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If you had a small business and wanted to promote it, you could do worse than with a truck GMC once called "America's ablest." Even in the smallest, half-ton 100 series trucks, you could get a 336-cu.in. V-8 and automatic transmission. David Huff in Butler, Pennsylvania, had been on the lookout for an old pickup to advertise his "Huff's Home Improvements" business, but said that "everything done was out of my price range, so I started looking for a fixer-upper.... Old trucks can get pretty good rot."
After a fruitless search, fortune smiled when he spotted a 1958 Suburban for sale within a couple of miles from his house. It can be a gamble picking up someone else's unfinished restoration, but this truck was sound, and the previous owner had to let it go in a divorce. "Lucky for me, my buddy has an auto body business, and had a rental property that needed work, so a trade was worked out," he said. "I did what I do best, home improvement work, and he did body work and paint."
Before that began, however, David had to sort through all the debris of an unfinished restoration that came with the truck. Among the trove of documents, he found original dealer correspondence which revealed he'd become the third owner. He also discovered that while William Laughlin of Baltimore, Maryland, ordered the truck with a V-8, GMC built it with a straight-six. General Truck Sales apparently replaced it with the V-8, which is derived from corporate sibling Pontiac's 347. The original invoice indicated the engine and other options, including GMC's dual-range four-speed commercial Hydra-Matic, bumped the $2,100 base price up north of $2,900.
More paperwork revealed the truck's original color of Aspen Green with a Forest Green interior. "The glass, gauges, emblems and seats are the ones that came with it, while the bumpers, bumperettes, mirrors, hub caps and trim rings are reproductions," said David. "While looking for parts we didn't have, I found out how rare this vehicle is." Thankfully, with only 54,268 miles on the clock when we last heard from him, the GMC didn't require too much scouring of the swap meets.
"With no power steering, it's hard to park, but at highway speeds it handles well," said David. His plans for the summer of 2008 include 2,000-3,000 miles of "car shows, golf outings, and just cruising," so keep your eyes open during your next trip to Carlisle or Hershey.
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Boosted Powertrain
At the heart of this SVT Lightning is its iron-block 5.4-liter SOHC, 16-valve V8 with a supercharger and an intercooler. The blower helped it deliver 380 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque in 2001, up some 20 horsepower and 10 lb-ft from the ’99 and 2000 models. The Eaton supercharged engine delivered peak boost of 8.0 psi and the engine featured an 8.4:1 static compression ratio, down from the standard 5.4 V8’s 9.0:1, which was rated at 260 horsepower and 350 lb-ft.
Power reached the rear 18-inch cast aluminum-alloy wheels via a four-speed automatic, an aluminum driveshaft and a beefy 9.75-inch, limited-slip rear axle with an acceleration-friendly 3.73:1 final-drive ratio, another upgrade for 2001. Car and Driver magazine reported a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds and a quarter-mile in an E.T. of 13.8 seconds at 104 mph—impressive numbers for a 4,600-pound truck. Top speed was a drag-limited 142 mph.
A Truly Sporting Truck
Trucks generally require a suspension that can handle a full load in its bed while also providing competent driving while empty. But if you fancy one designed to a sports-car standard, then something has to give. In the case of the second-gen Lightning, Ford dropped its payload capacity to a mere 800 pounds. A standard 2001 F-150 Styleside carried a 3,180-pound payload rating, while an F-150 Flareside was rated at 2,005 pounds, some two-and-a-half times the Lightning, which featured the short-bed Flareside body. Towing capacity, likewise, was reduced from 8,800 pounds to 5,000 in the Lightning. But the Lightning’s strengths were never its payload or towing capacities, but it’s ability to perform like a sports car.
As a 21st century performance vehicle, however, the second-gen Lightning was also equipped to handle. A half-inch drop at the front was accompanied by SVT-specific coil springs and Bilstein shocks along with an exclusive 31-mm solid anti-roll bar. SVT’s influence continued at the rear with Lightning-specific five-leaf springs and a 23-mm solid anti-roll bar. The Bilstein setup at the rear included the right-rear shock staggered toward the front of the truck to reduce axle hop under heavy acceleration. The four-wheel antilock disc brakes were cribbed from the three-quarter-ton F-250, with 12.1-inch front rotors at the front and 13.1-inch discs at the rear.
As the years go on, fewer and fewer clean, unmolested low-mileage examples are out there, which is why this 2001 Ford SVT F150 Lightning now on Hemmings Auctions caught our attention. Showing just 5,525.5 miles on its odometer at the time of submission, it is said to be in “mint” condition and have an “immaculate” finish in the seller’s words. No modifications are noted to any part of the vehicle. The 18-inch factory alloys don’t appear to have any curb rash, though the Goodyear performance tires may be original. About the only deviations from stock are the tinted windows.
The latest electric-only F-150 Lightning is certainly a quick vehicle in its own right, but this 2001 edition from the engineers at SVT was built for excitement, not range. It was made with an old-school muscle-car vibe along with modern handling and braking. Which Lightning would you look good behind the wheel of?
Take a look at this second-gen Lightning on Hemmings Auctions before the bidding ends.
Interested in a new or late model used car?
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