Ford F-150 on the way: Blue Oval's Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500 rival is close to hitting Australian showrooms - and we've spotted one on the road

The countdown is on for the Ford F-150 to arrive in Australia. The first shipment of the US utes are on the water as testing of the converted vehicles enter the final phase of development.

A prototype of the right-hand-drive converted pick-up was used by Ford Australia for its recent Finke Desert Race program, acting as a tow vehicle for the Ranger Raptor that competed.

CarsGuide got a close-up look at the Lariat version of the F-150 and while it used different plastic for the dashboard than the customer-specification vehicle will feature, the conversion looked well executed.

Externally, the F-150 used at the Finke event was fitted with aftermarket wheels and off-road tyres to deal with the desert terrain.

Ford Australia is reportedly on-track to meet its earlier announced plans to have first deliveries of F-150s by the end of July. It reportedly will only take one day for RMA Automotive, Ford's partner in this conversion process, to change the steering wheel to the other side.

Ford Australia hasn't revealed exactly how many F-150s are on the first shipment but has revealed the entire first batch have already been allocated to dealers around the country.

Externally, the F-150 used at the Finke event was fitted with aftermarket wheels and off-road tyres to deal with the desert terrain.

"We have several hundred F-150s currently heading for Australia," a Ford Australia spokesman told CarsGuide. "These vehicles will go straight to the RMA facility in Melbourne to begin the right-hand-drive re-manufacturing process. We have seen strong levels of demand throughout our dealer network, with this first group of vehicles already allocated."

News that this first shipment is spoken for by dealers doesn't mean interested customers should worry about a long wait. RMA Automotive reportedly has the capacity to convert up to 1000 F-150 per month at its Melbourne facility and supply from the US is expected to be strong.

The process will be helped by the fact Australian-bound F-150 are Canadian-specification models, so all systems are already in metric measurements.

Ford Australia is reportedly on-track to meet its earlier announced plans to have first deliveries of F-150s by the end of July.

All local F-150, both the Lariat and the lower-grade XLT, will be powered by a 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol engine that makes 298kW and 678Nm, paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The range will start at $106,950 (plus on-road costs) for the XLT short-wheelbase, with the long-wheelbase costing $107,945. The Lariat will be priced from $139,945 for the SWB and $104,945 for the LWB.