Eagle-eyed fans of the Blue Oval brand have spied a new trademark filing, one which could hold promise for a future performance – street or off-road – variant of the Lightning pickup truck.
Showing up in government docs as the Lightstream, the word certainly doesn’t mean much in a vacuum. And, as we all know, car companies tend to trademark both names and product ideas all the time – few of which ever see the light of day. Sometimes this is to guard and protect an idea or innovation while other times it is to misdirect its competition (and media, it must be said).
Nevertheless, it’s an open secret that Ford would like to introduce different variants of the Lightning, including high performance model (as if 775 lb-ft of torque in a pickup isn’t enough) and an off-road beast. The latter, with knobby tires and lifted ride height, would surely play hell with official range estimates but the specter of a well-balanced Lightning tearing across desert dunes or doing all-wheel drive burnouts on a dry lakebed are too good not to mention.
It is this writer’s opinion that the Raptor designation would be a natural fit for such shenanigans, especially given all of the positive equity built up in that sub-brand. With the name spreading from the F-150 to the Bronco and now to its Ranger cousin, introducing it on the Lightning would be a logical step. And it’s not like Ford is afraid to court controversy with naming conventions – look at the ire they raised with the Mustang Mach-E. They’re also not above making dad jokes, as proven by recently introducing the Lightning Flash.
The application for Lightstream was made in late November, suggesting at least someone at the Glass House has this thing at part of what is surely a too-long PowerPoint presentation. As for the filing itself, it unhelpfully describes the terms usage as relating to “Motor vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, four-wheeled motor vehicles, sport utility vehicles, off-road vehicles, electrically powered motor vehicles, structural parts and fittings therefor.”
Again, that’s boilerplate stuff to throw us all off the scent of what they’re actually planning.
We’ll keep our ears to the ground and an eye on the forums for more details.
[Image: Ford]
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