Ford to Build Ultimate Off-Roading Performance Pickup

With its upcoming F-150, Ford is aiming to cover every last inch of the full-size

pickup market segment. It'll have workhorse specials, models geared for affordable fun, an off-road version, and three different premium variations, including the traditional Lariat, the wild-West King Ranch and the new city slick Platinum. Ford will also bring back the biker's dream Harley Davidson model, but the brand is also looking to create the ultimate high-performance off-road truck with a machine that's known to F-150 enthusiasts as the "Raptor".

There are quite a number of pickup enthusiasts who customize their trucks with lifted suspension kits, oversize tires and high-performance components to create off-roading monsters; if automakers have tapped into the world of sport compact cars with factory-tuned versions, what's to stop Ford from doing the same with its trucks? Reportedly, besides offering a raised suspension and

big wheels, the Raptor will also feature shocks, developed by Fox Racing, that offer a foot of wheel travel! It seems as if Ford is not only aiming to be untouchable when it comes to traversing terrain at high-speed, but it could also be making the closest thing to a road-legal Baja truck.

In addition, the Raptor is reportedly an SVT project, the first since the Shelby GT500. Meeting the performance needs will be a brand new high-performance engine, a 6.2-liter “Boss” V8 capable of turning out somewhere between 380 and 420 horsepower, a big step up from the current 5.4-liter 300-hp Triton V8.

And while this particular type of truck isn't for the masses, it'll certainly be right up the alley for anyone who enjoys a high-riding truck with plenty of guts and off-roading prowess.