No more spy pics! Ford has rolled out something that even I, a Dodge lover, have come to appreciate. The Ford Raptor R concept that many have seen covered with black material prior to now. Modeled after the all-new 2009 Ford F150, the 2010 Raptor R is built with high speed off-road performance in mind. As the majority of the off-road enthusiast market remains untapped by manufacturers, according to Ford, now is a great time to introduce a factory-backed race truck for the hardcore desert racers.

Previously, the only off-road purpose truck to be produced in recent years by any automaker was the Dodge Power Wagon with its Hemi engine, standard winch and steep gearing that made for excellent off-road performance (I personally can’t wait until Dodge makes a Power Wagon based on the new 2009 Ram). Although the Raptor shares most of its engineering with the standard F150, several aesthetic changes have been made to give this truck its aggressive look. The most obvious change comes in the form of a redesigned front end including all new grill, bumper, hood and fenders with functional fender extractors. Something off-road lovers will squeal with delight over is the fact that the new Raptor is a full 7 inches wider than the base F150 and will surely provide better performance and stability on uneven terrain. A set of Fox Shox racing shock absorbers are at all four corners of this monster making it the first street truck to be equipped with shocks with an internal bypass system that stiffens the shock as the truck flies through the air and prevents it from bottoming out. All in all the Raptor boasts an impressive 11.2 inches of suspension travel in the front and 13.4 in the rear.

A base Raptor will be powered by the tried-and-true 5.4 L V8 that makes 320 horsepower and 390 pound feet of torque. Not enough for you? Well then you may be interested in the 6.2 L V8 that will come on the go-fast race R version that is currently being developed by Ford as I type this. Because Ford plans to enter a Raptor R in the famous Baja 1000 race, they have built a 62 mile track in the California desert to simulate the ridiculously tough Baja course and are currently beating the piss out of this truck in order to get it ready.

Ford has also added a host of technological goodies to the Raptor to give it the street manners of a production truck when not flying through the desert. Such options as Roll Stability Control, Trailer Sway Control, Integrated Trailer Braking Control, Hill Decent Control and Off-Road Mode which allows the driver to set the trucks performance based on type of speed/terrain.

All in all I see this as being snatched up by people who spend most of their time in the desert at high speeds and I can’t wait to see the power of that 6.2 L when it is released.