The muscle truck wars got interesting in the 90s, when Chevrolet dropped a big block engine into its lightest pickup truck body. The SS was born and limited production kept it in collectors’ sights. Ford decided around the same time that Chevy shouldn’t get to have all the fun, so the Ford F-150 Lightning was born, but with a slightly different approach: the Special Vehicle Team took the venerable 351 Windsor and went to town tweaking it for more power. These days, both trucks are desirable, and when you find one in completely stock condition, collectors will take notice. Check out this 1995 Ford F-150 Lightning here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $31,000.

The muscle truck category is one that the U.S. automarket has dominated seemingly forever. While the European automakers don’t have much interest in building a compelling competitor, Dodge, Chevy, and Ford had shown they had the formula down pat. Starting with Dodge’s Lil’ Red Express pickup, and continuing on through the Viper V10-powered Ram SRT-10, the madmen at Mopar showed they would pull no punches building fast workhorses. Chevrolet’s SS was a formidable entry in the space, but with a slightly muted approach; after all, the fast pickup with a bowtie simply took the factory big block and dropped it in.

The F-150 Lightning was a shining moment for Ford’s crack squad of horsepower junkies, SVT. They took the 351 Windsor and went to town, adding a gorgeous intake manifold, GT40 heads, upgraded exhaust system, a hotter camshaft, and a unique throttle body; a limited-slip differential was also installed. The upgrades made for some formidable improvements to the base numbers, which clocked in at 240 horsepower and 340 lb.-ft. of torque. While by today’s standards those numbers aren’t particularly remarkable, it was nothing short of impressive at the time to see SVT take a standard engine like the 351 and extract new levels of performance.

The seller’s truck looks terrific in Oxford White; with so many of these pickups wearing black and red paint, it’s nice to see the other color once in a while with the trademark blue “Lightning” graphics. The seller’s example hasn’t been modified in any obvious ways, down to the stock wheels and bumpers. The only tweak is the radio, and the seller mentions he still has the stock unit. Mileage isn’t exceptionally low at just under 90,000, but the level of preservation speaks to how well it’s been cared for. I don’t know that I’d call the muscle truck segment particularly hot at the moment, but there’s always someone who appreciates unmodified examples like this.