Ford F-150 SVT Raptor-Based Retro With 1970s Bronco Face Is Our Kind Of Classic Truck

Old Ford and GM trucks look seriously cool, but using one every day requires accepting the limitations of something built half a century ago that was hardly the last word in sophistication, even then.

That’s one of the reasons Ford’s new Bronco has proved so popular. It has just enough of a classic vibe to tick the vintage box, but all the safety, performance and comfort you expect from a bland modern truck.

This truck, currently being auctioned on Bring-a-Trailer, goes much further, and we absolutely love it. Built by Sweet Brothers Restomods in Upton, Wyoming, its based around the chassis, drivetrain and interior of a modern Ford F-150 Raptor, but cleverly topped off with body parts from 1970s Fords for a convincing classic look.

Chrome wheels aside, this looks at first glance just like a nicely preserved 1978-79 Ford F-series crew cab truck, the various body panels having been sourced from an F-250 and also a ’79 Bronco which shared the bigger truck’s face.

But a peek through the windows reveals a modern-ish SVT Raptor dashboard complete with touchscreen infotainment, heated leather bucket seats, automatic climate control and even a reversing camera.

Delve further under the skin, something that’s entirely possible thanks to the generous ground clearance afforded by suspension designed with 11-inches of front travel and 12 inches at the rear, and you’ll see a 2011 SVT Raptor’s Fox Racing shocks and a supercharged 6.2-liter V8.

Though the truck is titled as a ’79 Ford, a Carfax report for the donor Raptor chassis reveals it had sustained damage to the front, rear and side in 2015. But given how much works has gone into the conversion, you can probably presume that anything serious was put right before the transformation started.

Let’s hope so, because someone is about to part with serious money for it. Even with three days still to go on the auction bidding for this retro Raptor had jumped to $125,521, and looked likely to keep on climbing towards the $165k we’ve seen people trying to charge for a modern Bronco.

Would you you take this over a modern Bronco, or would you prefer to take things slower in a genuine old truck?