TAMING THE SANDS—AND SNOW AND MUD AND ROCKS—OF NEW MEXICO IN FORD’S SECOND-GENERATION RAPTOR.
TAKE THIS ROAD,” my co-pilot urges. “I just know that it leads someplace good.” Chances are, she’s right. Nearly every road in the vicinity offers adventure. Chances are also high that the route will get us stuck.
We’re in New Mexico, one of the few places in our overly civilized country that will defeat the average truck or SUV. For every paved road in the 121,590-square-mile state, there are dozens of dirt tracks that radiate away from the tarmac, an arterial system that runs over the meat and bones of a great, rugged beast of land. And although people come to the state expecting deserts, they’re often not ready for the 13,000-foot mountains, the jumbles of flattop mesas, the slick sandstone, or the face-slapping winds that blow down from the snow-capped San Juan peaks. It can be a lonely place. The scope is immense, the kind of big that makes you feel small, inducing for some a sort of open-air panic. But I grew up here, a third-generation New Mexican, and find comfort in the hundred-mile horizons.
For 20 years, I’ve been hemmed in on the East Coast. Whenever I need to reorient my internal compass and look to the sky while touching dirt, a trip home is in order. And if you’re going to roam this big land, you’d best do it in something that won’t force you to hoof it out.
Enter the second-generation F-150 Raptor. You may know it as the Truck That Jumps. But that’s a pretty narrow customer mandate. What Ford has sought to create is a go-anywhere vehicle that opens up places like the back roads of New Mexico to all of us.
Denne historien er fra June 2017-utgaven av Road & Track.
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Denne historien er fra June 2017-utgaven av Road & Track.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
TURD ON THE RUN
IN THE LATE SIXTIES, THE ROLLING STONES BUILT A MOBILE RECORDING STUDIO ON THE BACK OF A FARM TRUCK AND CHANGED MUSIC FOREVER.
I Got a Guy..
There exist people with very particular sets of skills. Skills acquired over long careers. Skills that make them a godsend for people like us. They are the specialists.
LONG TAILS
THE BEAUTIFUL AND BIZARRE RACE CARS DESIGNED TO CONQUER A SINGLE STRIP OF PAVEMENT.
EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING
Winner, Over $100,000: Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
THE GREAT PRETENDER
Winner, Under $100,000: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
BREAKS, NOT BENDS
SINGER'S DIVETRACK TELLS A VERY NICHE KIND OF TIME.
RADIAL FLYER
A MEYERS MANX WITH AN AIRPLANE ENGINE IS A WEIRD FIX FOR SPEED ADDICTION.
THE BALLAD OF CRAZY ROCKETMAN
WHAT A BUILDER OF PULSE-JET-ENGINE VEHICLES CAN TELL US ABOUT MOTORING PASSION.
SOCIETÀ UTOPICA
THE PAGANI UTOPIA IS MORE THAN JUST A CAR. IT'S A HANDCRAFTED INVITATION TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST EXCLUSIVE MOTORING CLUBS.
ST.ELMO'S FIRE
AN INDIANAPOLIS RESTAURANT WITH FACEMELTING SHRIMP HAS BEEN A DE FACTO RACING CLUBHOUSE FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY.