Ford recently announced the all-electric F-150 Lightning, and while we’re eager to test drive one for ourselves–After all, who doesn’t appreciate a good tow vehicle or two?–it had us thinking about the previous version of the Lightning. You know, the one with the s…
What I remember most about the SVT Lightnings is they were consistantly 2-3 seconds slower on an autocross course than my 1st gen Toyota Tacoma was. A road course was an entirely different story though...
JG, did you write this?
There was also a generation of the Lightening before this one...not sure which one I would buy if I was in the market for a full-sized truck. But the 2nd generation having a stepside bed is a big plus in my book compared to the 1st generation's regular side bed.
I currently own the 1st gen Lightning. I have a love/hate relationship with it. They were a used truck bargain until recently. I've seen my $3500 purchase nearly triple in value in less than a decade.
I did a video on it which details what makes them unique and some of the pitfalls: 93-95 Ford Lightning brutally honest owner review
The general populace assumes it is supercharged like the 2nd gen. It is not. For it's time, it was a pretty quick truck. 1993 performance from it is similar to what you get with a standard Triton engine truck a decade or two later. So by today's standards it's nothing special. I bought it to tow a car trailer, which it did quite well. I no longer use it for that, so have been thinking of cashing out. But, I still like having a truck around, so it's still in the garage.
For not much more money you can get the 2nd gen supercharged truck featured in the article which has WAY more performance. They also have their own quirks and you'll want to be a very knowledgeable shopper before plunking money down.
I used to instruct at SVTOA track day events back in the late 90's & early 2000's. I rode in quite a number of the 2nd gen. Lightenings, some stock and some modified and riding in those trucks always put a smile on my face. You'd get to a straight and the trans would down shift and the supercharger whine would increase and you would get pushed back into your seat. As far as handling goes, well I know of a couple of owners who put some serious money into their rides, sort of "putting lipstick on a pig" . The pig handled better but it was still a pig! I still wouldn't mind owning one of them today as I like the look of the truck even though I could make my current Ecoboost F150 as fast by just throwing some mods at it.
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