I personally hope that they dont make the lightning in 02 because 1. Its basically just gonna be a 01 with maybe them getting rid of white and making blue the new color. 2. There are still lots of 01's still sitting on dealer lots i know that a dealer here has 2 silver 01 sitting there with the plastic on the seats and i know of another dealer that has a black and a white one sitting there. 3. On my way home today from work i saw 2 other gen 2 lightnings. Thats one reason i love this truck is they are different and arent that common. But if they make them a 4th year in 02 then im afraid they might become common. They made 7000 in 01 and that was double then any year so far so hopefully ford did that because they wont make one in 02. But if they do how many will they make then more then 7000 ??
Well this is just my opinion but i hope that after the 01's that ford concentrates on making the Gen 3 lightning with the new body and supposed 400+Hp out of the box. Also it would stick with the lightning tradition they only made the Gen 1's 3 years they should do that for the Gen 2's and the Gen 3's. Well like i said just my opinion so i want to hear what you guys think about this subject.OH AND FORD MAKE YELLOW THE NEW COLOR FOR THE GEN 3's
Vin

 

Well, I kinda do and I kinda don't. I agree with what you are saying, but we want to get a newer style, and it seems that to get a Silver one, we are going to have to go with a 2002, if they come out.
We have a barely used 2000 right now, but like the small upgrades and such of the 01'.
BUT, there are no silver ones on any lot here in the Phoenix metro valley.
So, I guess i hope they do make more, just not a lot of them ...

 

The 2002's are already available for order, Red, Silver, Black, and Blue are the colors for 2002.

 

They made 4966 in '00 so if they built 7000 for '01 that's roughly a 41% increase in production. I'd bet that if the economy hadn't slowed down all of the '01s would have been gone just like the '99 and '00s were. Even at 7000 for '01 you have to look at how many trucks made in '01. 7000 is probably a pretty small percentage of overall production. The only problem I see with continued production at this point is they might lower the prices to move the new ones which could cause prices of the '99, '00 and '01 to go down as a result.

Another thing to consider is the more of these that are around the more companies will want to make aftermarket parts for us.

I'm glad they closed out the white and went to blue. That makes the white ones even harder to find which is ok in my book.

JMHO

 

Or are they just getting rid of "the weakest link"

 

Doesn't matter to me as much as others. I gotta 2001 L White. No more white's for 2002. What could be better, no more L's. But I can't deprive my friends from the opportunity to get one of these monsters.

I seriously considered a Viper. Today, I've got a two seat sports vehicle with the biggest trunk out there.

Besides, at my age, I can't imagine getting into a Viper.

 

Facts first,

Gen 1 Lightnigns were 3 model years 93 94 and 95
Ford made 96 model year F150 of the gen 1 body style no lightnings

The 97 year model was interduced early in year i'm not quoteing any dates because i dont know for sure but it was early summer or late spring.

The 2003 F150 is alread been anounced with major changes. Gen 3?

That puts us back to the top of the page

They will build 2002 F150's and have the new 2003 probley as a early year introduction.

We are in the 3rd year of lightnings so this could be the last of lightnings and the gen 3 lightning may not be ready till 2005

This is my observations this is not something i have heard through any sources.

One thing to remember is the current Economic's of the country and Ford's resent News releases on Laying off the White Collar workers, It may be hard to sell a $33k Truck of any style.

 

I wish they stopped making them in 2000 - Right after they made mine....

Geesh... Thats crazy... The more they make the less warranty problems there are the more attention they get from after market vendors... Etc Etc

Doug

 

I don't particularly like seeing so many on a regular basis, but I think here in SoCal you see a lot of any type of car, whether or not they were limited production. Just this week alone (Monday - Wednesday) I've seen a Ferrari, a VT Lambo, and a new Viper, not to mention a half dozen Gen II L's, and I don't live near Malibu or Beverly Hills...

The more they make, the better the aftermarket

 

Using your logic, I wish that they stopped making Lightning in 99. I had one and screw everybody else! but Ford didn't stop, and anybody with the jingle (even the gm boys) can buy the fastest production truck available. Sorry r/t boys, you are not quailified. So I got rid of my black 99 and got a 01 silver. A LOT easier to keep clean. And when the multi-valve Lightning hit the market, I can see me up grading to a blue one!! HEY, it's only money and you damn sure can't take it with you

 

The problem is if they make it yellow and faster. I just got the 01 and that would stress me out. As it is I still want red, white, and silver 01s-see I like all of 'em. Whatever color I don't have I want! You DO understand that, right?

 

The original plan was a 6 year run of 4k each year. They've made more each year but I haven't heard of any change in the amount of year they are to run. Wait for '03, you'll be glad they still make them.

 

Nope, they are still making Red next year .......

 

I was kinda hoping Ford would do 3 years making them, 3 years off routine.

 

We'll just have to wait and see. suspense is great.