1983 Ford F-150 is a Slick Sleeper: Truckin’ Fast Wednesday

F-150 looks like your average old truck, but the distinct sound of a turbocharger gives it away.

The odds are good that a visit to your local drag strip won’t uncover many 1983 Ford F-150 pickups. If you do find an F-Series pickup from the 1980s at the track, you might not want to take it lightly. Even if it looks like a stock truck, it isn’t likely that someone would go racing in a stock truck that is more than three-decades old. The odds are good that a clean 1983 F-150 at the drag strip is a sleeper.

This week’s Truckin’ Fast Wednesday video comes from the IJVideos YouTube channel and it features a fine example of a sleeper F-150. What appears to be an average F-Series pickup is anything but average, covering the quarter mile more quickly than a fifth generation Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE.

The Competitors

Unfortunately, there are few details on the vehicles in this race, but we know the basics. In the far lane is a 1983 Ford F-150 extended cab pickup. In the near lane is a Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE. The title calls it a 2020, but it is not from the current generation. This front end was available on the SS 1LE in 2014 and 2015, so this car is from one of those two model years. Based on the performance of this Chevy, we are going to guess that it is stock.

As for the F-150, it looks stock, but as soon as the burnout begins, we know that it is not stock. The old truck begins doing a burnout before the Camaro and we can clear hear the whistle of a turbocharger while it is roasting the rear tires. We can also hear the relief system when the burnout ends, so there is no question that this old F-150 is turbocharged. We don’t know what engine it is, but it is clearly making good power.

F-150 versus Camaro 1LE

The video begins with the 1983 F-150 and the Camaro 1LE waiting to pull into the burnout box at Castrol Raceway. Once the cars ahead of them leave the line, the Ford truck and Chevy muscle car pull into the box. After each vehicle roasts the tires, they both inch up to the line.

When the green lights drop, the Camaro SS 1LE driver struggles to launch, bogging the car a bit. Meanwhile, the F-150 sits at the starting line as the driver waits for boost to build. When the time comes to launch, the old Ford comes rocketing out of the hole, quickly closing ground on the Chevy.

Due to the fact that the Camaro left the line right on green while the F-150 waits for boost to build, the Chevy gets to the finish line first. However, the boosted truck gets from end to end more quickly. The F-150 runs a 13.23 to the Camaro’s 13.30, so if the truck had gotten off the line with the muscle car, this super sleeper F-Series would have gotten the win.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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