- Ford’s next halo model after the GT supercar could be a super-SUV.
- The pricey performance flagship would wear the brand’s Raptor branding.
- Hero vehicle would provide link to Ford Raptor T1+ Dakar rally racer.
Ford is plotting a new flagship performance model, but despite the automaker getting ready for a return to Le Mans in 2027, this time the hero car won’t take inspiration from the track, but from trucks.
CEO Jim Farley recently declared he wanted Ford to be known as the Porsche of off-road, and in a conversation with Top Gear, he expanded on that idea, revealing that Dearborn could build a flagship go-anywhere supercar wearing Raptor branding.
Related: Jim Farley Wants Ford To Be The “Porsche Of Off-Road”
This wouldn’t be merely a faster version of an existing product in the style of models like the F-150 an Ranger Raptors, but a bespoke Raptor vehicle that could provide a marketing link to Ford’s Raptor T1+ Dakar rally weapon.
“We’re in the middle of creating something, so we don’t have all the answers yet, but the question is should Ford make an off-road supercar? Not a version of a car, a standalone supercar,” Farley told Top Gear’s Jack Rix at the launch of the new motorsport season in Charlotte, NC.
“That’s what we’re trying to answer. What do we do on a utility car? Is there a supercar? That’s what we’re debating now,” he said.
While the Ford GT was exciting to drive on a fast, open race track, there was only ever so much of its performance potential you could exploit on the road. But a Raptor-branded off-road supercar could be far more usable.
“The reason people love the Ranger Raptor in the UK is because it’s a fun car but the damping is very compliant,” Farley suggested. “People don’t understand about off-road racing how compliant the damping is and that makes it a totally different experience to being in a [Porsche 911] GT2 RS.
Mark Rushbrook, the global director of Ford Performance, later made it clear to Top Gear that he was on the same page as Farley.
“The mission of Ford Performance is to have as much motorsport as possible infused into the products that people can buy. We love that we have an F-150, Bronco and Ranger Raptor but we can do more,” he said. “Stay tuned.”
The Raptor T1+ bagged third place at its first attempt at the gruelling Dakar last month, but there’s almost no chance Ford’s Road-legal Raptor hero machine will be a productionized version of that. The T1+, a dedicated rally car produced by longtime Ford partner M Sport in the UK, is built around a steel spaceframe clad in carbonfibre body panels, has 400 mm (15.8 inches) of ground clearance and is powered by a 5.0-liter Coyote V8.
What form would you like to see Ford’s Raptor flagship take? A supercar-crushing pickup truck, a crossover that can eat a Ferrari Purosangue alive on- and off road, or something else entirely?
