THE TRUCK: 2010 Ford F-150 Raptor SVT
THE LOWDOWN: Ford turns its best seller into a Baja beast.
WHY WE'RE STOKED: The Maxim garage may be hidden in the concrete canyons of midtown Manhattan, but we have nothing against red staters, Rascal Flatts, and big-ass trucks. With the exception of an odd moving day, though, we just haven't often found ourselves pining for a pickup. That all changed when we heard the rumors—then saw the video—of the Raptor, an extreme off-roading variant of Ford's F-150 pickup. The thing is designed to blow over Baja terrain at a hundred miles an hour—seriously. Check the clip below. We're not Mexican drug runners, but damned if we couldn't find some use for the thing.
The Raptor's muscle comes from a 5.3-liter Triton V-8 engine, which puts out 320 hp and 390 lb.-ft of torque; a specially designed 6.2 liter will be available after the truck's launch. It's a tough powerplant, but the wider, more complex custom suspension is really where Ford's SVT engineers went crazy: Since the Raptor is meant to take bumps without losing stability, super spongy Fox internal racing shocks—the only ones ever offered on a production vehicle—will allow over 13 inches of travel in front and over 11 inches at the rear wheels. Not only will the thing cruise over rocky terrain, but Wal-Mart parking islands and slow-moving Smart cars shouldn't pose a problem either. Will it be able to outrun homeland security and bound over a border fence? We'll just have to wait and see!
BUYING IT: The 2010 Ford F-150 Raptor SVT will be available this summer. Pricing hasn't been announced, but expect it to be in the $40,000 ballpark.
