Tough-Looking Everest Raptor Rendered, But Ford Still Won’t Build One

The Ford Ranger Raptor continues to be one of the hottest commodities in dual-cab utes, but with a Bronco Raptor still a fever dream for our market, many have wondered what it could be like to shoehorn the feisty 392HP EcoBoost V6 and Fox Racing suspension into the platform-shared Everest SUV.

Sadly, Ford has made it clear that they’re not interested in the idea of an Everest Raptor, with Ian Foston, T6 Chief Platform Engineer, telling CarExpert that it’s just not something customers are asking for. “Yeah, you know, we certainly spoke to Everest owner’s clubs and people who use Everest in probably a more extreme way than perhaps a normal customer and few of them have said, oh, wouldn’t it be awesome to do a, an Everest Raptor,” he said.

“But in reality, I would say that we haven’t had a massive calling for it (outside of those few people). There’s been few people asking about it (that weren’t Ford’s extreme Everest customers).”

Still, speculations of a Raptor version of the Everest have been doing the rounds for a while now, and there are rumours that Ford even developed a prototype version while eventually deciding to not enter it into production. However, these renders by Kolesa.ru shows how enticing the final product can be once the Everest has been given the proper Raptor treatment.

Sporting the same widened appearance, the Everest Raptor renders look quite appealing clad in the signature burnt orange and with go-faster hardware draped all over it. The more sober styling of the standard Everest has made way for a beefier front end with a proper Baja racer appearance thanks to the larger front skid plate, a bigger grille, thicker wheel arches, and of course massive tyres wrapped around sinister-looking dark grey alloys.

Elsewhere, the contrast black roof rails, chunky off-road bumpers and twin exhaust tips do add to the buff stance of this imaginary fast Ford.

If the brand did ever bring the Everest Raptor int production, then the powertrain of choice would almost certainly be the 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol​ with 292 kW @ 5,650 rpm and 583 Nm @ 1,750 rpm. Plus, the robust suspension and an overhauled chassis with a steely-eyed focus on off-roading would also be expected.

While the feasibility of making a Raptor version of the Everest is easy thanks to the shared underpinnings with the Ranger Raptor, the fact is that Ford will decide to build one only if there are enough customers for it. However, with the Raptor accounting for around 15 per cent of sales in Ranger form, we think there are enough buyers out there and it would further expand the Raptor buyer base without a Bronco to choose from.

It’s important to mention that there is a new Everest Tremor which is perhaps the closest that you can get to a Raptor version with muscular off-road styling and all-terrain tyres. There’s no twin-turbo V6 petrol under the bonnet, but it does come with the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 producing 184 kW @ 3,250 rpm and 600 Nm @ 1,750–2,250 rpm.

The standard Everest and the Ranger Ute are hugely popular products in Australia since they make up for nearly 90 per cent of the total Ford sales here. Hence, launching a Raptor version of its best-selling SUV would be a bit of a no-brainer if you ask us!