In the early ’90s, pickup trucks started to supplant passenger cars as the vehicle of choice. They had evolved considerably since the days when they strictly utility vehicles. And being a traditional body-on-frame design with rear-wheel drive, they lent themselves well to all sorts of high-performance machinations. Perhaps underwhelming at first, it didn’t take long for these 1/2 ton hot rods to find their groove, and Ford’s F150 Lightning did it with aplomb. That being the case, let’s take a look at a 2000 example of Ford’s super truck. This example is located in Allendale, New Jersey, and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of  $10,600, with 37 bids tendered so far.

Ford’s SVT (Special Vehicle Team) Lightning first saw the light of day in 1993 and remained in production through 1995. After a respite, the Lightning returned for round two, being offered between 1999 and 2004. Besides the obvious appearance differences, the Lightning moved forward in its second incarnation with a “modular” V8 engine as opposed to the old tried and true Windsor V8 that powered gen-1 trucks. Approximately 28K gen-2 versions were built with the year 2000 seeing just shy of 5K copies – a testament to individuals that wanted to be able to haul cargo as well as something else at the same time.

The most substantial aspect of this truck has not been photographed! It is a 360 HP, 4.6 liter SOHC, supercharged V8 engine. Why no image is hard to fathom. The seller claims that it was rebuilt 40K miles ago (this is a 174K mile truck) so maybe its appearance isn’t photogenic. All the seller states is “Everything works truck is in good working order drives very nice…” So that’s OK but it would be nice to learn a bit more about what should be this F150’s prodigious road manners. A four-speed automatic transmission and a 3.55:1 differential gearset put the power to the Lightning’s special 18″ wheels, heady stuff back in 2000.

Considering the mileage, and the age, the exterior looks fine, though the images, the profiles, in particular, were shot at a distance. Being red, one would suspect some sun fade or at least clear coat degradation, but none is visible. Same for road rash or crash damage, nothing is apparent. There are no images of the cargo bed so there’s no telling what, if anything, may be brewing back there. It’s covered over with a lift-up fiberglass cap which is a great feature for storage when the cargo-carrying aspect is not needed. Of note are the taillight lenses, they appear to be after-market pieces.

The interior is a surprise, especially considering this Ford’s age and mileage. And that’s not to mention the fabric’s pale gray shade, one not known for hiding dirt very well; a much more worn-looking environment would be expected. Not the case here, it’s amazingly clean! The seller advises that the A/C works is cold and works well. Of note are the engine auxiliary gauges mounted on the driver’s side A-pillar – something that seems more fitting on a Japanese coupe or sedan, but a helpful touch, nevertheless.

All-in-all, this Lightning seems like a pretty sound example though the mileage is a bit worrisome, I guess it depends on the next owner’s intentions. What do you think, is this F-150 too old to be a daily driver and too new to be a collectible?