Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Ford's SVT-developed, FOX Racing Shox-suspended, ultimate offroad truck owes its name to, of all things, a bean counter.

According to Jamal Hameedi, chief engineer at SVT, during the planning stages for Ford's ground-breaking (literally) truck, a finance guy on the Special Vehicle Team suggested the Raptor moniker as a placeholder until they could think up something better.

As development progressed and truck took shape, other names were tossed around. Terminator (for obvious reasons) and Condor (which soar over the team's Anza Borrego desert R&D location) were seriously considered, but neither seemed to convey what the Raptor was all about. So the name stuck, but not without difficulty. Boutique sports car manufacturer Mosler owned the rights to the name for automotive purposes, but Ford and SVT managed to find a way to come to a $atisfactory and undisclosed arrangement.

Other Raptors include the Toronto NBA team, a Yamaha ATV, the Air Force's F-22 stealth fighter jet, and a roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio -- though Ford's is the only one with 35-inch claws.