The Raptor origins story

Very few pickup trucks have the kind of charm like the Ford Ranger Raptor, the kind that inspires people to find out more about it – what it is, what it can do, and more importantly, why was it made?

While the Raptor still looks like a pickup truck, it isn’t like the ones ayou’ve been in when you helped a friend haul their refrigerator across town, and it’s also not the kind that your uncle uses to haul produce from his farm.

Not that it can’t do it, but the Raptor was bred for so much more.

By the way, the Raptor isn’t actually just one truck. It is a nameplate that is used on at least two Ford models – the F150 and the Ranger – to signify that these aren’t your run-of-the-mill pickup trucks. Raptors are the high-performance types.

The idea for the Raptor started with Ford’s SVT (Special Vehicles Team) in the early 2000s. They wanted to provide the market with a Ford truck that owners didn’t need to enhance and fortify with aftermarket parts in order to handle the great American outdoors. In short, they wanted a pickup truck that was good enough to go hardcore off-roading straight from the dealership.

That was the Ford SVT Raptor that was launched in 2010. It was based off an F-150 and used a supercharged 5.4L V8 engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Output was 380hp and 610Nm of torque.

It came with Fox Racing internal bypass shocks with external reservoirs which increased suspension travel by 11 inches in front and 12 inches in the rear, redesigned rear leaf springs and the front upper and lower A-arms, and a rear axle with a locking differential gear ratio of 4.10:1.

Instead of the all-season tires, the SVT Raptor was fitted with 315/70/ R17 BFGoodrich KO tires on 17-inch wheels.

Aside from the usual safety features, it was the first Ford to have hill descent control.

The design cues we see now that designate Raptor models also started with the SVT such as the "FORD" lettering on the grille and the orange stripe on the leather wrap of the steering wheel that serves as a visual centering reference.

After creating the very first Raptor, Ford obviously needed to see how it would fare in a real life, off-road scenario, and there wasn’t any place better than the prestigious Baja 1000 – more than 1,000 kilometers of mixed desert tracks and paved highways with man-made booby traps, jumps, ditches, ravines, cliffs, and topped off by unpredictable weather ranging from fog, rain, and snow.

The model Ford entered in the Baja 1000 was a little souped up and was called the SVT Raptor R. It used a 6.2L V8 paired with a six-speed automatic. Power output was 411hp and 588Nm of torque.

Needless to say, it held up against the challenges of the race and finished third in its class.

That’s when Ford knew they were on to something and took the next step into production.

The second-generation followed in 2014, still based on the F-150. It wasn’t offered with a V8 engine but instead came with a 3.5L V6 EcoBoost gasoline engine that was paired to a 10-speed automatic transmission and produced 647hp and 746Nm of torque.

It was only in 2018 when Ford decided to make a Raptor based on the Ranger pickup truck that we know. It was fitted with a 2.0L Bi-turbo diesel engine mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and puts out 210hp and 500Nm of torque.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Photos from Ford Philippines