Ford has "no intention of producing the SVT Thunder".

I'm not going to say all mags are correct b/c they're not. But, it is NOT close to production. Period.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/444rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

You don't say!!! Inside info???? Tell us all some more!!!

 

If it's in a magazine it has to be true...

 

Every report I've read says it will NOT be produced...period. Unless someone here who works for SVT and will verify it, then I'm not holding my breath...I've seen the Thunder in the mags. It's a beautiful black one that SVT made a prototype.

If you want to see what a silver one would "look" like (but without the L drivetrain, of course)...take a look at my webpage.

here's the direct link, if you want to skip the Mustang/L stuff: http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/Expy.html

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/444rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html