Legendary California custom-car designer and builder Chip Foose will be back at the SEMA show this year with this one-of-a-kind off-road pick-up truck.
The Foose Ford F-150 was actually the first vehicle built in the new state-of-the-art SEMA Garage - a workshop where member companies can fabricate and test new components using 3D modeling and printing, and use its photo studio to document the results.
Through a partnership with the Alex Xydias Center for Automotive Arts, underprivileged teens and young adults worked alongside leading component manufacturers, installing high performance aftermarket parts and equipment on this special project bakkie.
AMPED UP
Its 6.2-litre V8 has been amped up with a Whipple supercharger, Gale Banks Straight-Shot performance system and a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust system, giving it more than 450kW.
Serious off-road capability comes from converted Raptor front suspension with Icon Vehicle Dynamics 3.0 coilover shocks and uniball billet upper arms, matched by Icon triple-bypass rear dampers and Atlas 3.0+ leaf springs, running on Falken Wild Peak 315/80 all-terrain tyres wrapped around 17" MHT Fuel Maverick rims.
CUSTOM COLOURS
Boatec made the Raptor fibreglass bonnet, fender and bedside panels, LGE-CTS Motorsports the Baja Forged front and rear bumpers, and AMP Research supplied and installed the power running boards, bedsteps and a tailgate extender.
Bulldog LED lighting, a Warn winch, a specially made rollover cage and a custom spray job complete the outside look, while the inside is finished in plush Katzkin leather with a premium Clarion sound system.
To buy a brand-new Ford F-150 Lariat and customise it like this, Foose estimated, would cost you more than $80 000 (R878 000) but this one, instead of being auctioned like previous SEMA show cars, will be raffled off to one lucky winner in May 2014, with tickets costing $50 (R508) each.
ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE
The proceeds will benefit three of SEMA's nominated charities - the Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is dedicated to fostering the next generation of automotive leaders and innovators, Childhelp, an organisation that provides services to abused and neglected children, and Victory Junction, which provides life-changing camping experiences to special-needs and chronically ill children.