How Long Until Pickup Trucks Become Super Cars And If So Who Will Do It First?

Drive a Ford Raptor. That's some amazing performance.

Indeed, that's why I've owned 4 since MY 2010. Current 2019 is a wonderful dual personality and the 2 remaining 6.2s (2010 & 2014 SpE) I beat to hell in the sand.

The first time I set eyes on this truck in 2008, I never looked back.

Do you own one Matt or have before? Sounds like it would be the perfect fit for you. Very nice to hear the praise honestly, as it's grating to hear the many unfair criticisms made against the Raptor. It's a toy like Lamborghini, not a tool.

Next P702 iteration is gonna be real special.

I think you'll also be hearing about the performance Bronco "Raptor" (not official name) soon in your dealer meetings. That's MY 2023.

I've never owned a Raptor, but have friends that adore them and it's obvious why. A Raptor would be perfect for me, but I like Shelbys and Corvettes more...in addition to the collection that I'm always tinkering with. I recently parted with my GT350 to make room for a GT500--whenever my time in the queue comes around. I also have a C7 Z06 that I've flirted with selling only to decide to keep it after driving a C8. Hands down I prefer the C7. My work car is a 2020 Explorer that I'm sort of "meh" about.

Great taste, C7 was one of a kind and a great improvement over the bland C6. I saw a lot more young guys behind the wheel of those and it was very fitting.

I should've gotten one a long time and now it's too late unfortunately. C8 is cool, but no manual. I would never buy a used C7, because of abuse concerns. Unfortunately for me, outside of the Raptors, 1 AMG, and fullsized lux sedans, I'm 100% manual-only.

Virtually every automobile I've owned, isn't auto nor DCT.

GT500 is out of the question for me, so I'll look at getting one of the last GT350s very soon. (hope you've enjoyed your 350)

It's not apples to apples, but just how I am with affordable side of performance vehicles. Stickshift only. Only a hypercar would be the exception, which I can't say I would do, since $200k is my limit for now (maybe more one day).

"...time *ago*..."

The GT350 is a huge case of ADORE, but here's the crazy thing. This generation of the Mustang is exceedingly good. My company car for a good amount of time was a base V6 Mustang which was a surprisingly good car. It sold better for us than the EgoBoost. When Ford killed the V6, our sales volume of Mustangs went down by roughly the amount of V6 models we sold. I'd also argue that the Mustang GT is a better choice than the GT350 because you get 90% of the performance for 60% of the price of a Shelby.

I love stick shifts but these days my only sticks are the TVRs and a couple of vintage muscle cars. I've gotten my head around paddle flippers and made peace with them. I'd love for TVR to put the GT500 engine and paddle flipper into the Griffith, restyle the Miata nose to be more aggressive, and call it a Sagaris.

cybertruck

Let's let the Cybershit prove itself rather than crowing it the victor. The Cybershit very quickly will be made into a laughingstock.

I do not believe that trucks will ever become Super Cars. They are not built low to the ground for handling >>>> In other words a high center of gravity. They weigh too much for Horsepower to weight ratio. Cannot be designed for low wind resistance.
Dropping an electric motor in one might give it impressive 0 - 60 mph time. One statistic does not make a super car.

I've never driven an Raptor or a Baja trophy truck or a replica of one, but if we have crazy supercars that can't quite make it over a curb and have no luggage space, why not a 750hp - 1,000hp truck? Surely it would be easier to live with and more fun in more seasons too. If I won the Lotto I would have one for sure.

The Raptors are some of the most enticing vehicles I have ever owned this side of $100k. And I've owned cars reaching $180k (BMW M760i & G-Class AMG).

I've had 4, both V6TT and 6.2L. Shy of turning 18, I first laid my eyes on some SVT Raptor preproduction units at a Las Vegas dealer and was smitten. I knew Ford had for once done the SVT name in trucks justice, after abandoning the planned 2006 SVT Lightning.

It's the perfect embodiment of a supertruck. Even as a Ford employee, I must say that Ram are going to give us a run for our money with Rebel TRX. I'd take any of these over a unibody utility.

The Ram Rebel just doesn't look cool like a Raptor though. And where is GM in all of this? #MIA

Exactly MD, MIA. And unlike many, I don't count the Colorado ZR2 as an example LOL. It has some chops, but very unremarkable on the inside.

The RTRX looks a little good, but I understand your perspective. A Silverado K2XX.1 gen (2014-15) Raptor competitor would've been about the only GM truck I would've owned, as GM pickups are just too bland in general.

I respect pickup culture as an avid off-roader, but the engineering side of things attracts my attention more to the high performance entries. A basic lifted truck with big wheels and/or steel bumpers just isn't that special and typically what GM truck owners resort to.

I would prefer that any "Super Truck" be called a Super Truck not a Super Car. As mentioned above a truck will never really be a Super Car.

The criteria should also be defined. I would say:
0-60 < 4.5s
Minimum 6ft bed with a 1500lb payload
Tow at least say 5000lbs
Last but not least the ability to compete in off road races with few modifications... maybe not the Dakar Rally but something like the Barstow to Vegas.

Oh and I would say I think the Raptor may meet that criteria and if not it is getting close. Also the Cybertruck should be in contention although we have to wait a bit on the later to see if it lives up to expectations/promises.

The only thing the FuglyTruck will win is the Ugly Truck of the Year Award. Tesla's are not performance vehicles per se. They can't repeat their acceleration times more than 2 or 3 times max. And the FuglyTruck will never make it far off road since there are no superchargers in the middle of nowhere forest. The only thing it's super at is picking the pockets of Tesla fanboys who have more money than sense.

This was a very nice article. I like to see more things like this, touting the great aspects of American vehicles 009.

The older article with a photo of a red C7 next to a Magnetic Grey Raptor was beautiful.