Ford Trucks Are the Modern Day Hot Rod
Today’s Ford trucks can do it all. Including defying the most basic laws of physics!
Remember the old days, when aspiring hot rodders sought out lightweight rides on which to build their speedy creations? The concept of choosing a small, light vehicle and adding power is rooted in the most simple of physics lessons, after all. And since the very beginning of the hod rod movement, that’s been the basic formula for success. But now that long standing tradition is changing. And Ford trucks have become the new hot rod.
Today, trucks have surprisingly become the hot rodder’s vehicle of choice. Big, heavy, and lacking optimal weight distribution, this would seem to make little sense. But trucks like the F-150 Raptor, and even non-performance models like the diesel-powered Super Duty, have changed the game. Physics be darned, Ford is building trucks that are already fast from the showroom floor. And their potential is staggering.
No one ever imagined a crew cab, four-wheel drive Super Duty outrunning supercars, but it’s happening. “Diesel trucks became the new hot rod,” Martin Barkey, CEO of custom exhaust outfit MBRP, explained to The Globe and Mail. “There’s people driving with paint cans in the back and ladders on the roof, going to work in 11-second trucks.”
The concept of performance Ford trucks is nothing new of course. But in the old days, Ford and hot rodders themselves stuck to lighter two-wheel drive, regular cab models. Today, weight is no longer a concern. Extracting 1,000+ horsepower from a diesel is easy, and it’ll easily compensate for the immense heft a heavy duty truck carries.
Plus, extreme performance is just another feather in the cap of the versatile pickup truck. “This is your family truck,” Barkey said. “It’s your car. Your hot rod. It’s towing your boat. A lot of these people are going to the drag strips on Sunday with their work trucks. That’s why diesel took off, because it was this all-encompassing platform. You can’t do that with a Corvette.”
The old days of owning a truck for work and a sports car for play are long gone. Now, Ford trucks represent the total package!
