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When the 2021 Ford F-150 was first unveiled, it represented an evolution for the top selling pickup versus an outright revamp. Despite this, it still has plenty to offer, and will arrive on dealer lots with a base sticker of $30,635.

But what if you’re a buyer who craves raw speed? A new rendering video that has appeared shows us what a potential Lightning revival would look like if Ford green lit it for production.

For those that need a brief refresher, the F-150 Lightning was Ford’s entry in the performance pickup market, with the first model appearing in 1993 as a lightly tweaked F-150. Things really got serious in 1999 when the second generation Lightning appeared on the scene.

Going far beyond its half-hearted predecessor, Ford engineers went all out in transforming the Lightning into a very serious contender in the pickup wars. Suspension tweaks helped turn the Lightning into a respectable corner carver, and a 380 horsepower 5.4-liter supercharged Triton V-8 helped give it plenty of muscle. 2004 was the end of the road for the model, and the Lightning has not returned since.

YouTube designer TheSketchMonkey set out to change that, and for his latest video, he chose to give the world a glimpse into what the Lightning would look like if it came back for a new generation of performance junkies. Using a press photo of the 2021 F-150 as a base, he modified it into a two-door model to replicate some of the Lightning’s charm.

But things really get interesting once you move past that, with the front fascia being completely redesigned to accommodate a Raptor style front grille with large Ford lettering prominently present. The headlights also get tweaked, and they have a decidedly more aggressive look to them. 

TheSketchMonkey also lowered the suspension, and outfitted the truck with larger black alloy wheels with fatter tires, and bigger brakes. Unfortunately, the artist left the engine up to the imagination of the viewer, but with the 5.2 liter Voodoo V8 still seeing duty in the venerable GT350 Mustang, it would not be a shock if that particular powerplant is lurking under the hood of the rendered truck. Regardless, we still like the end result here with the rendered truck having a very distinctive presence out on the street.

Sadly, this iteration of the Lightning will most likely remain in the realm of fantasy. The Ford Raptor is currently the most potent version of the F-150 you can get, and we don’t see much room for a second performance truck. This is especially apparent when you look at the direction that the performance truck market has gone. When the Lighting, Ram SRT-10 and the Chevy Silverado SS made their respective appearance, on-road performance was the key benchmark. However, the battle has moved off-road, and as a result, the Lightning is currently a big fish out of water.   

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