Ken Block’s New Hoonitruck Packs Ford GT LM Muscle

Hard as it may seem to believe, Ken Block wasn’t born knowing how to drive straight out of the womb. He had to learn just like the rest of us. He just picked it up a little better, suffice it to say. And he learned on a truck similar to (yet at the same time very different from) this one.

What you see here is the Hoonitruck – the new set of old wheels that Block will drive in the forthcoming Gymkhana Ten. It’s based on a 1977 Ford F-150 like the one his daddy had. But his daddy’s didn’t pack this much power.

In place of the big old hunk of metal with which this pickup was built, Detroit Speed (out of Mooresville, NC) dropped in the 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 from the Ford GT. But not the road-going GT – this one’s from the Le Mans racer, and produces a massive 914 horsepower (682 kW) and 702 lb-ft (952 Nm) of torque. That’s nearly four times as much power as even the biggest engine offered in the sixth-gen F-150, and it’s channeled to all four of those 20-inch wheels and their Toyo tires through a Sadev six-speed gearbox.

The body shell was recrafted by hand out of military-grade aluminum (not unlike the current F-150’s), the suspension evidently dropped to the tarmac, and there’s a big wing at the back that looks like it was lifted straight off a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racer. It even has a trailer hitch and backup camera, which may itself give us a hint at what Block has in store for us in his latest project.

“This project has been in the works for about 2 years,” said Block. “I’m beyond pleased with how it turned out, it’s simply one of the most badass and unique vehicles I’ve seen in a long time and I think it compliments my Hoonicorn perfectly. It’s also crazy to be throwing something around that’s this size when doing Gymkhana-style driving. But, it looks absolutely wild on camera, and that was our goal from the start. I can’t wait for the fans to be able to see it in action, I think they’re gonna love it!”

Gymkhana Ten is slated to air on Amazon Prime come December 7 before hitting YouTube on the 17th. But visitors to the SEMA show will be able to see the truck in person at the Toyo Tires booth in a few weeks from now.