Ford Gifts New Ford F-150 Raptor R to a Veteran After Accident
It’s time to salute one automaker’s actions. Ford is known for supporting veterans and troops by donating vehicles and being an extremely veteran-friendly place to work. Mike Levine’s son is even in the military. So, replacing a marine’s Ford F-150 Raptor after an accident shouldn’t be a surprise.
Ford gifts Ford F-150 Raptor R to a veteran after an accident
Vargas-Andrews is only one of the nation’s heroes recognized by Ford and he recently lost his beloved Ford F-150 Raptor in an accident caused by another distracted driver.
This was his dream truck and it was only five months old. The accident totaled the F-150 on the highway, prompting Ford to replace it with a brand new Ford F-150 Raptor R after hearing his story.
Vargas-Andrews was helping people evacuate from the Kabul airport in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber detonated a device.
The blast killed 143 Afghans and 13 United States service members, including two of Vargas-Andrews’ closest friends.
He was injured but miraculously survived the attack as 150 ball bearings ripped through his body. As a result, he lost his left leg and right arm. He’s also had 45 surgeries so far.
When he finally got out of the hospital, he immediately purchased his dream truck. Also, it’s pretty lucky that he and his girlfriend survived the truck crash with minor injuries.
Vargus-Andrews was able to tour the Dearborn plant where his new Ford F-150 Raptor R was built and even got to meet Bill Ford.
The F-150 Raptor has a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 engine with 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. The F-150 Raptor R has a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine with 720 hp and 640 lb-ft of torque. So, this is quite the upgrade.
The Raptor R can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds and the regular Raptor gets there in about 5.4 seconds.
While the regular F-150 Raptor starts at $77,980, the Raptor R starts at $111,550. This is a massive act of kindness that Vargus-Andrews won’t forget. He will probably be loyal to Ford for life.
