Watch The Epic Challenges Ford’s 1,408 HP SuperVan Climbed Over At Pikes Peak | Carscoops

A new documentary piece from the Blue Oval badge chronicles the Supervan from its Genesis to its recent race to the clouds

Ford took one of the most unconventional vehicles possible to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb earlier this year. There are almost countless challenges for any racer at Pikes Peak. In this near-20-minute documentary, Ford outlines the hurdles it had to overcome to send SuperVan 4.2 up the mountain. It didn’t win but it came closer than it probably should have.

The very first Ford SuperVan dates back to 1971 and to celebrate that rich history, Ford decided to bring the latest iteration to Pikes Peak in June. Dubbed SuperVan 4.2, the gargantuan race vehicle features three electric motors that develop a combined 1,408 hp (1,050 kW). It also lost about 880 lbs (400 kg) compared to the SuperVan 4. Those changes were good but no guarantee of success on the mountain.

Ford highlights how Pikes Peak is unlike other races in that it doesn’t allow competitors to drive the whole course until the day of the race. Notably, its over-14-mile course is also a public road. Everyday folks like you and me can drive up it most of the year. That’s just one reason that racing teams are only allowed to test on one-third of the track at a time.

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Teams also have to finish testing by 8:30 a.m. on test days. To add a bit of track time, Ford also spent time at Pikes Peak International Raceway a bit south of the mountain. The team worked tirelessly for six weeks to get the SuperVan to the mountain and somehow managed to pull it off. Understandably, it made a mark on those who saw it lined up next to hordes of other race cars.

Watching this behemoth make its way into the clouds is a bit surreal. The benefits of electrification become clear in this extreme setting. The motors don’t care that the air is getting thin. The low center of gravity allows the tall vehicle to remain nimble and quick in the turns. And the instant torque makes exiting those corners all the more easy.

The result? The SuperVan 4.2 set a new record, 8:47:682, in the Open division of the race. The only record was 9:24 so it was nearly 40 seconds faster. Despite that, the team actually felt like they came away just a bit disappointed. Yes, they won the division as they’d set out to do but they missed out on winning the whole kit and kaboodle by just seven seconds.

To be precise, it was 7.6 seconds slower than first-place winner Robin Shute in a 2018 Wolf TSC-FS. That custom racecar looks like exactly what one might expect of a car that can rocket up Pikes Peak in just 8:40.080. The fact that the SuperVan 4.2 was so close to catching it says a great deal about just how fast and advanced it really is. 

Image Credit: Ford Performance