Yeah...I never understood that. There was MORE than enough interest. ...but then again, Ford isn't in the business of making cars JUST to make cars- They make cars in order to make MONEY. I guess they figured they already have enough "income" and didn't wanna make the effort of designing a production-ready V8 Ranger 🤔
Because it sounds cool. Gearheads love something like that. But the general consumer buys a ranger for other reasons. So the market simply isn't there for it.
@@04dram04 They never put the 5.4 2v supercharged in the ford explorer. They put a 5.0 which was severely underpowered for its time. Nothing like the coyote and it wasn't for racing.
Holy crap! I never knew about this one. What an incredible job they did on this concept. That big motor and power in that small truck is hilarious, I love it.
Im sure some slicks would of helped the E.T. i thought at best it was gonna have the cobra supercharged 4.6 motor but nope svt did it big and used the 5.4 2nd gen lightning motor.. i see why ford didn't release this, because people would have been wrecking them like crazy i can't imagine trying to drive that in the rain with no extra weight in the bed
@@jdubskiwright2380 I had a 347 swapped '88 Ranger I built in college. You did not drive it in the rain; EVER. Trucks like these are not for the masses.
@@ranger8729 definitely not.. one wrong hit on the throttle around a corner and youll be facing into oncoming traffic..i really wanna swap a mild 302 into a late 90s ranger or mazda they fit and there only about 50lbs heavier then the iron 2.5 4cyl when you use aluminum heads. Id go with a 4r70w auto or a 5spd relocate the battery and put a fuel cell in the bed swap in a the 8.8 axle some bigger brakes and better suspension upfront and you gotta nice little street truck
probably wasn't even enough, the rear end of these rangers was far too light, they'd spin the tires easily in the rain. i can see why this never went into production, it'd be worse than the mustang memes.
If this was produced with just a 4.6, It would have been a good competitor against the Dakota V8. The Dakota threw a 5.9 in it as well and called it the RT. Was a good decade for compact trucks.
Amen! I was just thinking about the V10 Mustang they did. Not even a Triton V10 from their trucks, but a Modular 4.6L V8 designed with two more cylinders to be a 5.8L V10. Wacky stuff!
More 400+ hp Rangers would have been in ditches or wrapped around telephone poles than there would be running normally. My 2000 v6 flareside is bad enough for spinning the tires in 1st and into 2nd gear 400+ hp would be pointless.
I saw a red ranger that had the 2nd gen Lightning front bumper, wheels, and side exit exhausts. It was called "lil lightning" and had custom badging for it. Had a 3.8 supercharged engine from a Thunderbird S/C
The guys over at Trucks! did a similar project on an early 2000s Mazda B Series truck (same platform as the Ranger). They stuffed a 4.6L DOHC unit into one. But, the modifications got more gnarly as time went on with that truck. It's called project Rolling Thunder if anyone has seen.
I saw that! With the V8, and IRS from a cobra R and it still weighed close to the stock 4 cylinder and had very sports car like weight distribution. I enjoyed that project!
Insane to think that this truck concept is now 20 years old. I remember hearing about it I was 21-ish at the time and back then I was obsessed with big horsepower numbers and hearing that they stopped at 5.4 l V8 inside of a small truck like that was just baffling at the time. How times have changed. Everybody's worried about how much electric juice they can shove under the hood nowadays. I never thought I would be one of those old men that would look back and say, "Ya know, back in my day". But it seems now I can. Times have changed so much and I am constantly looking back on those days thinking how much simpler things seemed.
They did an expedition lightning concept as well that never saw the light of day. I think there was an SVT Thunderbird also that made it the concept but never made it to production. This truck was killed off for the same reason the SVT Thunderbird was because the platform went away.
1989-90 Ford did a 5.0 h.o 5spd in an aerostar minivan, got to drive it and the same years did the 3.0 dohc Taurus SHO v-6 in a ranger, got to ride in it. My godfather was an engineer in Ford light trucks. He would come down from Michigan every few years to see my Dad and would always drive something really cool. R.i.p. Phil
I had a 1996 Ford Ranger Splash with the 2.3L 4-cylinder with 5-speed manual. It had over 400K miles before I sold it. Nothing ever went wrong with it other than standard stuff like dead batteries.
I absolutely love the Splashes. My uncle had a blue 1994 with the 4.0 V6, I believe and the 5-speed and it was such an awesome truck. I wanted to buy an black extended cab with either V6 and a 5-speed in 1995 however the dealership jerked me around and I ended up with a very nice 4.3 V6, 5-speed S-10 extended cab. I'd still love to get a Splash although it seems like most that I see have lived a pretty tough life by this point. If I ever find a nice one and can afford it, I'll jump on it for sure. BTW, that old Ford 2.3 L is such a bulletproof engine. You were very lucky to have one.
You mean you never has electrical issues like dome light never turning off. Sometimes never turning on. Lol. How about Cold Start sensor either not activating or not being able to tell when its warmed up ? 8 spark plugs and 112 HP that literally couldn't get out of its own way if your life depends on it 😂🤣
I love ford's but I hate the electrical system...recently got rid of my 88 thunderbird turbocoupe with the same engine your ranger has but with a turbo attached to it, great engine...stupidly designed electrical system from the factory, any ford's pre 1994 just don't bother unless you're willing to rewire the whole car because the ass hat engineers couldn't be bothered to properly wire them
Saw a guy who did something like this had a stroker kit made for the v6, mild cam, slapped a supercharger on top, t56 trans, and got a cobra irs in the rear. Impressive af.
Damn, 420 horsepower and 480 lb/ft torque. That is literally double than that of the Ranger’s highest output engine. My 4.0L V6 only makes 207 horsepower and 238 lb/ft torque. They should’ve totally made this a production vehicle.
@@BuzzLOLOL same but what's killing the times and power in that truck is the slow slushbox trans. If it had a 10 speed or even 6 speed auto it would be way faster.
There was some Arizona based tuner who built a Ford Ranger stepside with a Vortec supercharged 5.0 and a T-56 transmission back around that time. That was what I envisioned as the ultimate Ranger.
The human mind is amazing. I didn't remember this until he said getting rid of the burnout evidence. Definitely saw this with my dad on TV many moons ago
You've been SITTING ON THIS THE WHOLE TIME??? The Lightning Bolt was one of those legendary 2000s Ford experiments to me, that along with the Boss 351 V10.
I'd say Ford has had a few wild one offs in their belt Like the V8 Taurus that had a completely custom Yamaha/Cosworth engine, the 1999-2004 Mustang Cobras also had a whole new rear suspension designed just for them, and also to a lesser extent when Ford turned the 4.6 4 valve 90° and put it into the FWD Continental and the Continental only that needed a special block to work with the transverse layout. Ford definitely does weird things, but unlike something like the Syclone and Typhoon Ford sells a lot more of their weird cars so they might seem less special I suppose?
@@crazybear5475 I mean Ford has a ton of special vehicles that are rare that are sold to the public even more rare than the syclones. Ever heard of a cobra r? Made em in 93, 95 and 2000. They made 107, 250 and 300 respectively. The svo mustang was unique and fairly limited as was the turbo coupe tbird and sc tbird which was a blown v6 those were very corky cars that were fairly limited. I think anything svt did was super cool. There are tuner versions of special cars too like Saleen cobras for example. Boss 302 was cool as shit and pretty limited at only like what 8000 vehicles total for 2 model years? 93 cobra was 1 year only and just under 5000 made total. They made like 3000+ syclones so they aren't much more rare than a 93 cobra and alot of the other cars I mentioned are much more limited than the syclone and typhoon
Growing up In Toledo Ohio, my next door neighbor was a salesman at the local dealer and brought one home to take me for a ride. Super cool as a ranger was my original dream truck. I remember the lighting felt faster.
Prob because it would have been too fast for the price range aka smoking the mustang gt and running with terminators for less money lol. It would have to be priced under the lightning which was around the 03-04 cobras cost prob little less. So it would have been closer to mustang gt pricing but smoking it on performance lol. Can't have that.
I love watching these videos cause my grandmother lived right down the road from that drag strip and I remember going up to see her in the summers and sitting in the back porch at night hearing them run down there
You can buy concept cars, most of the time they arent street legal. There was the Purple 1995 Riviera Convertible GS Concept Car for sale a few weeks ago.
Think it would have been amazing to see a production version of this even if it was a supercharged version of the 4.0 liter V6 that still would have kicked some butt and turned some heads
@The Real VR I think you're 4.0 ranger was probably making more like 182hp and 209lb ft at the wheels stock. I say that because a 4.0 mustang makes 185hp and 211lb ft at the wheels stock.
@The Real VR but I would be willing to bet a supercharged version with higher flow exhaust and radiator could easily make over 300hp and still be plenty of power for such a light truck
This is the first time I've heard of this truck and it's amazing! I hate that I missed this back in the day! I guess Ford did an amazing job making this sleeper because if one rolled up on me I wouldn't expect what would happen next.
It was very common for people to throw 5.0 engines in rangers back in the day. Having to retool that front suspension is probably why these were never messed produced.
I had a friend who had a 1997 Ford Ranger with a crew cab, he used for his painting business, he beat the hell out of that truck for 300,000 miles before he had to put in a new transmission 5 years ago and it was still running last I saw of him. Edit: It was a 1993 Ford Ranger that he bought new.
Always like the look and basic nature of this era Rangers. I had a ‘99 XLT single cab that was decent, but had fuel delivery issues early at about 30k which were aggravating to diagnose and costly to fix. After that it was pretty solid until I sold it just shy of 100k. Would have kept if it for fun if it weren’t for my lack of storage space and that it was only 2WD when I moved to the snow belt where it was almost undriveable 4 months of the year.
I remember watching an episode of Stacey David’s trucks! or gearz that he made a custom pick from a for ranger or mazda b series that put in a mustang power train and of course tweaked the frame and upgraded suspension nstuff. It was smoking hot!
Afree, from the HP/torque, was expecting high 11's in 1/4... or at least low 12's... Guess estimate was grossHP, not netHP... But pickups are as aerodynamic as a brick, so max speed suffers...
Stuff seen in this video that we'll never see again for general consumers: 1. A Toys R' US sign 2. A legitimate mini truck (I.e. One with a frame) 3. A supercharged V8 in a pickup truck.
I had a 1993 Splash. I live in Michigan and was in Dearborn, I was a gas station and an Engineer asked me how I liked my Splash, he said they were going to put 5.0 in all Splash models but it was conducive to line assembly. The whole front end had to be removed to fit the Motor
What can i say, i'm also sorry that this never went into production. With that look and power could have been a milestone in sport trucks. I'm sure its capable of faster quarter mile times, something happened during those runs.
Man, what a cool little truck. Ford back in the day actually did some pretty interesting stuff. Now it's all electric, automatic, SUV, and for excitement you get 31 flavors of whatever badge candy "special edition" Mustang they're hawking this year.
I’m wondering how they modified the front suspension? I put 1994 Mustang Cobra 17” wheels on my 2011 Ranger XLT Supercab in 2016 and the tires were rubbing the front brake hoses even with wheel spacers on. I then tried 5/16” disc wheel spacers on and the lug nuts had only 1/3rd of an inch of wheel studs to hold onto. Off came the wheels after 10 days as they were too big of a hassle. I have a video of them on showing how close the tires were to the brake hoses.
If any of you Americans are Ford fans at around same time in Australia Ford built n sold XH Falcon ute with 5.0lt V8. At Melbourne motor show they had concept ute call Sandfire with V8, straight through 3inch pipes. Later that year I got hear it fire up at ag fields days, bloody awesome.
This wasn't the first time SVT put a V8 in a Ranger. Years before they put a built 5.0L or 5.8L in a Ranger, it was red in color. But like the one featured in this video, Ford wouldn't pull the trigger on that earlier SVT creation for production.
I remember reading awhile ago that a normal guy made one of these out of a rear ended f150 lightning. He swapped everything over and I remember it saying it fit surprisingly well except they had to move the battery and one of the fluid reservoirs to fit it in. The picture of it was actually a previous design ranger. Can't remember if it was the 97 style or the 98 style tho. Probably 90% sure it was the 97 style I saw.
I had a first year Ranger Splash that I absolutely loved it. But had this been available I would’ve jumped at the chance to get one with full factory warranty. I remember seeing another Ranger SVT version in maroon that had the 5.0 Cobra motor in it but alas that never made production either 😢
Chevy had a skunkworks also. 700 horse Camaro in the mid nineties and a bunch of other neat stuff. A buddy in high school dropped a 302 into an 86 Ranger and it was fun.
Considering how many 5.0 Explorers made it out of the factory, I don’t know why Ford never mass-produced a v8 Ranger.
plenty of everyday schmoes doing the swap themselves
Yeah...I never understood that.
There was MORE than enough interest.
...but then again, Ford isn't in the business of making cars JUST to make cars- They make cars in order to make MONEY.
I guess they figured they already have enough "income" and didn't wanna make the effort of designing a production-ready V8 Ranger 🤔
Because it sounds cool. Gearheads love something like that. But the general consumer buys a ranger for other reasons. So the market simply isn't there for it.
@@elev8torguy130 but then whats the point of putting it in the explorer? A truck makes more sense than an suv
@@04dram04 They never put the 5.4 2v supercharged in the ford explorer. They put a 5.0 which was severely underpowered for its time. Nothing like the coyote and it wasn't for racing.
Holy crap! I never knew about this one. What an incredible job they did on this concept. That big motor and power in that small truck is hilarious, I love it.
From the HP/torque, was expecting high 11's in 1/4... or at least low 12's...
@@BuzzLOLOL thank the bad transmission and barely any traction
Im sure some slicks would of helped the E.T. i thought at best it was gonna have the cobra supercharged 4.6 motor but nope svt did it big and used the 5.4 2nd gen lightning motor.. i see why ford didn't release this, because people would have been wrecking them like crazy i can't imagine trying to drive that in the rain with no extra weight in the bed
@@jdubskiwright2380 I had a 347 swapped '88 Ranger I built in college. You did not drive it in the rain; EVER. Trucks like these are not for the masses.
@@ranger8729 definitely not.. one wrong hit on the throttle around a corner and youll be facing into oncoming traffic..i really wanna swap a mild 302 into a late 90s ranger or mazda they fit and there only about 50lbs heavier then the iron 2.5 4cyl when you use aluminum heads. Id go with a 4r70w auto or a 5spd relocate the battery and put a fuel cell in the bed swap in a the 8.8 axle some bigger brakes and better suspension upfront and you gotta nice little street truck
345's in the rear is INSANE for the time. The Vipers of similar vintage weren't even that wide out back.
345 is still pretty insane in any of the time periods current and past
probably slowed its mph down in the quarter
probably wasn't even enough, the rear end of these rangers was far too light, they'd spin the tires easily in the rain. i can see why this never went into production, it'd be worse than the mustang memes.
If this was produced with just a 4.6, It would have been a good competitor against the Dakota V8. The Dakota threw a 5.9 in it as well and called it the RT. Was a good decade for compact trucks.
Nissan, Toyota, Big 3 all had competitive small truck designs back then that command premium prices today.
I own an 03 Dakota R/T and it's excellent at making tires disappear
@@anthroism26mc never knew they were a thing but dang it sounds like it’d be nasty.
Dakota is midsized not really a compact.
The OG SVT engineers were like the skunkworks of Ford...very cool engineering products
Amen! I was just thinking about the V10 Mustang they did. Not even a Triton V10 from their trucks, but a Modular 4.6L V8 designed with two more cylinders to be a 5.8L V10. Wacky stuff!
A 5.4 stock would be scary in a single cab ranger, let alone a supercharged one! Wouldn't touch it on rainy days.
But from the HP/torque, was expecting high 11's in 1/4... or at least low 12's...
@@BuzzLOLOL
I’m sure they were pedaling it hard!
@@BuzzLOLOL Looking for traction 🤷♂
I loved this era/generation of Rangers! Had a ‘95 and an ‘01. This beast should have been mass produced!
had the 99 and the 03 Edge; best trucks everrr
Don't forget the Crown Vitoria that spawned like cockroaches, the cruiser, taxi, and civil use.
Senseless business case.
More 400+ hp Rangers would have been in ditches or wrapped around telephone poles than there would be running normally. My 2000 v6 flareside is bad enough for spinning the tires in 1st and into 2nd gear 400+ hp would be pointless.
@@martymcpeak4748 Exactly
I saw a red ranger that had the 2nd gen Lightning front bumper, wheels, and side exit exhausts. It was called "lil lightning" and had custom badging for it. Had a 3.8 supercharged engine from a Thunderbird S/C
The guys over at Trucks! did a similar project on an early 2000s Mazda B Series truck (same platform as the Ranger). They stuffed a 4.6L DOHC unit into one. But, the modifications got more gnarly as time went on with that truck. It's called project Rolling Thunder if anyone has seen.
I remember that
I watched that here on CZcams
I saw that! With the V8, and IRS from a cobra R and it still weighed close to the stock 4 cylinder and had very sports car like weight distribution. I enjoyed that project!
I remembered seeing that truck on Trucks! Miss seeing that show. It was a really good show.
@@clintonstubbs2319 it's now called truck tech, and it use to have the same hosts from trucks, Kevin tez and Ryan, but they changed hosts also
It's a shame that this little beast never came to fruition!!! I'd love to have one in my driveway right now! 😭
Gotta love these retro reviews.. I had a buddy who owned base Ranger with over 300K miles on it. Nice little trucks
Insane to think that this truck concept is now 20 years old. I remember hearing about it I was 21-ish at the time and back then I was obsessed with big horsepower numbers and hearing that they stopped at 5.4 l V8 inside of a small truck like that was just baffling at the time. How times have changed. Everybody's worried about how much electric juice they can shove under the hood nowadays. I never thought I would be one of those old men that would look back and say, "Ya know, back in my day". But it seems now I can. Times have changed so much and I am constantly looking back on those days thinking how much simpler things seemed.
I always wanted them to stick the 4.6L V8 in a Ranger, back in the early 2000's.
GM did stick the 5.3 in the Colorado
@@TSL73 very rare
I did not know these were made 😳
They weren't. This is a one off concept.
Same, because it's a concept probably 🤣🤣
@@danjones3402 🤣
They did an expedition lightning concept as well that never saw the light of day. I think there was an SVT Thunderbird also that made it the concept but never made it to production. This truck was killed off for the same reason the SVT Thunderbird was because the platform went away.
It was a concept
Too bad these weren't in production. What an incredibly weird and awesome vehicle
1989-90 Ford did a 5.0 h.o 5spd in an aerostar minivan, got to drive it and the same years did the 3.0 dohc Taurus SHO v-6 in a ranger, got to ride in it. My godfather was an engineer in Ford light trucks. He would come down from Michigan every few years to see my Dad and would always drive something really cool. R.i.p. Phil
The SHO powered ranger went 160+ at Talladega
I had a 1996 Ford Ranger Splash with the 2.3L 4-cylinder with 5-speed manual. It had over 400K miles before I sold it. Nothing ever went wrong with it other than standard stuff like dead batteries.
I believe it! I’ve seen it
I absolutely love the Splashes. My uncle had a blue 1994 with the 4.0 V6, I believe and the 5-speed and it was such an awesome truck. I wanted to buy an black extended cab with either V6 and a 5-speed in 1995 however the dealership jerked me around and I ended up with a very nice 4.3 V6, 5-speed S-10 extended cab.
I'd still love to get a Splash although it seems like most that I see have lived a pretty tough life by this point. If I ever find a nice one and can afford it, I'll jump on it for sure.
BTW, that old Ford 2.3 L is such a bulletproof engine. You were very lucky to have one.
You mean you never has electrical issues like dome light never turning off. Sometimes never turning on. Lol.
How about Cold Start sensor either not activating or not being able to tell when its warmed up ?
8 spark plugs and 112 HP that literally couldn't get out of its own way if your life depends on it 😂🤣
I love ford's but I hate the electrical system...recently got rid of my 88 thunderbird turbocoupe with the same engine your ranger has but with a turbo attached to it, great engine...stupidly designed electrical system from the factory, any ford's pre 1994 just don't bother unless you're willing to rewire the whole car because the ass hat engineers couldn't be bothered to properly wire them
Just that they had terrible mpg for a 4 cylinder
My gosh, I am getting old remembering this old video from MotorWeek.....John, you are still the best...thank you.
As a Chevy guy, I approve of this truck and remember when the concept came out, I would have this in my garage
Saw a guy who did something like this had a stroker kit made for the v6, mild cam, slapped a supercharger on top, t56 trans, and got a cobra irs in the rear. Impressive af.
Damn, 420 horsepower and 480 lb/ft torque. That is literally double than that of the Ranger’s highest output engine. My 4.0L V6 only makes 207 horsepower and 238 lb/ft torque. They should’ve totally made this a production vehicle.
Yeah, from the HP/torque, was expecting high 11's in 1/4... or at least low 12's...
Guess estimate was grossHP, not netHP...
This thing would eat a raptor/trx alive lol
@@BuzzLOLOL same but what's killing the times and power in that truck is the slow slushbox trans. If it had a 10 speed or even 6 speed auto it would be way faster.
@@Jcastro9444 - But you have to consider the additional weight of trannies with more gears...
@@BuzzLOLOL it should be faster the lightning ran like 13.9 at 100 same engine with less power and more weight. It don'tale sense.
Holy hell this thing is incredible
There was some Arizona based tuner who built a Ford Ranger stepside with a Vortec supercharged 5.0 and a T-56 transmission back around that time. That was what I envisioned as the ultimate Ranger.
I miss this rare one time only review of this one of a kind Ranger. Thanks!
The human mind is amazing. I didn't remember this until he said getting rid of the burnout evidence. Definitely saw this with my dad on TV many moons ago
Dad had a 1998 explorer with the 5.0 ,was a beast for back then
You've been SITTING ON THIS THE WHOLE TIME???
The Lightning Bolt was one of those legendary 2000s Ford experiments to me, that along with the Boss 351 V10.
how come GM sometimes produces one off's for mass purchase, Syclone and Typhoon, but Ford does not?
I'd say Ford has had a few wild one offs in their belt
Like the V8 Taurus that had a completely custom Yamaha/Cosworth engine, the 1999-2004 Mustang Cobras also had a whole new rear suspension designed just for them, and also to a lesser extent when Ford turned the 4.6 4 valve 90° and put it into the FWD Continental and the Continental only that needed a special block to work with the transverse layout. Ford definitely does weird things, but unlike something like the Syclone and Typhoon Ford sells a lot more of their weird cars so they might seem less special I suppose?
@@crazybear5475 I mean Ford has a ton of special vehicles that are rare that are sold to the public even more rare than the syclones. Ever heard of a cobra r? Made em in 93, 95 and 2000. They made 107, 250 and 300 respectively. The svo mustang was unique and fairly limited as was the turbo coupe tbird and sc tbird which was a blown v6 those were very corky cars that were fairly limited. I think anything svt did was super cool. There are tuner versions of special cars too like Saleen cobras for example. Boss 302 was cool as shit and pretty limited at only like what 8000 vehicles total for 2 model years? 93 cobra was 1 year only and just under 5000 made total. They made like 3000+ syclones so they aren't much more rare than a 93 cobra and alot of the other cars I mentioned are much more limited than the syclone and typhoon
@@midnight347 i know ford did a lot with SVT in the 90s and 2000's with cars but NEVER with the Ranger. That was a waste.
Ford's response to the GMC Syclone. Pretty crazy.
agreed, what a time to be alive
Over 10 years later....
I wish they would’ve brought this to production. It’s fucking rad.
yup but Ford chickened out where GM did not.
@@crazybear5475 One of the rare times that happened. Usually it’s the opposite.
Truck should be going deep into the 12 second range with that much horsepower
Traction issues.
These would be selling on bring a trailer for $50k now haha
They’re worth it lol
That’s an incredibly cool little truck! Love this kind of build with a bigger engine in a small vehicle!
I never knew these existed. Gotta love Ford Rangers.
First time ever for seeing a video of this truck in action!
Growing up In Toledo Ohio, my next door neighbor was a salesman at the local dealer and brought one home to take me for a ride.
Super cool as a ranger was my original dream truck.
I remember the lighting felt faster.
Shame they didn’t make these. They woulda been a major hit! Wouldn’t have cost much more to make these. Don’t know why they didn’t 😢
Prob because it would have been too fast for the price range aka smoking the mustang gt and running with terminators for less money lol. It would have to be priced under the lightning which was around the 03-04 cobras cost prob little less. So it would have been closer to mustang gt pricing but smoking it on performance lol. Can't have that.
I love watching these videos cause my grandmother lived right down the road from that drag strip and I remember going up to see her in the summers and sitting in the back porch at night hearing them run down there
This is why I have a V8 ranger. Just too fun!
Hermosa camioneta!
Muy buen programa!
Saludos desde Argentina 🇦🇷
I remember a few people doing this with the 4.6!
never knew of this , these would have been siiiiick!
This is really good, didn't know this existed.
This would’ve been worth so much money today
You can buy concept cars, most of the time they arent street legal. There was the Purple 1995 Riviera Convertible GS Concept Car for sale a few weeks ago.
@@georgeschmall9254 oh wow
Think it would have been amazing to see a production version of this even if it was a supercharged version of the 4.0 liter V6 that still would have kicked some butt and turned some heads
@The Real VR I think you're 4.0 ranger was probably making more like 182hp and 209lb ft at the wheels stock.
I say that because a 4.0 mustang makes 185hp and 211lb ft at the wheels stock.
@The Real VR but I would be willing to bet a supercharged version with higher flow exhaust and radiator could easily make over 300hp and still be plenty of power for such a light truck
Now THATS a F.F.R.!
It would've been a monster with awd!
I'm a Ranger guy and didn't even know about this one. That would've been awesome!!!
1:23 John: WHAT IF THE LIGHTNING HAD A BABY BROTHER? LOL
Never heard of this. I totally dig it!
This is the first time I've heard of this truck and it's amazing! I hate that I missed this back in the day! I guess Ford did an amazing job making this sleeper because if one rolled up on me I wouldn't expect what would happen next.
I remember those 2002 Alteza taillights.... everyone was getting them.
It was very common for people to throw 5.0 engines in rangers back in the day. Having to retool that front suspension is probably why these were never messed produced.
The GMC Syclone used a twin turbo v6 that was quicker than the zr1. The zr1 kills mustang cobras so this Ranger could not keep up.
I had a friend who had a 1997 Ford Ranger with a crew cab, he used for his painting business, he beat the hell out of that truck for 300,000 miles before he had to put in a new transmission 5 years ago and it was still running last I saw of him. Edit: It was a 1993 Ford Ranger that he bought new.
Mexico spec?
@@limoboy27 No
@@A-FrameWedge it would be interesting to see because we never had a crew cab ranger in the us. The closest we had was the sport trac
Always like the look and basic nature of this era Rangers. I had a ‘99 XLT single cab that was decent, but had fuel delivery issues early at about 30k which were aggravating to diagnose and costly to fix. After that it was pretty solid until I sold it just shy of 100k. Would have kept if it for fun if it weren’t for my lack of storage space and that it was only 2WD when I moved to the snow belt where it was almost undriveable 4 months of the year.
Damn it'd be hot ranger today !!!
Big fan of those mirrors. So cool
Never knew this was gonna be a thing lol until motor week pops up on my explore page on yt often now
I remember watching an episode of Stacey David’s trucks! or gearz that he made a custom pick from a for ranger or mazda b series that put in a mustang power train and of course tweaked the frame and upgraded suspension nstuff. It was smoking hot!
How did I never hear about these? Crazy I've never seen one either.
Totally badass! This is easily one of the coolest concept vehicles I’ve ever seen, this definitely should’ve been a limited production truck.
That’s some serious beef on the back of that truck. This thing is badass
Wow. Would love to have one. Perfect in every way. Especially the color.
I believe most car manufacturers underestimate how many people love fun cars. They could sell so much more.
Every single shirt that was looking at this truck was tucked in
Some SVT concept cars really deserved to be made because they are really sick and also will atract a lo t of new fans
Love it. I kept waiting for the 0-60 though.
101mph trap speed? Something definitely doesn't add up. Very cool nonetheless.
Afree, from the HP/torque, was expecting high 11's in 1/4... or at least low 12's...
Guess estimate was grossHP, not netHP...
But pickups are as aerodynamic as a brick, so max speed suffers...
@The Real VR - Starting 2006 with 3 valve SOHC 4.6L engine, Mustang GTs run 13.5 @ 105 off showroom floor...
I remember this thing. It was at the dealership there in Owings Mills once.
Stuff seen in this video that we'll never see again for general consumers:
1. A Toys R' US sign
2. A legitimate mini truck (I.e. One with a frame)
3. A supercharged V8 in a pickup truck.
I had a 1993 Splash. I live in Michigan and was in Dearborn, I was a gas station and an Engineer asked me how I liked my Splash, he said they were going to put 5.0 in all Splash models but it was conducive to line assembly. The whole front end had to be removed to fit the Motor
BS...
Yep, they built a prototype for it but Ford wouldn't approve it for production.
Very cool! 🤩
What can i say, i'm also sorry that this never went into production. With that look and power could have been a milestone in sport trucks. I'm sure its capable of faster quarter mile times, something happened during those runs.
Absolutely badass!!!!! 😇⚡🛻
Man, what a cool little truck.
Ford back in the day actually did some pretty interesting stuff.
Now it's all electric, automatic, SUV, and for excitement you get 31 flavors of whatever badge candy "special edition" Mustang they're hawking this year.
Holy crap I knew about the SVT Thunder, but wow
Dang shame, THAT wasn't mass produced 😢😫
Very cool!!
Damn that's awesome
This is awesome
This my number one show 17 years ago
Wow I remember watching this when it originally aired! 😳
I’m wondering how they modified the front suspension? I put 1994 Mustang Cobra 17” wheels on my 2011 Ranger XLT Supercab in 2016 and the tires were rubbing the front brake hoses even with wheel spacers on. I then tried 5/16” disc wheel spacers on and the lug nuts had only 1/3rd of an inch of wheel studs to hold onto. Off came the wheels after 10 days as they were too big of a hassle. I have a video of them on showing how close the tires were to the brake hoses.
LOVE IT!
That would have been awesome. I would love to see a slammed and fast 6th gen Ranger.
If any of you Americans are Ford fans at around same time in Australia Ford built n sold XH Falcon ute with 5.0lt V8. At Melbourne motor show they had concept ute call Sandfire with V8, straight through 3inch pipes. Later that year I got hear it fire up at ag fields days, bloody awesome.
This was one SVT that should have gotten the go. Looks great!
I'm a die hard Ford fan and even I never knew there was a Ford ranger lightning bolt before watching this video
Perfect for the new Maverixk
Damn shame they didn’t mass produce this. Hate living in a world without v8 rangers running around
This wasn't the first time SVT put a V8 in a Ranger. Years before they put a built 5.0L or 5.8L in a Ranger, it was red in color. But like the one featured in this video, Ford wouldn't pull the trigger on that earlier SVT creation for production.
I believe it was a 1997 with a 5.0L
This thing is sick!
I want that! A body kit or ground effects would have looked ven cooler!
That’s a beautiful ranger but also scary in a good way
I remember reading awhile ago that a normal guy made one of these out of a rear ended f150 lightning. He swapped everything over and I remember it saying it fit surprisingly well except they had to move the battery and one of the fluid reservoirs to fit it in. The picture of it was actually a previous design ranger. Can't remember if it was the 97 style or the 98 style tho. Probably 90% sure it was the 97 style I saw.
Small.....BIG beast right there😎
I had a first year Ranger Splash that I absolutely loved it. But had this been available I would’ve jumped at the chance to get one with full factory warranty. I remember seeing another Ranger SVT version in maroon that had the 5.0 Cobra motor in it but alas that never made production either 😢
Chevy had a skunkworks also. 700 horse Camaro in the mid nineties and a bunch of other neat stuff. A buddy in high school dropped a 302 into an 86 Ranger and it was fun.
Would be nice if it were still on PBS in my area instead of being locked behind a pay wall for MAVTV 😒
Oh that is so bad ass. I want one!
Get it line😂😂😂
@@Zzus321 shit. Does the line start back here?
@@BuckFudweiser 😅😆😂
Rear tire width is hilarious. 325s. Necessary though!
345's wide... like came on back of Panteras and some Ferraris...
Well this . . . caught my attention