It's the beefy, burly, off-road ute that everyone was asking for but the twin-turbo 2.0-litre diesel in Ford's Ranger Raptor was something that didn't sit right with a lot of ute people.
While it may be perfectly capable in the field, with more than enough torque on hand, the 5.0-litre Coyote V8 found in the Mustang seemed like a perfect match for the rugged ute, but it turns out that it was never going to be a thing.
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Australian-based Car Advice recently revealed that the project never actually received approval from Ford, despite reports stating that it would be sold through Ford dealers, and come with a five-year warranty.
It was also revealed that the concept was shut down in mid-2019, around six months before reports emerged. This goes against the rumours of Covid-19 shutting the project down.
In an interview, Ford Australia CEO Kay Hart said that a V8-powered Ranger Raptor is "purely a speculative story". In other words, this means that the project never got out of infancy.
Considering that the Ranger Raptor already sits at the top-end of double-cab utes in New Zealand, it's no surprise that an engine-swapped example would push the price well beyond the allowable margin.
On top of this, the engine swap wouldn't be as easy as first stated as it would consist of "a new round of crash tests, engine and transmission calibrations, emissions compliance, durability testing, and revisions for suspension and stability control systems."
And finally, developing this V8-powered ute would take a few years, meaning that the revised Ranger would probably release before the project is completed.
So while we'll probably never see Ford sell a V8-swapped Ranger, rumours have hinted at the next-generation Ranger making use of a twin-turbo V6 diesel engine with up to 600Nm of torque.
So if power is what you're wanting from your ute, your best bet is either Coyote-swapping a Ranger Raptor yourself, or holding out for this next model.