There have been times in Ford’s past where the Blue Oval partners with outside brands to rev up the automaker’s lineup. However, none have been as fruitful as Ford’s partnership with Harley-Davidson and the livening up of Ford’s sales king, the F-150. Though the release was without the typical fanfare as per Ford’s known for, the 2019 Harley-Davidson F-150 will be an absolute boon to Ford’s already stellar F-150 track record.
The partnership with Harley-Davidson began in 2000 and has been quite fruitful with over 70,000 Harley-Davidson branded F-150s sold since its debut. While previous Harley-Davidson F-150s were developed in-house by Ford in conjunction with the motorcycle maker, the latest edition was developed by Tuscany Motor Co., which is a subsidiary of FOX, the company that produces the Raptor’s suspension components.
Though previous iterations were really nothing more than body kits and branding exercises, the new Harley-Davidson F-150 packs a host of features that go beyond the aesthetics. According to Ford and Tuscany Motor Co., the Harley-Davidson F-150 features a lift thanks to some FOX-sourced suspension components, new aluminum wheels made to resemble Harley-Davidson’s Fat Boy wheels, LED lightbars, and 35-inch all-terrain tires. However, given the success of previous iterations, Ford and Tuscany didn’t skimp on the exterior details.
There’s a stainless steel exhaust with Harley-Davidson branding, a set of new fender flares, a new hood with ram-air intake, new front and rear bumper inserts, Harley-Davidson badging throughout, new door trim, and a host of smaller applications across the F-150s exterior. There will also be a ton of little details that reside inside the truck’s cabin.
According to Tuscany Motor Co., the plan is to build over 1,000 Harley-Davidson F-150s, all with a starting price of $84,995 and will be sold in select dealerships around the United States. The Harley-Davidson F-150s will come standard with the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-8 but can be selected with the more powerful twin-turbocharged V-6 EcoBoost engine as well. What isn’t known is what Harley-Davidson gets out of the deal, as we haven’t seen anything Ford-branded from Harley-Davidson. And with the motorcycle brand very nearly on the brink of collapse, we’d have to imagine that Harley-Davidson was paid a pretty penny for licensing its brand.
