what's a Lightning?

a: the fastest "production" truck ever made:

supercharged, intercooled 5.4 liter overhead cam V8

380 HP/ 450 lbs.ft. Torque

0-60: 5.2 seconds

1/4 mile: 13.9 sec. @ 100 mph

Top speed: 142

60-0: 135 ft.

100-0: 238 ft.

0-100-0 in 22 seconds

.85 lateral g's

full specifications

360° Quicktime virtual tour

(use mouse to rotate and zoom)

production:

1999: 4,000 (1,601 black; 1,533 red; 866 white)
2000: 4,966 (1,596 black; 1,405 red; 928 white; 1,037 silver)
2001: 6,381 (1,908 black; 1,722 red; 1,170 white; 1,581 silver)
2002: 4,726 (1,198 black; 1,086 red; 294 white; 1,018 silver; 1,130 True Blue)

2003: 4,270 (1,036 black; 735 red; 606 white; 1,170 Dark Shadow Gray; 723 Sonic Blue)

Total: 24,343 (7,339 black; 6,481 red; 3,864 white; 3,636 silver; 1,130 True Blue; 1,170 Dark Shadow Gray; 723 Sonic Blue)

official SVT brochure

some quotes from the motoring press:

"Best times were turned by putting the column shifter in Third gear, holding the truck with the brakes, and bringing the revs up just over idle. Any higher than that, and the rear meats melt like candle wax. When it's time to go, left foot up, right foot down. The truck comes out of the gate like an angry rodeo bull, pinning your head back to the top of the bucket seat. Before you remember your name, the automatic transmission bangs second, which is geared numerically perfect, and keeps the push in the small of your back. Throughout the run, the Lightning spews a musical combination of V8 roar and high-pitched blower whine, even when it shifts into Third gear just before the traps.
The Lightning lights our fire. Maybe it's the 13th quickest vehicle you can buy, but it's the absolute quickest, and coolest, truck on Earth."
Popular Mechanics

"SVT has worked its magic on this truck. It speaks with a wonderful rumble from the exhaust and a delightful whine from the supercharger. It handles like no other truck made on this planet, and accelerates like a bullet from a high powered rifle. The SVT Lightning is not just a truck, but rather, it's edge with a bed."
Woman Motorist

"So, who needs a pickup truck that will hit 140 mph, tow 5000 pounds, and haul all the garden gnomes you'll ever want? Who cares? Just rejoice that something this crazy exists."
Automobile Magazine

"Fastest pick-up on the planet"

Autoworld

"Stupid fast"
Edmunds.com