Nearly 24 hours has passed since Breman, Georgia, Ford dealership, Pioneer Ford, debuted its Lightning tribute Ford F-150 via its Facebook page, and it’s been shared more than 4,000 times. Think about that for a moment — that’s roughly 170 shares per hour over the course of a full day. Now, imagine for a moment how difficult it would have been to reach an audience of this magnitude say, circa 15 or so years ago. Sounds daunting, right?

Well, social media is sort of a double-edged sword in a way – it allows you to reach more people, but it also brings the “haters out of the woodwork” as they say. Naturally, with so many shares over a short period time and even reaching more larger entities’ Facebook pages, Pioneer Ford’s pioneered Lightning tribute F-150 was met with its share of criticism.

Alas, as we see with pop culture all of the time, it’s unavoidable when something is shined under a light for the world to see. The is, you shouldn’t be afraid to take risks because of someone’s criticism, and that’s exactly the mindset the folks at Pioneer Ford took when they created its first Lightning Tribute concept.

When you look across the board, it’s interesting to see the feedback from page to page on this Lightning Tribute truck. However, it’s not the negativity that fuels the performance truck frenzy that Pioneer Ford wanted. Rather, it’s the company’s passion that started it.

“What we loved about the ’99-’04 Lightning trucks wasn’t the loaded up lariat, navigation, heated seats, etc.” Pioneer Ford explained.

“That’s because they didn’t have it!” the dealership explained. “Ford created a purpose-built performance truck out of a base model truck. It didn’t even have a backup camera then! We optioned it like a ’99-’04 would be, and modified it tastefully as Ford would in our opinion. Then, once people purchased them, they made them and tweaked them how they wanted. That’s what is so awesome about these trucks now, and in the past!”

Pioneer Ford expanded on that declaration for us, saying that they chose to build these trucks as a throwback to the legendary second-gen SVT Lightnings.

“We are absolutely overwhelmed with the positive feedback! We have so many inquires on the vehicle,” the dealership enthused.

What makes a reimagining like this so exciting is that you can play homage to the original while adding subtile improvements that do not veer to far from the classic formula.

Take for example, the integration of a Roush Performance 2.3-liter TVS supercharger. Pioneer Ford is an official Roush dealership, so having access to its performance parts-bin in-house, right there in Georgia, is like having a playground full of unoccupied jungle-gyms and swings available at your disposal.

This 2018 Pioneer Ford SVT Lightning Tribute F-150 (Yes, that is a lengthy moniker.), is going to set you back just under $50,000. Keep in mind, however, that’s before any of the rebates and incentives directly from Ford, and before any other discounts applied from Pioneer.

So, what are you getting for your half’a hundo? For starters, you’re getting 650 horsepower from the aforementioned TVS 2.3-liter supercharged 5.0-liter V8. The side exhaust MBRP cat-back exhaust adds a nice touch to the single-cab truck, and a specially tuned suspension system ensures this truck will undoubtedly handle all of that instant torque.

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On another note, peep the wheels. Here’s a fun fact for you – while they are strikingly similar to the original ’99-’04 SVT Lightning design, there are a few changes differentiating the two. These wheels, which were designed custom-made for Pioneer Ford for its SVT Lightning tribute truck, measure in a whopping 22-inches in diameter.

And, unlike the original wheels, these iterations wear a Ford-logo’d center cap in lieu of an SVT emblazoned cap. Again, we can defer back to those subtle changes or improvements we divulged earlier. Did we mention this special-edition truck still retains the factory warranty?

Yes, that includes the supercharger, and it gives you the option to extend the warranty on everything as well. On that note, we’ll leave you with this. Would you pick one up? Why or why not? If you’re looking to put an order in for your own today, we encourage you to hit up Pioneer Ford on its Facebook page or its website for more information.