Special edition vehicles are all the rage these days. Actually, I think it was Ford that started this whole thing, actually, with the signature edition Continentals back in the 1970’s. Remember the Cartier model, or the Gucci? Mercifully, the fad died out for awhile, but has been revived like an ex-president and now trucks are the vehicles du jour for the designer treatment. Of course, there were always Levi’s edition Jeeps and such but beginning with the Eddie Bauer editions, Ford has led the charge.

And now we have a truck that will consign all those Orvis edition Grand Cherokees to Dominos-adolescent delivery duty. I’m talking about the Harley-Davidson edition Ford F-150.
Based on the F-150 SuperCrew Lariat edition, the Harley adds, oh, a couple of items of note. Oh sure, there are the requisite badges, quad leather captain’s chairs, unique front end with fog lamps, huge 20x9 chrome wheels, unique exterior colors, and all the audio and comfort equipment that you get with the Lariat trim level.

That means electric running boards for crying out loud, heated rear seats, a paint job that looks like a Nike sneaker, and that ultra-cool rear step and grab handle built into the tailgate. That’s for us early boomers who still think of ourselves as a butch bunch of desperados in our stretch Wranglers.

But if you’re the type who truly likes Harleys and what they stand for, it’s what’s under the hood that will tan your leathers.

Standard on the Harley edition F-150 is a 411 horsepower, 6.2 liter V8, originally developed for the take-no-prisoners Raptor truck.

The burble of a big Ford exhaust is as intoxicating as when I first noticed it in the movie Bullitt, and like McQueen, the Harley edition is both tough and sophisticated. Lowered one inch, the hulking truck with the loping, throaty exhaust is truly intimidating. And when you step on the loud pedal, it’s gearhead ambrosia. That therapeutic shove in your back is better than lumbar support, although that’s there, too. And after enjoying the ambiance, performance and pure adrenalin generated by the big Ford, it works pretty well as a pickup, too. Our test vehicle has the ingenious bed extender and I hauled a disassembled swing-set home for my daughter easily, certainly a lot easier than building it has been. 
At $50,835 as ours was with the moon roof, bed extender and heated seats, the Harley-Davidson edition F-150 isn’t cheap, but has truck presence to burn. It looks tough and treats you with kid gloves.

Where else can you get the Harley mystique without bugs in your teeth?