Ford hit the U.S. Patent and Trademark offices earlier this month and the names it trademarked sound like some fun trucks are just waiting to happen.
Patent applications 88519133 for the name ‘Adrenaline’ and 88519474 for the name ‘Badlands’ are both described as names for “Land motor vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles.” Pretty vague, but Ford Authority has two good guesses what these names might mean.
For starters, the name Adrenaline already has a history at Ford. Adrenalin (same name, but without the ‘e.’) was going to be a performance package for the Explorer Sport Trac pick-up. The package would have fitted the Explorer-based truck with a supercharged version of Ford’s 4.6-liter V8 engine, resulting in a 390 horsepower behemoth.
Instead, the Explorer Sport Trac Adrenalin ended up as a watered-down styling package thanks to the dream killing Great Recession, according to Ford Authority.
The Badlands name, on the other hand, hints at an off-roading package perhaps similar to the Ford Super Duty Tremor package for the F-250 and F-350, Ford Authority reports. Which makes sense, with overlanding, or at least overlanding style becoming more popular and the beefy Jeep Gladiator greedily slurping down Ford trucks’ lunch, the big blue oval is overdue in introducing a solid off-road package.
Will these packages ever see the light of day? Probably! Trucks are still selling aggressively despite rising cost, even as the automotive market in the U.S. in general begins to slow down. Truck buyers in general are already paying on average $32,500 per truck, why not slap an expensive package on while you’re at it!