i tend to disagree here. the gen 1 is more the collector truck. it was the first real offroad production vehicle made. and even though there were a lot made, still was a limited production. for the gen 2, when it came out, ford said that anyone who wanted a raptor could get one. there are so many more gen 2 made than gen 1. for me a classic/collector vehicle has to have specific characteristics. 1) limited production 2) exclusivity. so to fit these categories i see it as this. the gen 1 raptor was exclusive because it was the first factory offroad truck. before the raptor came out, who would have thought 12" of travel in a truck? we were lucky to get half that. the gen 1 has the look that seperates it from any other truck on the market. and because there was limited allocation on the gen 1s it makes it more rare to find. i think thats why you see gen 1s holding their value so well.
as far as performance goes, you always learn from the past. while the gen 2s may outperform the gen 1s in many aspects, if the gen 1 wasnt around, we wouldnt even be having this conversation. a lot of the gen 1 owners use this truck as intended and even pushed it further. all the warranty claims, repairs, and complaints have led to the gen 2 being made the way it is now. and to be honest, its still not perfect, nor will it ever will be, but advances in technology have allowed all auto manufacturers to improve not just the raptor. and im still perfecrly happy with my gen 1. i really can care less about how much my truck will sell for. i wont sell it. ever. something very bad would have to happen to sell it. im at 187k on my 14 and its still running strong. i do hate seeing the seperation between gen 1 and gen 2 here, so hopefully we can all agree to this one statement. gen 2 owners are benefiting from gen 1 owners. gen 1 paved the way for what the raptor is now. and gen 3 owners will benefit from gen 2 owners.