As someone with a 100-hp mini pickup truck – a 1980 Dodge D-50 Sport – I’ve always wanted more power. Who doesn’t? A muscle truck like this 1993 Ford SVT Lightning would work very, very nicely for me and I bet that it would work for more than a few of you. It can be found posted here on craigslist in beautiful and historic Plymouth, Massachusetts. The seller is asking $10,900. Thanks to Mitchell G. for sending in this tip!
Speaking of power, it’s easy to get a Toyota Camry with more power than this SVT Lightning has, but why would you want to do that? We have seen a few nice Ford SVT Lightning pickups here on Barn Finds and they’re always interesting. The first version of the Ford SVT Lightning was made for 1993, 1994, and 1995 and they were basically more of a Mustang that could haul a few things in the back rather than a truck that could haul your 10,0000-pound trailer.
We don’t see inside the bed but the seller says that the whole rear of the truck has been repainted and the cab needs to be repainted. They also say that there is no rust which are the best words in all of car-dom, as far as I’m concerned. We don’t know why the bed has been repainted and they mention that this truck was in storage before they bought it but we don’t know for how long. The 1993 trucks only came in black or red.
Overall, I think this truck looks outstanding. It isn’t perfect, of course, you’ll see a few little things here and there but those things can be fixed, cleaned, or detailed. The interior is pretty close to a stock F-150 other than the seats and a fatter steering wheel. A manual transmission was never available from the factory, they all came with an E40D 4-speed automatic.
The engine was hot for the time, being Ford’s 351 V8 which had 240 horsepower and pulled the SVT Lightning from 0 to 60 mph in a little over 7-seconds. Not bad for a pickup in that era. Have any of you owned a Ford SVT Lightning?
I had a 93 . They had a reinforced frame , aluminum driveshaft and 4:10 gears
It was a brute. Regrettably I sold it.
Had a ’96 F150 with the 5.0, extra cab, slightly lifted, big tires…..really liked that truck but this is what I really wanted, even in just my white truck….the factory souped 351.
Seen them with the decals removed but there’s no mistaking that level stance.
Tried to buy one new in ’95 but couldn’t swing the payment…and there was no haggling on the Lightning’s limited production. Great truck then and now I don’t even care if my ’02 Silverado could take it. Nice
I owned a first year pristine Lightning with 48K original miles and sold it in Feb at the start of covid to get some cash. No regrets and with prices for these rising, I did fine.It’s a great driving truck but not quite big enough to haul one of my antique cars on a trailor into the mountains in western NC. ( I also couldn’t bear to modify it by installing a heavy duty hitch.) And as a show truck, not enough folks know what it is. This is not to be negative, just to point out that it and the Syclone are very nichey.
My thinking now is buy a late 30’s – late 40’s PU for fun, and a nice 20 year old F250 or equivalent if I want to trailer cars around.
As a Lincoln-Mercury Ford Truck dealer in Canada I couldn’t get the SVT franchise. So I bought my SVTs from my buddy Ray Skillman in Greenwood, Indiana. I was undefeated in King of the Hill at Delaware Speedway with various iterations of Lightnings over two years. One – stock, one – nitrous and one – Paxton. The truck outhandled most cars on the half mile. Lost my crown to an ex-Players Series Camaro. LOL
I used today run at Delaware and Nilestown in the early 60’s. Surprised to hear they are still in operation.
Delaware still running (not yet THIS year) but Nilestown was put on the trailer in about 1974. It’s a soccer club now. I announced at both tracks.
Wish I had room for this in my shop. Nice find. Some lucky person will take it home.
I worked on Lighting at Ford Advance
1989 – originally was twin turbo but management change to single application.
I still have photo poster with original race bumpers and crate – twin was spinner.
But the best was v12 on Lincoln Continental 1992 – really power
I had an 89 Chevy 350 with a 5 speed that was 210hp. It was fun but a lemon. The Lightning ‘s looked really fun and had great wheels.. My Dad had a 94 Ford with the 6 and a 5 spd stick. Good truck but the NH winters rusted it out badly…was 2WD and comfortable to drive. This one looks very clean.
5 speed – you can dream about that.
Not anymore
I have 1989 Ford f 150 300-6 5 speed manual – over 500.000 miles
Can’t find those anymore – very unique.
I’m looking up to 1996 300-6 5 speed 4×4
/ can’t find
Seats are factory and so is the Steering wheel, has a cover on it.