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?
Just love when sellers pick a cloudy day or when the sun is setting or when they just park the vehicle in the shade to take pictures to advertise their car.
Not enough pizzaz for me.
The handling on these is amazing. Great suspension tuning by SVT.
This one looks like a repaint and non standard things in engine compartment too.
Almost all of these were “driven hard and put away wet”. Be cautious on this one.
What looks non standard?
what’s non standard in the engine compartment?
I have a 93 Black Lightning and is all original and looks the same as this one does, I got mine new in June of 93, I still drive mine and use 87 octane gas all the time
Exactly my point. Useless comment unless they can explain.
Looks like fun, depends on the price. I’ll bet it sounds awesome though. I can’t remember hearing one any time recently. As far as the cloth seats, my truck has cloth while my wife’s car has heated and cooled leather. The kids prefer my truck because the cloth is more comfortable. I like how kids think. I had leather for ten years in a Jeep and I’m much happier with cloth now.
These Lightnings were pretty sporty trucks when they came out though I’m surprised they only had 240hp. I test drove a used one back in the late ’90s and it pulled like a hot rod compared to the 302s I was used to. Of course, the extra 35hp in the 351 Lightning is 17% hp more than the 302, that’s a decent hp bump and quite noticeable when you punch it. It was a very clean pickup but I passed on it because it required premium fuel and it had an auto trans. I prefer a manual trans in a pickup though I like an auto trans in my cars. My ’95 F150 has a 302 with a 5-speed and is rated at 205hp, not exactly a powerhouse but with 275 ft/lbs of torque, it’s good enough for my needs.
The monochromatic look on the Lightnings makes for a sharp look, especially in red, and combined with the ’92-’96 F150s body style, a much better-looking truck than the later Lightnings, IMHO. Never cared for the Aero-look; a pretty boring body style. This one is in fairly good condition, especially considering the mileage and the fact that it’s 26 years old. This one could be a good deal for somebody who’s looking for a relatively scarce, vintage F150; GLWTA.
I’ll take an auto trans in my trucks and a manual in my cars…
I’m not really commenting on this particular truck, I do absolutely love these first generation Lightning ones. This comment of mine pertains to the new knowledge in general I get from the people who post. Before I read FordGuy1972. I had no idea these required premium fuel. It’s all these little tidbits I love learning.
Per the owner’s manual they required premium when towing. I drove mine with the front tank filled with premium and rear with Regular.
Auction update: this SVT Lightning sold for $6,200!
Wow! That’s even cheaper than the 84 Gold short bed. Seems like a good deal to me.
I have to wonder if the rust bubbles over the rear wheel wells and the rain gutter, and needing a paint job kept a few bidders away.
Probably. Also could be non standard engine parts as mentioned although it would of been helpful if they said what the non standard parts are.
I had 96 F 150, it showed a little rust spot behind D/Side front wheel, I took it to a body shop who said they would repair the “spot” for $325 , when I came to get the truck after repair, they had to replace the entire fender due to rust on inner fender(at agreed on price). so when I saw rust spots on other side front fender, rear wheel fender well, and under drivers door…she had to go! I sure miss that truck but it would only get 12mpg!
I bought a black ‘93 when new and owned it until 2011. Great truck. The 4:10 rear made it jump when you wanted it to. I put 95k trouble free Miles on it including occasional towing of a flatbed car trailer. These trucks were built on ford 4×4 snow plow frames for added stiffness which meant 2WD front lowering kits wouldn’t work. This ‘95 has the desirable middle jump seat not available in ‘93.
The roof gutter rust is scary. Obvious repaint with clear coat failure. The ‘90’s saw thousands of Ford and GM trucks with failing (peeling) paint but usually those were painted white, silver or gray that came through my plastic media blasting shop.
Great price on a great truck
Last body style I really liked from Ford, my lifted ’96 F150 was a clean machine. Tried to buy one of these in ’95, a black one, brand new but at 25000 I just couldn’t swing the 500 dollar monthly payment. Another unforseen expense were tires.
Heck of a truck though, then and now, right at the height of the 5.0 Mustang tuning deal these got tweaked and worked over almost immediately. I hardly ever see any nowdays. Price it sold for seems like a bargain.
The non-lightening F-150s in the mid 90s also came with the 5.8L. I suppose as optional -sleeper kind of package.