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Miami Herald
a day ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Henry Payne: Ford F-150 joins Maverick with hip Lobo model
DETROIT - The street truck craze is back, and Ford is jumping in with both feet - or at least both its F-150 and Maverick models. The F-150 Lobo joins the Maverick Lobo in the market with a modified, slammed and tricked truck. Where the Maverick's signature trick is a dual rear clutch pack for tire-burning, sideways drifting, the F-150 Lobo brings an old-school trick: Ford's raucous, 400-horsepower, 410-torque, 5.0-liter V-8 engine. Similar to Mav, the F-150 is lowered (by two inches) with painted rocker panels and signature, brooding fascia and grille lighting. "The F-150 Lobo is the result of recognizing an under-served audience of potential F-150 customers," said street truck enthusiast Josh Blundo, Maverick/F-150 Lobo lead exterior designer. "For years, they have been taking factory pickup trucks and lowering them. Adding more power. Leaning on street styling. From an automaker, this has been an untapped market for two decades." Factory street pickups of yore - think the 1990 Chevy 454 SS, 1993 Ford SVT Lightning, and 2005 Dodge Rumble Bee - have been distinguished by aggressive front air dams, hood scoops, lowered chassis, painted rocker panels, sporty wheels and growly engines. Growly V-8s like the 345-horsepower 5.7-liter Hemi that was stuffed into the Dodge. The F-150 Lobo delivers on many of those features while building the street rat in-house, complete with factory warranty. When Lobo goes on sale this fall, customers can enter the F-150 website configurator, choose the menacing, midnight-trimmed STX package starting at $42,015, then select Lobo. The Lobo starts at $59,995 and comes standard with a roomy Crew Cab and 5.5-foot pickup bed. "When it came time to imagine an F-150 Lobo - on the heels of helping create the new Maverick Lobo last year - I didn't have to look far to know what prospective customers would want," said designer Blundo, a veteran street trucker. "Drop it. Give it V-8 sound and performance. Make dual exhaust tips standard. Add aggressive styling. And give it a face that looks ... sinister." If the Maverick Lobo upgrades to a 238-horse turbo-4 from the standard hybrid, then the F-150 chooses one of the big pickup's most menacing engines for its soundtrack. The F-150 Lobo gets its muscle from Ford's 5.0-liter V-8, complete with dual exhaust out back under the painted bumper. Insert the key in the ignition, wake Lobo up and give it a couple of good BRAAAPS to wake the street. Ford then marries it to a standard 4x4 system to put that power to the ground. In the case of Maverick Lobo, Ford added twin clutch packs in the rear to encourage drifts. Further enhancements include bigger brakes, enhanced cooling, stitched and Lobo-monogrammed seats, and a Lobo mode for truck-focused hooning. Not F-150 Lobo. The big Ford's focuses on aesthetic enhancements like black trim, a light bar bisecting the front grille, hood vents, and its signature Lobo badge aft of the front fender. Beneath the skin is STX's familiar cloth interior and V-8. No drifting kit, no special stitching – not even the dramatic Turbofan wheel option found on little brother Lobo. The big truck will tow 7,900 pounds, however. For motorheads looking for more V-8 punch, they can option the $12,350 Performance 700 package on top of the Lobo model - which brings in the Mustang GT500's fire-breathing, supercharged, 5.0-liter engine that pushes out a staggering 700 horsepower. Huzzah. F-150 comes with one wheel option: gloss-black 22-inchers. The new F-150 Lobo is available in five exterior colors: Agate Black Metallic, Atlas Blue Metallic, Carbonized Gray, Oxford White and Rapid Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat. ____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
2025 Ford F-150 Lobo gets racy ‘street truck' makeover
America's best-selling pickup gets a racy "street truck" makeover in the 2025 Ford F-150 Lobo, a lowered and menacing looking newcomer that goes on sale now for delivery in fall 2025. The 2025 F-150 is the second truck to get Ford's new Lobo badge, following the aggressive little 2025 Maverick Lobo that's in dealerships now. Don't be surprised to see Ford apply the lowered and menacing Lobo approach to other trucks and SUVs in its lineup. Standard four-wheel drive Standard 5.0L V8 400-horsepower, 410 pound-feet of torque 10-speed automatic transmission Standard crew cab 5.5-foot bed 22-inch Lobo gloss black wheels Apple CarPlay Android Auto Tow hitch 7,900-pound towing capacity 1,450-pound payload Price: $57,800, plus $2,195 destination charge More: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo reinvents the compact sport truck — at a price Ford lowered the F-150 Lobo's rear ride height 2 inches to create what designer Josh Blundo calls a sinister profile. It comes in five exterior colors, two unique to the Lobo. Other unique Lobo touches include: Black hood and fender vents "Lobo" badge on fender vents Gloss black exterior trim Unique grille and headlights Gloss black lower mesh grille open for ventilation LED light bar connecting headlights across grille Black satin twin exhaust outlets Black oval Ford badge on tailgate The Lobo package is a $4,695 addition to added to the F-150's popular STX trim. It stickers at $57,800 plus $2,195 destination charge. Ford builds the R-150 Lobo at its Rouge plant in Dearborn Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@ Follow him on Twitter mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2025 Ford F-150 gets sinister 'Lobo' street truck treatment
Car and Driver
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
2025 Ford F-150 Lobo Is the Street Truck We've Been Waiting For
The 2025 Ford F-150 Lobo is a performance-oriented street truck in the vein of the original SVT Lightning. Along with a 400-hp V-8, the Lobo treatment includes a lowered ride, a body kit, a unique grille with illuminated elements, and exclusive 22-inch wheels. The F-150 Lobo starts at $59,995, and Ford says it will go on sale this fall. Ford's full-size pickup truck offers multiple off-road-ready variants, from the Tremor to the Raptor. However, the F-150 has lacked a model that prioritizes performance on the street—until now. Enter the 2025 Ford F-150 Lobo. It's essentially the spiritual successor to the SVT Lightning from the '90s. Lobo Life Ford has since used the Lightning moniker on its electric pickup, which makes up to 580 horsepower but otherwise lacks the features that define a street truck. Josh Blundo, Ford's lead exterior designer on the F-150 and Maverick Lobos, says those definitive features include a dropped ride height, assertive styling, and—in the case of the F-150—a V-8 and dual exhausts. This content is imported from Third party. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. View Photos Ford That's why every F-150 Lobo includes a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-8 that makes 400 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque. All-wheel drive is standard (sorry, rear-drive fans), and it has an upgraded automatic two-speed transfer case. The Lobo isn't just a show truck, either. It can handle a payload of up to 1450 pounds, and it's rated to pull a trailer that weighs as much as 7900 pounds. Sure, you can get the same V-8 on other F-150 models, but only the Lobo looks this distinctive. Blundo says a revised suspension dropped the rear end by two inches, and the ride height looks even lower with the addition of a 10-piece body kit. Unfortunately, the Lobo doesn't sit nearly as low as its gas-powered Lightning predecessors. The new street truck also rolls on exclusive black-painted 22-inch wheels. They're cushioned by a set of Bridgestone Alenza all-seasons, which aren't as grippy as summer rubber but measure 275/50. Ford View Photos Ford The exterior dressings don't end there. No, sir. Ford also fitted the Lobo with a muscle-car-like cowl hood, and it has black-painted hood vents too. Black badges on the front fenders, black barrel-like exhaust tips, and a black rear bumper extend the sinister color scheme. The Lobo's face is another facet that separates it from the F-150 your contractor drives. Along with a body-color front bumper that contains a wide lower grille, the upper grille has a unique mesh that's bisected by lighting elements that connect with the headlamps. Inside, the Lobo has cloth seats with yellow contrast stitching, a leather-wrapped center-console lid, and a dash topped with a racy-looking material. The driver faces a digital gauge cluster, and there's a sizable 12.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system like you'll find in other F-150s. Ford didn't say what options are available on the Lobo, other than it's available with five paint colors: Agate Black Metallic, Atlas Blue Metallic, Carbonized Gray, Oxford White, and Rapid Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat. View Photos Ford The Lobo is a package that's available on the F-150's STX trim. However, turning the latter into a street truck requires the crew-cab (a.k.a. SuperCrew) body style, the 5.5-foot cargo bed, and the aforementioned V-8, all-wheel-drive configuration. Pricing for the 2025 Ford F-150 Lobo starts at $59,995. It'll be built at Ford's factory in Dearborn, Michigan, and it's slated to go on sale sometime this fall. Eric Stafford Managing Editor, News Eric Stafford's automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual '97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a '90 Honda CRX Si. Read full bio This content is imported from Third party. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
