6.2-liter V-8 Photo Courtesy of Drew Phillips and Autoblog
We were a bit disappointed last week when Ford revealed the new factory street truck. It wasn't the looks that let us down but rather its mild powertrain — the same 320 horsepower / 390 pounds-feet of torque 5.4-liter V-8 that's available in the rest of the F-150 lineup. A truck like the Harley F-150 needs a special engine under its hood and we had expected to see the second application of Ford's 6.2-liter premium V-8 (formerly known as "Boss") sitting in the engine bay. The engine and its 400 hp and 400 pounds-feet of torque are already confirmed for the desert runner.
So, we were pleasantly surprised by the pictures that Drew Phillips and our friends at Autoblog took at the Chicago auto show, where the Harley F-150 made its debut. When they opened the hood staring back at them was the 6.2-liter V-8 with a helpful "6.2L BOSS" emblem stamped in the plastic cover over the engine's intake manifold.
What does this mean? Officially, Ford is still sticking with its earlier statements that the 5.4-liter V-8 is the only engine for the new Harley F-150.
"The only engine confirmed for the Harley-Davidson F-150 is the 5.4-liter V-8 it will launch with," a Ford spokesperson told us. They had no comment about the 6.2-liter V-8.
Fair enough, but we're going to call this particular show truck "Boss Hog" and keep our fingers crossed that the 6.2-liter V-8 is coming sooner rather than later.
[Hat tip to PUTC commenters Power Kid & Scott for the heads up]
