Efficiency pickups was once a factor. From the Chevy 454 SS within the early Nineties to the sports activities automobile like efficiency the Toyota Tacoma X-Runner was once throwing down within the early 2000s rapid vans had their very own little slice of the fanatic marketplace pie. As soon as, that roughly efficiency confirmed up in an sudden position.

Again in 2003, engineers with Ford’s Particular Automobile Workforce (SVT) took an ordinary cab Ranger Flareside powered via a 2.4-liter I4 and set to work. On the time, SVT Engineering Director John Coletti and his workforce had a imaginative and prescient of creating a efficiency truck the usage of off the shelf portions to stay prices down, simply in case it were given authorized for manufacturing. They already had an engine in thoughts: the 5.4-liter 380 horsepower supercharged V8 from the SVT Lightning. A changed induction device and exhaust resulted in additional energy than was once to be had within the inventory Lightning: 420 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque.

However that a lot energy in a small pickup just like the Ranger would imply additional bracing. In order that they boxed the body rails and move braced them for stiffness. To get the engine beneath the hood, the suspension was once reduced two inches and keep an eye on fingers and steerage knuckles had been lifted from the SVT Lightning. A three.73 rear axle from the Lightning in addition to 18-inch Michelin Pilot Recreation Cup tires and a heavy responsibility transmission from the F-Sequence pickups was once suited for the Ranger.

The internal was once in large part saved inventory, save for some customized leather-based seats with yellow lightning bolts on them and frame colour trim at the doorways. The outcome was once a monster of just a little pickup. When Motor Development examined it, it ran the quarter mile in 13.8 seconds at 108 mph; MotorWeek did 13.5 seconds at 101 mph.

And whilst it was once constructed to stay manufacturing value low the usage of a host of portions lifted from its Lights giant brother, SVT had no plans to in truth construct the item. Head of SVT gross sales and advertising and marketing on the time Tom Scarpello showed as a lot to Motor Development; they claimed there was once no room for 2 efficiency vans within the lineup. It’s much more likely this was once a 911/Cayman state of affairs: the smaller automobile got here on the subject of or outright outperformed its larger sibling and Ford couldn’t have that. It’s great to assume again on what can have been had Ford given us an SVT Ranger with that a lot energy. A automobile like that shapes automakers and their lineups for generations.