I’m staring at this truck and it’s simultaneously a 1979 Ford with a 2014 Raptor grafted onto it, and a 2014 Ford Raptor with a 1979 Ford grafted onto it.
The news that Ford is coming out with a V8 version of the new Raptor let me shop around for sales figures of the V6 versus the V8 generations.
I didn’t find anything exactly (Ford isn’t breaking out F series sales a bit, although I did ask for comment), but I got this old story out Ford Authority while I’m on the hunt.
From Ford Authority:
[T]his 1979 Ford F-150 is really just a 2014 Ford F-150 Raptor with a classic F-150 body grafted onto it. That means the rolling chassis, drivetrain, interior, and pretty much everything else came from the donor Raptor. But unlike some other similar Frankenstein-esque projects we’ve seen, it’s nearly impossible to see from the outside.
[…]
In order for the old body to fit the new frame, Sweet Brothers had to lengthen the cabin four inches and cut the firewall and floor plans to fit them. Go in and you’ll really think you’re climbing into a newer F-150 because that’s what this is. In fact, all the amenities of the modern truck are still working, including the heated and cooled leather seats, navigation and satellite radio, and even the unmistakable Ford doorbell.
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The inclusion of the Ford keyboard is what it does for me:
The suspension is standard, but the engine gets a Roush Stage 2 supercharger that’s good for what Sweet Brothers claims to be 590 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. Do you need 590 hp in a pick-up? No you will not do that. Do you want it? Almost certainly.
The only question I have comes when I look at the interior. One of the great joys of owning an old-as-shit car is the old interior. How everything sounds, how everything feels, the gigantic thin steering wheel that rotates in your hands. This truck loses that and looks like one ‘Cigarette boat from the 90s.
On the other hand, the interior of an old car is also what keeps it locked away from the normal car state. No airbag, a steering column that wants to knock out your solar plexus, and flickering heat and cold that makes you wear a jacket in the winter and shorts in the summer, shorts on your legs are burnt from sun-drenched vinyl seats. That is to say, I can see this from both sides.
Swapping out a Raptor is one of those things that just makes sense, and it’s no surprise this isn’t the first time I’ve seen one. This Bronco sticks out in my memory.
Part of me, however, wonders if anyone built a 1979 Ford pickup truck by grafting a Raptor suspension onto it and swapping in a Raptor engine. I wonder what Which person thinks about this rig.