In Cars, Ford, Local News / By Matthew H Tong / 16 October 2017 9:54 pm / 102 comments

Yup, you read the title right. The iconic, mother-of-all Ford pick-up trucks has arrived in Malaysia, and in right-hand drive form, no less. You’re looking at the 13th-generation Ford F-150, which is set to go on sale here in locally-assembled form, converted from its original LHD guise.

According to Hamawangsa Kredit boss, Nizam Arifin, the pre-facelift F-150 will be sold exclusively by the company as a rebadged version, with an annual sales volume of 150 units being targeted. The vehicles will be imported from the US (this includes the tyres, too), while the RHD conversion kit comes from Canada.

The truck will then go through a three-month conversion process in Malaysia, at a facility that is yet to be disclosed. After-sales support will be outsourced to a long-time partner of Hamawangsa, whereas a third party insurer will be announced at a later date, the company added. If you haven’t guessed yet, the F-150 has not, and will not be officially sold by Sime Darby Auto Connexion (Ford Malaysia).

The pick-up will be offered in three body styles – Regular Cab (single cab, three-seater max), SuperCab (extended single cab, longer wheelbase, six-seater max) and SuperCrew (twin cab, six-seater). There will be five trims – XL, XLT, LARIAT, King Ranch and Platinum – on offer, each paired to a six-speed automatic. A choice of 4×2 or 4×4 can be specified during your purchase, but the latter is standard issue for the King Ranch and Platinum variants.

Customers can choose between four engines, starting from a 2.7 litre EcoBoost V6 that’s good for 325 hp and 508 Nm of torque. Up one rung is the 3.5 litre EcoBoost V6 with 385 hp and 524 Nm. There’s also a naturally-aspirated pick, in the form of a 3.5 litre Ti-VCT V6, offering 282 hp and 343 Nm of torque.

The range-topping F-150 will come with a 5.0 litre Coyote V8 (which also equips the Mustang GT), pushing 365 hp and 569 Nm of torque. Towing capacity ranges from 3,855 kg for the 2.7L EcoBoost to 4,850 kg for the 3.5L EcoBoost.

It sits on 18-inch twin six-spoke alloys wrapped with 275/65 Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tyres as standard, but customers can choose to upsize to 22-inch wheels if they so desire. Hamawangsa will also offer accessories for the F-150, among which will be the popular Raptor pack. There’s no picking and choosing, according to Arifin, because these cosmetic kits will most likely be bundled together as one upgrade pack.

The equipment list has yet to be confirmed, but some features – as seen on the F-150 LARIAT example on display at Hamawangsa’s showroom – include halogen headlamps (no LED DRLs) and fog lamps, LED combination tail lamps with built-in sensors for blind spot detection, keyless entry/start, remote engine start/stop (similar to the Honda Civic and BMW 7 Series), a full panoramic sunroof as well as a powered tailgate with an integrated step capable of supporting loads of up to 350 kg.

Other conveniences include an all-new eight-inch MyView digital display – with up to seven tabs – offering info such as real-time tracking of towing information and GPS navigation display. Also on, a shift-by-wire 4WD dial, heated and ventilated front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, cruise control (passive) and Bluetooth hands-free.

There are also two 110 volt/400 watt AC plug points (one in the lower dash, the other behind the centre tunnel) and dual rear air vents, although to use the former, you may require a step-up transformer or voltage converter.

In terms of safety, the F-150 comes equipped with six airbags, hill-descent and hill-start assist, AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control and Curve Control as well as a tyre pressure monitoring system, which comes on top of the usual suite of three-lettered acronyms like ABS and VSC.

Now, pricing, and it starts from a whopping RM388,888 for the entry-level 2.7 litre EcoBoost variant (which starts from US$28,675 in the US, before options), but Hamawangsa is lobbying to get the cost of entry down to the RM350k mark. It’s still an obscene amount of money we’re talking about here, which makes us wonder what the eventual figure will be like for the Platinum 5.0 litre V8 (from US$55,450 in the US).