In 1991, Ford set out to assemble a group of driving enthusiasts paired with engineers, with the goal of crafting high-performance vehicles that perfected Ford’s regular production designs. These were intended to be the poster vehicles for enthusiasts everywhere, and for the most part, they achieved just that. The three letters “SVT,” signifying Special Vehicle Team, became deeply etched in the minds of Ford loyalists, including myself, as a future aspiration in car ownership. These vehicles included the Cobra, Cobra R, Lightning, Raptor, and even the sport compact Focus and Contour. Each model was bestowed with the distinguished SVT surname and a corresponding vehicle identification number (VIN).
Essence Of An Era
While the second-generation Lightning is an easy reference point for any supercharged F-150, adding forced induction simply doesn’t make it an actual Lightning. I get that, but the latest offerings from Ford Performance have me wondering if these new packages really embody what Ford’s SVT team had originally created from 1999-2004. They offer a lot of the same components including a supercharger, suspension, wheels, and more. So, we set out to dissect the details between the two.
Finding a stock SVT Lightning has become a lot harder in the past few years. With these trucks being modified straight from the factory, one couldn’t expect much less from the enthusiasts’ market. Jonathan Blotzer’s 2004 SVT Lightning keeps the exterior aesthetics similar to stock, but underneath, it showcases a lot.
Price And Power
In years past, well before the consideration of carbon footprints or the need to purchase credits, Ford had no reservations about boosting the power of a platform for specialty models. Take the 1999 Ford F-150, which, in its naturally aspirated 5.4-liter form, produced only 260 horsepower. In contrast, its SVT Lightning counterpart boasted an impressive 360 horsepower, a figure that would jump to 380 in later years. This represented a 38-percent increase in power for roughly $10,000 or a 52-percent increase in the overall price tag.
Meanwhile, the Ford Performance FP700 package is sold post-title — maybe due to carbon footprint concerns, maybe the enthusiast’s lead foot — but you will not find these coming from the factory with the package pre-installed. However, the included Whipple Gen-5 3.0-liter supercharger increases power by 75-percent in the 2021…
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