Sam Krahn 
In the beginning of this year, we brought you news that a Ford Australia skunkworks project was working on a V8 Ranger Raptor. You read that right, our friends down under were going to be able to buy a Ranger Raptor, which we don’t even get, powered by the Mustang’s Coyote V8. It almost seemed too good to be true, and according to Australia’s WhichCar who first brought us news of the vehicle, it is. Due to budget constraints resulting from Coronavirus, the Aussie super-truck has been put on ice from Ford.
The project was supposedly commissioned by only Ford Australia, as it was never intended to be a global product. Ford supposedly commissioned engineering firm Premcar to build the truck. In addition to being an engineering consultant to major automakers, Premcar also has experience in the tuning field, where they specialize in modifying the Australia-only Ford Falcon. Their latest project is fabulously called the “Holy Grail” Falcon. It uses a “Miami” V8 engine, which is said to be a heavily modified version of the Mustang’s Coyote V8 that we know and love. Here, that engine produces an Australian 483 kilowatts, which translates to a massive 647 hp. In a four door sedan. It’s not quite Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, but it’s a super sedan nonetheless.
All of this means that Premcar had the skill and expertise to carry out Ford’s top secret V8 Ranger Raptor project. Allegedly, Ford was going to send already built Ranger Raptors to Ford’s Campbellfield facility near Melbourne, where the existing 2.0 liter Diesel engine would be replaced by the V8.
With Ford putting the project on indefinite hold, the only chance for a V8 Ranger Raptor is for Premcar to carry out the project themselves. Given their experience with the Holy Grail Falcon, there’s actually some decent possibility this could happen, especially because Ford commission them to engineer the car in the first place.
For now, unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the project has a future. And that’s a sad thing. The F-150 Raptor lost the V8 in the current generation. Putting a V8 in a smaller, lighter Ranger body would be one crazy off-roader we truly hope can find a way to still happen.
