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2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Prototypes Were Named After Pro Wrestlers

One quite literally never knows what one will see when it comes to automotive prototypes, which sometimes drive around covered in bizarre camo or no disguise whatsoever. Case in point – Ford Authority spies spotted a 2023 Lincoln Corsair prototype back in March that had a Kanye West (or Ye, as the long-time producer, rapper, and all-around celebrity has legally changed his name to) sticker in the rear window, making it look like he was hitching along for the ride. Now, Ford Authority has learned that the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning prototypes previously spied driving around were named after pro wrestlers, too.

The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning prototypes were given names to pay tribute to folks like Randy “Macho Man” Savage and Trina Thompson, which helped engineers distinguish between them during the development process. Of course, giving the pickups silly names like this also served another purpose unrelated to all that hard work. “It helped the team have fun while working, which is something we aim to do during development,” said Lightning chief engineer Linda Zhang.

Ford Authority spies first noticed this way back in March of 2021, when they spotted a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning prototype with a sticker in the rear window that read “Machoman” in red letters on a yellow background. At that time, we speculated that it could in fact be some sort of tribute to the late, iconic pro wrestler. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Randy Savage used to wear red and yellow outfits a lot, though, in all fairness, he donned all sorts of extravagant outfits over the years.

Regardless, over a year later, the F-150 Lightning has become America’s top considered EV pickup and has received glowing reviews from everyone that’s driven it, including from us here at Ford Authority. Soon, customers will get to experience the all-electric pickup for themselves, as the first deliveries of the new model are now underway.

We’ll have more on the F-150 Lightning soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series newsFord F-150 newsF-150 Lightning news, and non-stop Ford news coverage.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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