Top Speed was recently invited to Ford’s test facility in Dearborn, Michigan to have a look at what the American automaker has in store for the next model year and try to get a little insider information about the upcoming lineup. One of the vehicles that we were pleased as punch to have a chance to climb all over was the all-new for 2010 Ford Raptor. This high performance, purpose built off-road truck was built to be versatile enough to compete in the Baja 1000 right out of the showroom as well as get you to work and back again starting at only $38,020.

When the Ford Raptor was initially introduced, Ford’s representatives confirmed that the upcoming born in Baja special would be offered with two different power plants. At the time, everyone knew that the F-150 on steroids would have one of the blue oval’s 5.4 Liter 3 valve V8 engines under the hood making 320 HP and an impressive 390 lb-ft of torque. However what we didn’t know is that the other power plant that Ford’s design team are going to shoehorn in between the strut towers is the all-new 6.2 Liter SOHC V8. This 2 valve per cylinder piston pumper is slated to produce a ground pounding 400 HP and 400 lb-ft of torque when it goes on sale this November.

Although the truck is based on the Ford F-150, unique to the Raptor is the bold grill with an oversized “FORD” written across the front along with some other styling cues like a vented hood, unique front bumper, skid plate, 7 extra inches of track and loads of ground clearance. Everything about this truck was designed to make it a bonafide off-road competitor. One of the keys to that go anywhere lifestyle is suspension travel, with 11.2 inches in the front and 13.4 inches in the back. If you get under the truck you can see that the exhaust takes a dramatic bend over the rear axle to allow it over a foot of travel. The truck rides on 35 inch off-road radials that are connected to the chassis by a set of specially tuned FOX Racing Shox that bolt up to a pair of SVT designed reinforced lower control arms to make sure that the truck keeps tracking straight after repeatedly getting airborne. Ford hopes to get a lot of new truck buyers excited about the 2010 Raptor, with a package like this, it shouldn’t be hard at all.

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