Johnny Lightning 1993 Ford F-150’s

One of the best truck castings for Johnny Lightning out there currently (aside from the classic 1965 Chevy C-10) is the 1993 Ford F-150 casting.  Introduced in 2013 the F-150 was designed as the high-performance Lightning truck, yet the color palette is limited on this truck.  Still, Johnny Lightning manages to find a way to make the Lightning into a stock F-150 and that was evident in its 2017 return.

The 1992 F-series was introduced with a mild update that included a more rounded front-end for better aerodynamics and a redesigned interior with a driver’s air bag offered.  Other than that it still had the classic F-150 look from the previous-generation with the chrome side strips, optional chrome tailgate cover, rectangular taillights, and boxy look.  In 1993 the Lightning was created to go after the Chevrolet 454SS pickup and offered a lower stance, ground effects, lower chin spoiler with foglights, body-colored rear tubular bumper, and Lightning graphics on the sides of the bed.  The suspension and brakes were upgraded to a heavy-duty package to handle the performance and torqued tear drop wheels were also added.  The engine is also from the heavy-duty series using the 5.8L V8 that produces 240 horsepower with a revised intake manifold borrowed from the Mustang and goes to the rear wheels through a 4-speed automatic transmission.  Colors on the Lightning were limited to red, white, and black in the first year with silver being added in 1994.  Like the 454SS the Lightning had a short life ending in 1995 in preparation for the next-generation of F-series that offered radical styling and a separate heavy-duty truck line.

In 2013 the Lightning premiered in the Forever 64 line and it was an amazing piece!  The black paint is adorned by Lightning decals on the sides of the bed and accurate tear drop wheels on rubber tires, though the truck does sit lower to the ground.  From a distance it looks like a large-scale model as the details are so fantastic on this model and so crisp.  The front has flush headlights, black grille slots with Ford logo, and the lower chin spoiler with front brake cooling ducts and foglights, while the sides have detailed door handles, F-150 badges, detailed window trim around the windshield, and dual gas cap doors for the dual fuel tanks common on this generation F-150.  At the rear are detailed vertical taillights, Ford and Lightning badges on the tailgate, and the detailed tubular rear bumper, and also the tailgate opens at the rear to allow access to the bed area with detailed ridges and even a sliding rear window outline on the rear window.  The bed is separate from the cab even though Johnny Lightning has not given any different bed designs on this casting yet, and the rear bed requires two rivets to the front cab that gets one to secure the plastic base.  This design seemed fragile since some of the rivets are not properly pressed and create a bed that giggles a little bit; that was changed later on in the Johnny Lightning 2.0 release where the Lightning sports a red paint, more detailing added, and a metal base to give the casting better rigid quality.

The hood opens up to reveal the V8 motor with fantastic details with the airbox meeting up with the intake on the top of the motor and detailed front drive belt accessories as a separate piece from the metal body.  The fenders have detailed fluid resovoirs, hoses, and battery details as well and even the underside of the hood has the accurate hood stamping.  The base underneath shows off the engine, transmission, front twin I-beam suspension, live rear axle with leaf springs, exhaust system, and spare tire; notice on the recent F-150 casting a phillips head screw was used in place of the rivet on the front bed slot.  The interior has a sporty feel for a truck at this time period with bucket seats adorning the center console, detailed door panels, and a car-like dashboard with two-spoke steering wheel, pedals, control knobs for the lights, radio, and HVAC controls.  Again, the detailing is so great that it looks like a larger-scale casting even though it’s still 1:64.  A few more releases offered the Lightning in more colors including white (offered twice) and a silver one with custom mag wheels on plastic tires.  For the last bit of the original Johnny Lightning a year later the Lightning was offered as a loose single at Tractor Supply stores in a dark blue color not offered on the real truck, but using the metal base from the 2.0 red version.

With Johnny Lightning back in action it was only wise to offer the F-150 again, but the Lightning deco has been done many times and it was time for a new direction: enter the XLT trim F-150 and it’s hard to believe the Lightning casting looks just as good on a stock XLT trim level!  For starters the black chin spoiler is blacked out so the foglights are not visible until you get up close, a chrome grille and bumper details were added, then a two-tone middle design was offered in blue/white or tan/beige colors.  More silver trim is added to the sides, the window trim is now more visible and detailed, the tailgate gets the signature silver trim with FORD black stripe logo, and a detailed license plate.  The only Lightning identity is the tubular rear bumper over the stock chrome F-150 bumper, but otherwise it looks really good and even better than the Lightning versions; the wheels also are borrowed from the ’86 Monte Carlo SS casting decked in chrome with red dots for the front locking hubs (but this is not a 4x4!) and rubber tires with BF Goodrich white letters.  Since then the F-150 has also been doing some towing duties along with several colors of the XLT trim, so it is evident that the fine Johnny Lightning F-150 has more lives outside of the Lightning model and still has many lives left including a non-two-tone version someday.