Is the Ford F-150 still your favorite Raptor? Why, of course, it is. After all, not many truck lovers can say no to this beast. Or can they? This answer varies depending on what the market has to offer, and in this case, it's a Shelby-tuned beast that stays true to the Coyote recipe.
Aptly dubbed the Shelby F-150, this menacing beast outpowers the regular Raptor and the more extreme Raptor R. Heck, with 785 horsepower (796 ps/586 kW) unleashed every time the driver abuses the throttle, it can put the defunct Ram 1500 TRX, aka the Hellcat-powered truck from Stellantis, in its corner, as this model enjoys 'only' 702 horsepower (712 ps/524 kW).
Building on the 2024 model, the new Shelby F-150 boasts numerous modifications. It packs a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 with a Gen 5 Whipple supercharger bolted onto it. A carbon fiber air intake, a high-flow filter, high-performance fuel injectors, an aluminum heat exchanger, and even a Borla exhaust system unlock no fewer than 785 wild horses.
Is that not plenty? Well, fret not, fellow gearhead, as Shelby hasn't called it a day after making this workhorse more powerful. Not by far, as it also has a Fox suspension with factory race series shocks, internal bypass shock technology, adjustable controls, a 3-inch (76 mm) lift kit, and rear traction bars. The new 22-inch Shelby wheels were wrapped in 35-inch all-terrain tires.
Photo: Shelby
More goodies include a tweaked face with a new hood, grille, bumper cover, and so on, power running boards with guard trim and entry lights, special badging on the fender vents, body-color tonneau cover, fender flares finished in the same hue as the rest of the car, etc. It also boasts billet racing pedals inside, embroidered floor mats, a few carbon fiber touches, and a serial plaque that can also be seen when popping the hood open.
But what does the new Shelby F-150 build on? The F-150 4x4 SuperCrew Lariat, which carries an MSRP of $65,395. Thus, it shouldn't be that expensive, right? Wrong, because it is worth double. Shelby reveals a starting price of $139,995, which also includes a brand-new Lariat. You should hurry up and place a deposit, as in plain Shelby fashion, this model's production will be capped, as only 800 examples will see the light of day for the current model year.
So, if you had nearly $150k lying around and the desire to buy an extreme truck with more power than some supercars, would you pick the Shelby F-150? Your opinion matters, so drop a line below and let us know what you think of this project. For what it's worth, it is one of the hottest takes on the F-150 we've seen so far.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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