TrueBlue02058
Post King
Lightning Rod: 1994 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning
Scotty Gilbertson
Just over halfway through the run of 4,007 examples in 1994, came this 1994 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning. This is one to watch if a person is into the first-generation SVT Lightning as much as I am. This example can be found here on eBay in Williamsburg, Virginia. The current bid price is $5,800 as I write this and there is less than a day left on the auction!
The SVT (Special Vehicle Team) Lightning was introduced in late-1992 as a 1993 model and they were made until 1995 using the ninth-generation Ford F-150. After taking a three-year break, they came back in 1999 and production ended in 2004. There were only 1,165 red SVT Lightning trucks made for the 1994 model year. They also came in black and white and that’s it. Red was the rarest color that year but it seems to be the only color I ever see for sale.
Ford said about the Lightning, “For all intents, the F-150 Lightning is a Mustang GT with a cargo bed.” This particular Lightning looks great in most of the photos, but it does have a few issues, one, in particular, worries me. The seller mentions that there is a bit of rust percolating in a few areas and the one that causes my already-wrinkled forehead to sprout even more wrinkles is the area seen here on the drip rail. I guess that could be fixed most likely without too much trouble, and the truck probably could use a full repaint anyway so just plan on that.
The interior looks just about perfect from what I can see, other than the aftermarket stereo. How fun is it to see the era when every stinkin’ vehicle didn’t have acres of leather everywhere?! Fabric seats! What a concept, warm in winter, cool in summer, unlike leather. How did we as a society realize that we all needed to have leather seats in every vehicle?! I don’t understand that. Like needing AWD. We didn’t have that growing up in Duluth, Minnesota – better known as San Francisco of the east – with legendary steep streets, yet we somehow survived without AWD. Now, God forbid anyone go 2 miles to get a loaf of bread on city streets without having a giant AWD SUV even if it’s in the summertime. Ok, enough with the sermon. As long as I’m on that subject, this SVT Lightning is rear-wheel-drive, of course. And, no leather. +10
The engine, while hot stuff at the time, is pretty mild by today’s standards. Just about any 2020 Camry could smoke this truck in a straight line or on a curvy racetrack. But, then you’d be driving a Camry… The engine here should be Ford’s 351 cubic-inch V8 and make sure that the 8th character on the VIN is an “R” to know that it’s a real SVT Lightning. It had a mere 240 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque but in 1994 for a pickup, that was a good number. This looks like a killer deal to me, have any of you owned a Ford SVT Lightning pickup?
Have something to sell? List it here on Barn Finds!
More: Ford F-150 / Lightning
Just over halfway through the run of 4,007 examples in 1994, came this 1994 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning. This is one to watch if a person is into the first-generation SVT Lightning as much as I am. This example can be found here on eBay in Williamsburg, Virginia. The current bid price is $5,800 as I write this and there is less than a day left on the auction!
The SVT (Special Vehicle Team) Lightning was introduced in late-1992 as a 1993 model and they were made until 1995 using the ninth-generation Ford F-150. After taking a three-year break, they came back in 1999 and production ended in 2004. There were only 1,165 red SVT Lightning trucks made for the 1994 model year. They also came in black and white and that’s it. Red was the rarest color that year but it seems to be the only color I ever see for sale.
Ford said about the Lightning, “For all intents, the F-150 Lightning is a Mustang GT with a cargo bed.” This particular Lightning looks great in most of the photos, but it does have a few issues, one, in particular, worries me. The seller mentions that there is a bit of rust percolating in a few areas and the one that causes my already-wrinkled forehead to sprout even more wrinkles is the area seen here on the drip rail. I guess that could be fixed most likely without too much trouble, and the truck probably could use a full repaint anyway so just plan on that.
The interior looks just about perfect from what I can see, other than the aftermarket stereo. How fun is it to see the era when every stinkin’ vehicle didn’t have acres of leather everywhere?! Fabric seats! What a concept, warm in winter, cool in summer, unlike leather. How did we as a society realize that we all needed to have leather seats in every vehicle?! I don’t understand that. Like needing AWD. We didn’t have that growing up in Duluth, Minnesota – better known as San Francisco of the east – with legendary steep streets, yet we somehow survived without AWD. Now, God forbid anyone go 2 miles to get a loaf of bread on city streets without having a giant AWD SUV even if it’s in the summertime. Ok, enough with the sermon. As long as I’m on that subject, this SVT Lightning is rear-wheel-drive, of course. And, no leather. +10
The engine, while hot stuff at the time, is pretty mild by today’s standards. Just about any 2020 Camry could smoke this truck in a straight line or on a curvy racetrack. But, then you’d be driving a Camry… The engine here should be Ford’s 351 cubic-inch V8 and make sure that the 8th character on the VIN is an “R” to know that it’s a real SVT Lightning. It had a mere 240 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque but in 1994 for a pickup, that was a good number. This looks like a killer deal to me, have any of you owned a Ford SVT Lightning pickup?
Have something to sell? List it here on Barn Finds!
More: Ford F-150 / Lightning