The unofficially confirmed F-150 Raptor has been made official by Ford showing off the Raptor’s grille at its dealer meeting in Las Vegas a few days ago and we have the scoop!

Our friend Mike Levine from www.pickuptruck.com and I have been working hard to uncover some of the new information that has come out about the Raptor during the last few days.

Word from the inside says that Ford actually has acknowledged the Raptor’s existence for the first time, having been announced at the recent dealer meeting in Las Vegas. It was at this meeting that bits and pieces of the Raptor were revealed, including a unique black mesh grille sans a Blue Oval. Instead “F O R D”, in block letters, possibly inspired by the awesome Bronco concept from a few years back, is proudly displayed. We also have information that a normally aspirated (okay, so we were wrong about the turbos) 6.2L Boss V-8 will power the truck and will put out at least 380hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. We say at least because the both the 5.7L V-8s found in the Tundra and Ram make alsmost exactly that power, and Ford is touting the 6.2L as a high-horsepower premium engine. If we are indeed correct about this being SVT's truck, it would make sense that the engine is underated so early before its release, which is common practice for SVT.

The Raptor features Fox 2.0 piggyback reservoir shocks and will offer 4-inches more travel over stock, bringing the Raptor to a full 12-inches of front wheel travel. We were also correct on the tire size, which will be 35-inches tall. A selectable front locker will also be part of the package.

Our sources, claiming to be at the Ford dealership meeting, also say the Raptor powertrain was shown in the current body and short video of the truck was shown “jumping sand dunes” and that it appeared to be a “real” off-road truck. Ford is touting it to its dealers as the first Baja truck you can buy and has Toyota clearly in its sights. If the dealers are in on the action already, you can expect the unveiling sometime later this year – possibly as an early 2010 model.

If these tidbits prove to be as true an accurate as we think they are, this could be the most awesome truck to ever come out of Ford and will be a revolution in the 1/2-ton market. We hope this signals the new energy from within Ford where awesome designs and ideas see the light of day and that this truck redefines what a factorty pickup can be. Keep it up Ford, you have us all amazed and intrigued.

Be excited people, be very excited.

--Sean P. Holman
Tech Editor – Four Wheeler Magazine

Keep those tips coming: sean.holman@sourceinterlink.com