(first posted 2/26/2013) Foreign travel has a way of making you see your own local surroundings differently, with a bit more insight and clarity. Seeing familiar American cars in a South American setting several years ago certainly had that effect, and it happened to start with a car recently subjected to mixed reviews here – the Ford Maverick.
Designed for the domestic U.S. market as a cheap compact, and marketed at first with plain finishes and only low-powered inline six engines, the Maverick was a thoroughly unexciting car in its home market. Ford attempted to add some flair with the Grabber trim package in the middle of the first model year and a 302 V-8 in the second, but the Maverick remained a car with little impact on anyone’s imagination (little positive impact, at least). In Brazil, on the other hand, the Maverick became a memorable muscle car, and a survivor parked on the street creates a great visual impact.
The Maverick to remember is the Maverick GT, a variant made specifically for the Brazilian market. Produced for the duration of the Maverick’s Brazilian production run from 1973 to 1979, the GT was the fastest car sold in Brazil at the time. With a 302 V-8 and a 4-speed manual transmission as its powertrain, and its styling accented by black paint on the hood bulge and tail and with wide black stripes on the sides, the Maverick GT was faster and sportier looking than anything else on the road. 0 to 60 in 11.5 seconds was unspectacular by U.S. pre-smog control standards, but in Brazil, it was as good as you could get.
The Maverick GT is proof of the adage that the first step toward success is simply to show up. The Maverick GT succeeded by showing up with a V-8 when almost no other car in the Brazilian market did. Then and now, the vast majority of the cars sold in Brazil have been small four cylinder economy cars, the result of a generally lower standard of living and substantially higher fuel prices. During the 1970’s the only other V-8 powered cars made in Brazil were two other U.S.-designed models, the Ford Galaxie and the Dodge Dart, both of them large by local standards and positioned at the top of the market.
Smaller and sportier than either the Galaxie or the Dart, and announcing its V-8 to the drivers of other cars in very visible letters in its side stripes, the Maverick GT was a U.S.-style muscle car in miniaturized form. It and a Dart-based Dodge Charger were the only V-8 performance cars on the market in Brazil. (For more history of the Maverick in Brazil and its place in Brazilian automotive history, see here: http://www.maverick.to/np-foreignmav2.shtml.)
This particular car has had a substantial wheel and tire upgrade. Originally equipped with 14×6 wheels and D70 Wide Ovals, this car still wears steel wheels with Ford Motor Company dog dish hubcaps, but with the front wheels widened, the rear wheels widened even more, and much larger tires. It has a subtle rake that improves its stance.
When they are this wide, steel wheels with hubcaps look tough and no-nonsense.
The interior looks fairly well equipped, with a sport steering wheel, buckets, and a console. While U.S.-made Mavericks had a package shelf instead of a glove compartment, underscoring the car’s cheap entry-level status, Brazilian Mavericks were marketed as a relatively high end car and therefore had a real glove compartment added. The owner of this car appears to have accessorized it with a matching sweater.
With beefy tires, the right stance, and black accents to highlight its lines, this two-door Maverick looks like it would fit in well with its more celebrated 1960s Mustang fastback cousins. The same engine and drivetrain modifications used in Mustangs would wake up the 302 and allow the Maverick to run with them stride for stride.
No doubt many Brazilian drivers used to trash talk that this view was the only one that anyone would ever have of their Maverick GT – a boast probably never made by a U.S. Maverick driver. This car should remind us that many car designs generally considered to be quite dull had potential never exploited by their manufacturers. Modern restomods of non-muscle cars demonstrate the same here in the U.S. This car also should remind us that in the U.S., we are fortunate to be spoiled with more automotive choices than almost anyone else, resulting in some potentially interesting models never receiving much attention.
Thanks, it’s always interesting to see overseas automobilia, including variations on American themes. Though I think Europe has more automotive choices than we do (see http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews).
Ford’s calling their sport model the Grabber gave much amusement to my friend & I. It sounded naughty, as if they called it the Maverick Groper.
I have always considered these Mavericks to be very good looking cars, at least up until the monster federal bumpers attacked them in 1973-74. I have always been a bit surprised that more of these never got that treatment over here. Something like this would have been almost the exact reincarnation of the original Mustang GT.
The hubcaps are fascinating. These say “Ford” 3 times in a circle, while the U.S. versions said “Ford Motor Company.” It is surprising that they would re-tool these. Of course, perhaps it was for translation purposes. That said, I have always considered these the ultimate dogdish hubcaps. These are (to me) one of the very few base hubcaps that made almost everything they were on look better. I would take these (with trim rings) in a heartbeat over almost any wheelcover on any Ford of that era, including an LTD. Ford made a mistake going away from this style. These are almost the Ford version of the Chevy rally wheel. Only better looking. In the 70s, I knew a guy with a 67 Galaxie convertible with these caps. The car looked really cool and ready to race.
You are incredibly observant — I’d have never noticed the lettering discrepancy on those hubcaps! The owner probably had to have some kind of special tool to pry those off due to the deep inset.
For a plain hubcap, I agree that these things look fantastic with trim rings on the deep 7″ wide rims found on the ’71-3 Mustangs and similar products. If I had one of those cars, I’d be running those too! It’s weird because typically I prefer dog dishes without trim rings.
Incredibly observant is right — I never noticed that the hubcaps read “FORD FORD FORD” even after looking at this front wheel closeup and also a rear wheel closeup photo. both repeatedly. I saw the hubcap shape, and my mind immediately assumed that “FORD MOTOR COMPANY” was what the three words said. I remember seeing these hubcaps on clapped-out early 1970s Galaxies and Mustangs and being unimpressed, but not having seen them in at least a decade, I now find them distinctive and good-looking when in good condition.
Old late 1950s-early 1960s Fords had hubcaps that said “Ford” three times in a circle. Of course those were entirely different styles; but the tradition was there.
I’m guessing they didn’t want to stamp “Ford Motor Company” on hubcaps in non-English speaking countries as that would be as garish as having “Chevrolet do Mejico” stamped on HHR hubcaps. Not the image one wants.
So…and especially since it’s quite likely that cheap items like hubcaps were contracted out…just having a batch say “Ford” thrice instead of the other, is no big deal.
The FORD FORD FORD in a circle is like an odd way to ensure at least one FORD is close to right-side-up; it’s like a cheap version of those new wheels that have weighted logos in the center that always land right side up when the car isn’t moving. Not sure if these things spin with the wheel in motion.
A car I barely remember,did the Mopar A bodies out sell it when new?
The Maverick was first introduced as an early 1970 model in the spring of 1969. It was originally intended as a rock-bottom stripper that would compete with economical imports that were taking up a larger portion of the U.S. market, like VWs, Toyotas and Datsuns. At first, the Maverick came only as 2-door, and only with the 170 and 200 cubic inch sixes. It was compact-sized, but smaller than most mainstream domestic compacts of that era, which had grown a bit since they first appeared in the late ’50s and early ’60s. IINM, Ford advertised a base price just below $2000 ($1995 or something like that). In its extended 1970 model year, at a time when more and more Americans were turning to smaller cars (both domestic compacts and import subcompacts) Ford sold scads of them — IIRC, something like 575K for the extended model year, and over 400K for just the 1970 model year proper.
For the 1971 model year, the Maverick was repositioned a bit. In spite of the Maverick’s success, it had become apparent to Ford that a smaller 4-cylinder car would be needed to effectively compete with the imports — as well as GM’s new Vega — and the Pinto was introduced for ’71 to play that role. Meanwhile, Ford’s aging Falcon compact needed to be replaced. Ford had really let the Falcon go towards the end of the ’60s, and had already decided to ax it rather than upgrade it to meet new regulatory standards that went into effect on January 1, 1970 (the Falcon went out of production early in the 1970 model year in order to comply with this deadline; a stripped-down intermediate “1970 1/2 Falcon” later appeared in an attempt to plug the hole for the remainder of the model year). So the Maverick was now positioned as the successor to the Falcon, as more of a mainstream compact. It gained a 4-door bodystyle on a longer wheelbase, and became available with two larger engines, the 250 cubic inch six and 302 cubic inch V8.
In this role, from 1971-74, the Maverick was a decent but mediocre seller. Most of the market that had bought Mavericks in its extended 1970 model year now migrated to Pintos, and the Maverick now had to compete directly with cars like the Chevy Nova and the Mopar A-bodies. I think Maverick’s production most years was in the 200Ks — not bad, but way below what it had done in ’70, and probably well below its GM and Chrysler competition. At a time when compact sales were heavily slanted towards 2-doors, I think the fact that the Maverick’s 2-door version was so small may have been a liability. The Maverick also did not lend itself well to the increasing impact of broughamification on the upper end of the compact market. To remedy these problems, Ford planned to replace the Maverick with the new Granada for the 1975 model year.
Before those plans could be put into effect, a funny thing happened — the 1973 energy crisis. For the 1974 model year, Maverick had its best year since 1970, with production of over 300K. Its economy image was now an asset. Ford now decided to sell the Maverick and the Granada side by side. The Maverick would be positioned as a low-end economy compact, eventually to be replaced by a new, smaller post-energy crisis compact model. The Granada would be positioned as a high-end, broughamy compact which would eventually be groomed to take over the midsize role in Ford’s lineup, under the theory that midsize buyers would now migrate to cars its size. With this arrangement in place, the Maverick would remain in production through 1977. Its sales fell off after 1974, dropping below 100K by the last year, but it served a purpose. It was finally dropped when the Fairmont was introduced for the 1978 model year.
One of my old neighbors had one of those 1970.5 Falcon’s. It was actually a decontented Torino body only available as a post car (no hard tops). By the time that I met the neighbor, they had repainted the car so it had no Falcoln scripts but was explained to me what the car was. It was blue with blue vinyl interior and no options other than power steering, power brakes, and an automatic transmission. I believe it had a 302. What was unusual, as while it was basically the barest bones Torino body car with only a limited amount of options you could conceivably order the 429 Cobra Jet motor in it.
I would agree that the Maverick got squeezed towards the end of its life. Between the smaller Pinto, the Mustang II, and the Granada there wasn’t a lot of daylight between a lot of those models. I have always felt that the Maverick was the least best designed of the models mentioned.
Whenever I see Mavericks around I always look on the dash to see if the recall warning label is still in place.
The Maverick was scheduled to be replaced by the Granada however when the sales of the Maverick spiked again after the first energy crisis they moved the Granada up market and soldiered the Maverick on for a few more years.
We actually had a CC on a 1970.5 Falcon back in January 2012:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/1970%C2%BD-ford-falcon-mission-implausible/
Ha, I still have the full recall mailer for the ’70 Maverick that my dad bought new and handed down to me in ’76; we never removed the sticker to put on the car. To date, after several tries on eBay, I have yet to find a market for this piece of memorabilia.
My 73 Maverick still has it’s dash sticker. It’s still in good shape.
I still have the mailer and a pristine unused sticker as well. Collectively I’m guessing we could open a museum.
Works for me. Here are a few of my Mavericks. Thats not me by the way. My friend Randy. This pics a few years old. Car hasn’t changed much since it’s stored inside.
My 76.
Other side.
Rear.
And my 71 4dr. It currently has wheelcovers.
Next one.
Rear.
Inside.
MCT, I agree with your statement “The Maverick also did not lend itself well to the increasing impact of broughamification on the upper end of the compact market.”
The LDO (Luxury Decor Option) wasn’t very “Broughamy” ……….maybe that’s why I like it. It even added an unusual luxury, reclining seats! They were some of the best leather looking vinyls I’ve seen.
One of the CPOs on my amphibious ship had an LDO sedan. It even had a floor shift automatic. Lovely car, quite rare today. The LDO was nice enough but it seemed a bit confused – like Ford didn’t know whether to make it a mini-Brougham or a facsimile of a European road sedan.
Brazil also had this nifty wagon version that we didn’t get, unfortunately. Would have been so much better than that shitty Pinto Squire.
The Maverick Station Wagon were “built” by a Ford dealership in Sao Paulo city. It was rare as an unicorn when new, let alone now a days. Ive seen one up close in 2014, in a classic car meeting in my home town.
It was built on a 4 doors body that received a ^half ” roof and lift gate of a Chevy Opala Caravan.
Except for the lack of wagon-unique taillights, this looks like it could slot in quite nicely between the Pinto and the Torino wagons.
Very interesting to see this. The side styling is reminiscent of the Australian Falcon wagon, but the rear is completely different
The wagon was never considered for the US for a very good reason; by the time the Sao Paulo dealership that converted them had things up and running, the Fairmont program was well underway and Ford had committed to having an all-new compact wagon by 1978.
I like the Maverick Grabbers. It is nice that the bumpers are the decorative ones, not the railroad ties adorned to the US versions.
Never really cared for these in their day………. now 30+ years later compared to today’s cars, I’ll take this, V8 and all, in a heart beat.
I’m in the same boat. As a child, these always looked cheap and ugly in my eyes, more like an overstyled Pinto than a downsized Mustang. But now on the rare occasion when I see a Maverick or Comet, I find I kind of like the lines of them.
We probably didn’t get a GT like this car in North America because it would have stepped to far into the Mustang II’s turf.
Multiple memories of the Maverick as they were very popular for a number of years. Just before my move to CA, I purchased one of the first 72 Mavericks with the Luxury Decor Option (LDO) just off the truck – loaded with the 302, auto, PS, and A/C. Given the deep pile carpeting, soft vinyl buckets, extra sound deadening, radial tires, and myriad trim details, including side vinyl trim that matched the top and body color wheel covers a la M-B, this car was a far cry from the plaid-seated, plain-Jane Mavericks of the first year (it did, however, lack a glove box!). It wasn’t a great car and all kinds of things went wrong with it over time (some weak points were an inadequate radiator for the 302 with A/C, a poorly placed bypass hose that kept bursting, upper control arm bushings that constantly required lubing to prevent loud squawking). The car also was a poorly timed purchase as the very low gas mileage of the 302 (13 MPG in city driving) combined with a very small fuel tank made for a bad situation during the gas rationing that resulted from the 1973-74 oil embargo. The memory of that automobile makes me appreciate the cars of today all the more!
My mother had one of the first Mavericks with the 200 six, automatic, and radio. It was a much better car and served its purpose as basic transportation for a number of years. Another friend had the Grabber with a 3 on the floor with the 250 six and those neat hubcaps and chrome rings. As I recall, it was painted in one of those colorful lime greens so popular at the time.
Maverick is one car I virtually never see on the streets of SoCal today. I assume they were all driven into the ground and few viewed them as in any way collectible.
My parents had the 4-door version of your car. Yes, those bypass hoses. I remember one blew out on ours. Actually, the entire cooling system gave trouble, including a stuck thermostat that failed and the water valve for HVAC failing.
Also, the entire brake system was shot at 30,000. The linings and the master cylinder were replaced.
Other than that, it was an adequate car, with decent comfort. The radial tires and extra sound deadening of the LDO option really made a difference.
It could have used disc brakes, though. Ford really dropped the ball, especially since they were an early pioneer of them in North America. They weren’t even an option yet and wouldn’t be until ’74.
Drums were still standard in ’75, AFIK making it one of , if not THE the last cars to have them.
Robert, thank you for posting this. What a beautiful car. For years, I had a loathing for white cars, but when a muscle car like this one or the 74 Camaro Z28 comes up, I fall in love and dream of ownership! It just looks right. The black striping and black steelies with the Ford dog dish caps just gives it that Q Ship/street fighter look. What a find.
I had no cllue that our Big Three’s off shoots in foreign countries were creating such interesting and desirable cars. It goes without saying that a lot of folks here hope you catch that Dodge Charger-Dart.
Spotted one of those in Naples last weekend as well. I always got a kick out of the “Grabber” models. Not entirely sure what they were trying to ‘grab’…
………..Grab your attention. What was a Judge? A GO Package, The Machine, Heavy Chevy? Twister? There were so many seemingly nonsensical names that were cool and a part of the lingo.
Seeing a Maverick in this form reinforces my feeling that it was basically a decent-looking car that would have benefited (aesthetically speaking) from a less impoverished level of trim.
The Maverick is the automotive equivalent of that white-trashy girl in your high school class who kept catching your eye, but every time you looked at her you wished you hadn’t. She could be good looking, you thought, with just a little, um, no, if maybe she wore, um… no, there really wasn’t anything she could do.
That is one tough-looking Maverick! I hope to see more Brazilian cars on CC. Hopefully, Robert took lots of pictures when he was there.
This Maverick GT really makes me think of a Argentine car called the “Torino” which, in spite of what the name might lead you to believe, was based on the Rambler American. I guess that makes sense since the Maverick began as Ford’s attempt at building a Rambler American.
Are you talking about the famed (in S. America) IKA Torino?
Yes, certainly. Of course the IKA Torino was a huge departure from its North American roots, while the Maverick GT is much closer to its US counterpart.
The wacky (by United Statesian standards) thing about the Brazilian Mavericks was that the ones that didn’t come with a 302 came with an ancient Willys F-head six!
Speaking of trivia…anyone notice the “MAVERICK” badge had differences?
In the States, there was a cattle skull parked in the V. Here, no.
I’d like to know the year of this one…I’m suspecting 1975, as it has the paint trim on the headlight bezels that showed up on the 1975 freshening. Of course it lacks the railroad-crosstie bumpers, which makes it look a whole different car: lighter; proportionate, nimble.
Yes, I did notice the badge difference, I have known about the legend that is the Brazilian Maverick for years. And only US spec.cars had the RR tie bumpers, beginning with the front only in ’73, rear was added in ’74. I still cannot believe most people don’t know the original plan for the Maverick was a showroom stock drag racer, complete with the 351C. Long story short, the crap hit the fan for ’68 MY, (by then the Mav was in final approval stage), the 351C moved upstairs to the ‘Stang to justify the cost, as factory race cars were done, and Maverick showed up with the 170 six in April ’69, as a ’70 MY. First 6 or so months of production did not even have a locking steering column, ign switch was in a cast aluminum pod on the package tray under dash. I had one. There is a REASON the 70-72s were only available in a 2 door fastback, without a glovebox, and is why it did not replace the Falcon for a whole another MY. But Ford was wise enough to offer options, however, my former Mac Tool dealer has a late (key in column) ’70 with 250 six, p/s, and a/c,extremely rare car as most went for the $1995 stripper.
I always came to understand that the column ignition thing was a federal regulation since virtually all cars seemingly switched from a dash key to a column key around that time. Among other things like the headrests on the front seats, side marker lights, and the crash protection regulations that spelled doom for the baby Falcon. The early Mavericks also had a steering wheel with a horn ring while later models did not. Mavericks were also initially noted for their unusual color choices.
The Brazilian Mavericks were made in Brazil not imported from the US.
Ironically, he last A-body Dodge Dart was made in Brazil in 1981.
What’s even more ironic is that the last Darts were built by VW, not Chrysler, as they had sold thier Brazilian operation (among others)
to raise cash during their near death experience in ’79.
See?
I assume the fact that the early Horizons and Omnis used VW engines and those cars were developed when Chrysler still owned their European counterpart – had something to do with that. A lot of people forget that Chrysler had a European operation, like Ford and GM, and it has had an interesting history. Old timers probably remember Simcas, Sunbeams, and Alpines.
Pictured below is a Brazilian Simca that looks surprisingly like the 56 Chryslers.
It looks more 1957 Studebaker, to me.
The car posted by CraiginNC is a Simca Chambord, produced in Brazil from 1959 to 1966. It is really a Ford and uses a V8-60 flathead. In 1949 Ford France launched a new model called Vedette: based on the small car planned for postwar US it looked like a shrunken 49 Mercury. In 1954 the French subsidiary got a new design, similar to the British Zephyr and Consul, but still with the V8. But the same year the factory was handed over to Simca and the car became the Simca Vedette. A 58 facelift (with wrap-around windshield) was called Chambord and eventually arrived in Brazil. In 1966 its engine was redesigned with a Ardun-derived overhead valve train. With another and more extensive plastic surgery it emerged as the Esplanada for 1967 and kept on until 1969 but now using a Chrysler badge.
I never knew that early Mavericks came with a dash ignition. I know that the requirement for the locking steering column (and some other regs) took effect 1-1-70, and that Ford built 1970 model Falcons (which were identical to 1969 Falcons) right up to that date, then stopped instead of updating the steering column. Your Maverick must have had a build date in late 1969. It sounds like they even used the Falcon steering wheel that used the horn ring, possibly the whole Falcon steering column.
Right you are. There three MY 1970 cars with dash ignition switches, all Ford. The Aforementioned Maverick and Falcon, and the so-called 1970 Shelbys, which were simply re-titled ’69s.
More like a spring ’69 build date. The Maverick was introduced midyear, April ’69 I think, but billed as a ’70 model. I believe the changeover to the locking column took place when the rest of the ’70 models went into production. Although Ford never called them ”69 1/2″ models, that name has come to be applied to the early Mavericks, just like early Mustangs are called ’64 1/2 models.
According to my info, the horn ring disappeared after 09/30/69. The dash mount ignition switch did also. I own a 09/16/69 production Maverick with the dash switch and horn ring. I also owned a 70 Maverick built in April 70 that had the column key and no horn ring. The glove box was a mid-year 73 addition.
Supposedly, the horns were left off the badge in Brazil because there the phrase “man with horns” means a cuckolded man, roughly, and Ford wanted (understandably) to avoid the association.
LOL!
You’re probably right – I’ve come across that in European literature.
The linked article delves into the difference in the badge, and it gives the same explanation — the association of horns with cuckolds in Latin America made it necessary to leave them out. I think that the same was true long ago in English-speaking countries, as I seem to remember Shakespeare plays being full of horn references to cuckolds.
I thought about adding the bit about the omission of the horns, but I thought that it might be too much of a digression, and that probably no one would notice. I was wrong about the latter, of course.
I don’t think there’s really such a thing as a “digression” around here.
Well, on the other hand, I guess you could say the whole website is one big digression, which is why I like it…
I have only ever seen one or two of these, both red with full Grabber trim etc and both hotted up, one had a full-bore street & strip setup. They were never sold in Australia and not many have been imported unlike Mustangs, possibly fewer than Mustang II derivative imports.
They are a real cleanly styled car, and well-sized for performance. Fairly similar to a Vega coupe? The sedan appears a lot closer to the Australian 1972-73 Falcon.
“Ford attempted to add some flair with the Grabber trim package in the middle of the first model year and a 302 V-8 in the second, but the Maverick remained a car with little impact on anyone’s imagination (little positive impact, at least).” and “– a boast probably never made by a U.S. Maverick driver.”
Rubbish.
A person without any imagination I suppose, but any gearhead who could add 2+2 would know that the light body PLUS a V8 had a LOT of potential. To this day they are popular with drag racers. It’s nearly impossible to find a stock one now, and for good reason…..they were easy to hop up, sneak under the insurance radar, and not cost much in the process.
http://www.dragtimes.com/Ford-Maverick-Timeslip-21135.html
The US Mavericks and Comets had locking glove boxes after 1973 also.
Out of the box they were no better than a Nova 307 or a 318 Dart. I never understood why there wasn’t a performance version like the Nova SS or the Duster 340. My guess has been that it would have cut into the already diminishing Mustang sales and it’s sports halo. A 1972 Maverick 351 Cobra Jet would have been a perfect nemesis.
I think Ford’s intention was a DIY Hot Rod from the very beginning. They had performance catalogs full of their own products at the ready. Their very omission says a lot!
“The Shelby de Mexico cars were based on Mustang notchbacks – because that was the only body style that was produced in the Ford of Mexico assembly plant. The cars received fiberglass body pieces and Shelby add-ons such as wheels, aluminum engine parts and emblems. Production was small – 169 cars in 1967, 203 in 1968 and 306 in 1969. Velasquez was, however, able to build the business up to the point where, by 1972, he was offering special models of the Shelby Maverick (powered by a 302 V8; approximately 300 were built), a Mustang GT351 (about 200 produced) and a luxury car, the Galaxie “Continental” (approximately 750 made in 1971 and 1500 in 1972). All of these vehicles were sold only through Ford dealerships in Mexico.”
http://www.shelbyforums.com/forums/open-community-forum/1625-shelby-maverick.html
http://www.maverick.to/np-foreignmav3.shtml
Tim,
I appear to have unintentionally hit a sensitive spot on a real Maverick enthusiast with two lines in an otherwise entirely positive article. I acknowledged throughout that the Maverick had great potential that Ford did not exploit with its showroom offerings in the U.S.; that was the entire point of the article. Seeing a Maverick on the street, treated as a high-end performance car worth spending an obviously large amount of effort and money to restore and enhance, made that apparent.
Your comments on the performance potential of the Maverick certainly make sense, but I have a question: how often did Maverick owners actually do anything with their cars’ performance potential back when they were mainstream cars, back in the 1970s and early 1980s? Hopped-up Novas and Dusters were everywhere back then, and in other size/market classes, so were Chevelles, Torinos, Satellites, and of course Mustangs, Camaros and other pony cars. At the same time, I cannot remember ever seeing a hopped-up Maverick. It seemed to have received less enthusiast attention than its rivals at the time, possibly because of the lack of a factory offering similar to the Nova SS and the Duster 340.
Sorry if that came off too strong……I would have said the same “rubbish” comment as a casual conversation.
As a Plus One modification, consulting the Ford performance Catalog, adding the 4 BBL carb and manifold, headers and a decent cam and gears wouldn’t have cost much. All the parts were tried and true since 1968. Of course there were the full race “Fast Eddie” and “Dyno Don” Mavericks that were ummmm a bit more extreme. I have a friend who swapped in a 390 into a Maverick when he was 14, back then….but I only know about it recently. And they are still being done:
http://mmb.maverick.to/gallery/showimage.php?i=65
My sister had an early new 69.5 Maverick……no V8 yet from the factory. I came from a small town and didn’t know anyone who had a V8 Maverick, oddly. My buddies from the Graduation Class of ’74 had: 69 Fairlane Cobra, 69 Mach1, 69 GTX, 67 GTO (was my brother-in-laws previously) 68 Cougar, 318 70 Challenger, 67 Corvette, 69 Corvette, I had a 71 Demon 340…..the rest were forgettable sedans. I wanted one even back then. But it was easier just to get a “done” Demon 340. I’m sure there was a “streep Comet” killer ruling some small town some where! I’ve literally looked for a 302 V8 71/72 Maverick/Comet for years.
Without trying to stir the pot here, but here is a small thought that might help explain a bit, the “muscle” car era largely collapsed after 1971, then we had the first oil crisis in the fall of 1973, then various regulations taking effect, plus the natural effect of chnging tastes I suspect the level of interest in true brute force models was reduced. I remember that many bemoaned the loss of those kinds of cars, but by the mid late 70s people seemed to be interested in other things and probably impacted the Maverick’s use as anything more than a sporty compact. (at least the 2 door). The platform does seem to lend itself well to performance upgrades as it is large enough to handle small block V8s while light enough to achieve good power to weight ratios rather easily. Although I suspect wasn’t on a lot of buyers minds at the time. I don’t claim to be a Ford expert but those times are what they were. As for the GM and Chrysler counterpars, one did see a lot of late 60s and early 70s Nova and Dusters hopped up, but very rarely did I ever see any 73+ Novas modified and by the end of the A-cars life in 1976, they were selling more FeatherDusters than ones with 360s.
If you had not noticed, I posted a picture of a nicely modified Maverick that appeared on the streets of Naples, FL recently. An interesting car for that area given towards high end European cars.
True enough. That’s why the Demon/Duster/Sport 340/360 were hits. They were under the Insurance Radar. That GM stopped making a performance Nova after 1973 is true, Chrysler was on the ropes and was just trying to fill ANY niche left.
jpcavenaugh, the 71 Mustang was too fat for a lot of people. IF the Maverick/Comet did have a high performance 302/351 version it would outperformed the much heavier Mustang/Cougar. That wasn’t going to happen. There was talk on here the Mustang II could have been on the Mavi chassis…….if it looked like the 71 Mach1 it would have also looked like the Auzzie Falcon 2 dr HT! Another alternate universe???
Craig, that reminded me of the 1 year only 1974 GTO……that went over like a lead balloon, but I kind of liked them.
In the Midwest, the 75-79 Novas didn’t catch on as ‘hot rods’ until they were 10 year old beaters. 73-74 Nova SS’s were somewhat popular with modders when late models, since they still ran on regular gas, before smog test crack downs.
I suspect that there were also a ton of used Mustangs to choose from, so why would a Ford guy go Maverick?
302’s are hard to find because the six cylinder’s were by far the dominent powerplant. In fact the 200 accounted for more than half of production when the 170 was the base powerplant, then in 73 when the 200 became standard, the 250 overnight became the majority ordered engine. By 76, when 60,511 2dr Mavericks were built, the engine line up was this:
200/auto: 8804
200/manual: dont have those figures
250/auto: 37,325
250/manual: 2301
302/auto: 6079
302/manual: dont have those figures yet
In 1971 Motor Trend tested a Comet GT with 302 and stick and in factory 2bbl form, it did 0-60 in 8.7 seconds and the quarter in 16.2.
This would be my dream Comet!
http://www.theultimatecarcollection.com/dealerfiles/ListingView.asp?ListingID=2115
From the very beginning, Ford engineered the earliest Mavericks to accept a 302 V-8 engine under the hood without having to do any kind of modifications (such as shock tower cutting, hood chopping, etc.). This indicates that Ford had already planned a hi-performance version for the future; but with the advent of government smog regulations, this became not a very profitable endeavor in the mid-seventies. A stock 302 engine from the late 60s is quite the hot performer, because it was not encumbered with pollution controls, lowered compression ratios and mandatory requirements for unleaded gasoline. This is why the Maverick did not achieve full muscle car status during its production run in the United States.
In a Motor Trend article at the time (1969) they put a Boss 302 into one.
There were no 1969 model year Mavericks. 70-77 only.
Also, the ‘cheap car’ image didn’t get it on radar of hot rodders, since there were tons of used Mustangs to pick out.
Then, Ford pushed the LDO package to adults and the gas crunch continued the economy image. The Grabber was popular, but not as a hot rod, more like the Gold Duster trim package.
Wasn’t until 1st gen Mustang prices went up in 80’s that rodders went ‘hey, we can drop a v8 in a Maverick’.
I’ve been seeing a lot of mavericks popping up at show lately. Always liked the way they looked.
Oh yeah! Now your talking my baby. I’ve owned 28 Mavericks and 3 Comets. Always have liked the Mexican and Brasil versions where they were considered more upmarket. Those are some sweet cars in the pics. Wish mine all looked that good!
Ford do Brasil’s decision to build the Maverick instead of an adapted version of the German Taunus (like GM did adapting the Opel Rekord C as Chevrolet Opala) was haphazard and dumb; the Maverick was a complete failure in the marketplace and was followed by a very German looking Del Rey, which was nothing more than a larger Corcel II and wasn’t very successful either, although Ford managed to sell twice as many as it sold Mavericks. The numbers say a lot: the Maverick had a production run of 6 years with around 100.000 produced, while GM’s Opala lasted for 23 years, selling around 1.000.000. Here a picture of a ’89 Del Rey.
“This car should remind us that many car designs generally considered to be quite dull had potential never exploited by their manufacturers. Modern restomods of non-muscle cars demonstrate the same here in the U.S. This car also should remind us that in the U.S., we are fortunate to be spoiled with more automotive choices than almost anyone else, resulting in some potentially interesting models never receiving much attention.”
How true, even with marques such as Rambler/American Motors. In the late 1960s most attention paid AMC – if any – was paid to the AMX, the Javelin, and to the American and Rebel when equipped with a big-block V8. Few people if any paid much attention to the higher-end models. I love it when someone decides to take matters into their own hands. Here is a 1966 Ambassador with the venerable old Nash 327 V8 that you do NOT want to encounter unprepared. Last I heard its diet included Camaros and Barracudas. Note the non-factory added equipment…:)
Wow—dozens of Mavericks for sale in Brazil as we speak (I shudder to think what shipping would cost): http://lista.mercadolivre.com.br/ford-maverick#D%5BA:ford-maverick%5D
I always thought that the two door Maverick was a pretty good looking car, but it did lose out in comparison to earlier Mustangs. The Mustangs were plentiful and pretty cheap by this time. I think that the Maverick became more popular with rodders when the earlier Mustangs started going up in value, and the Maverick was an alternative. Actually any early Mustang, Falcon, Comet, or Maverick with a standard or transplanted V8 is pretty much the same car as far as performance potential is concerned. Believe me a base six cylinder Mustang ain’t nothing to write home about. The pictured Maverick is very nice and I’ve seen some nice Grabbers over the last few years.
I quite like it another car we didnt officially get though the number that are here is quite surprising none of the SA versions just the NA models Ive not actually seen a Grabber but no doubt one will appear.
Déjà vu all over again!
The Maverick should have been the Mustang II. Yeah, the Mustang II was a hit in sales. But, where are they all now? Lido’s first disposable car.
Econo car 0-60 mph figure must have been the result of 7-1 compression ratio due to the low octane gas of the time. Think what a tuned version could do ala Fox body Mustang GTs?.
Had for about a year (around 1998) a dark blue ’72 Comet 2 door, 302, auto, PS and not much else. Non power drum brakes. Picked it up for $500.00. It was a strange option combination, had rubber moldings and bumper guards, and nice side trim. But the black interior was totally base, thin bench seat and rubber floor mat, no carpeting.
Needed carb work and liked gas too much so we didn’t keep it too long. Sold it to a family member who soon slid it into a curb in the rain and folded the right side suspension under the car, and it’s next home was the junkyard after that.
A remarkably lean looking design and an incredible preservation effort by the owner. Terrific find!
Very timely re-run in view of the Sung Kang Maverick at SEMA.
A little display of the sport automotive range in Brazil during the 70´s.
Corcel GT
Maverick GT
Chevrolet Opala SS
’79 Dodge Charger RT. Much more a Brougham then a sport car.
I see this red one around here every so often, ’73 I believe.
I had a ’74 Maverick in that sky blue color. It had zero sporting pretensions, mostly due to its truly lousy handling and lousier brakes. It was as if Ford were determined to keep it a sensible compact and away from any possible overlap with the Mustang, which got huge in the Maverick’s second year of life.
Three things I remember about that car. It did, I think, have a glovebox. Once I leaned into the car and put one knee on the driver’s seat, which tore a hole in the cheap vinyl. At the time, I weight maybe 125 pounds. Lastly, it had a wicked high idle, which once almost sent me through a plate glass window while I stood on the lousy brakes (and yes, it was the correct pedal).
It was otherwise the most forgettable car I’ve ever had.
This was the last Maverick I saw. In Ecuador, four years ago.
I remember driving an early Maverick when I was a teenager. Six cylinder and 3-on-the-tree. The most memorable part was the low seat and high hood which made forward visibility terrible on the narrow steep Berkeley Hills streets I drove it on. The power was nothing special going up hills, and ditto the brakes going downhill. Pretty lame.
During a summer working in Barstow, CA with my stripper 1967 Camaro with black vinyl seats and no air conditioning, I shopped around, dripping sweat even in the dry high desert, for a more comfortable replacement. Ford proposed the Maverick Grabber instead of the (by then) bloated Mustang. I thought it an odd idea but it was true that it shared many of the Camaro’s traits. Its accommodations were similar including a virtually unusable rear seat, and the Maverick rode better. I liked its styling which in Grabber trim was even reasonably sporty. I wound up in a Plymouth Valiant, though. Not sporty at all, and I have not owned a non air-conditioned daily driver ever since.
There was a Ford in my future… but not just then.
Thanks for the writeup Robert. That Maverick is quite the gem and cared for as such. Whenever I see a Maverick I always think it would have made a much better Mustang II rather then its Pinto underpinnings. Way up here in Minnesota I get to freeze my butt off for the next five months so it’s always nice to see what up down in your neck of the woods.
My grandmother had a ’70 Maverick in green with the blk/white houndstooth seats. I really liked that car. It had the six but she didn’t care about how fast it was. She was in her sixties and lived in a small town. She loved this car too and would have kept it forever if another drive didn’t t-bone her one day.