Ford had a Maverick SUV and is working on a Maverick pickup truck. But today, we want to remember the little pony from 50 years ago.
The original Maverick was an economy car, designed to be boring, fuel-efficient and compete with ever-stronger imports from Volkswagen and Toyota. To keep development costs down, Ford used the Falcon platform.
The wheelbase was reduced from the Falcon's 111 inches to 103 inches, and power came from a 170 cubic-inch six-cylinder that only made about 105 horsepower, which was still about double that of a Beetle.
Instead of pursuing fuel economy like they were supposed to, Ford engineers tried to make the Maverick sportier, more powerful. Initially, this meant a 200ci six-banger with 120 hp, but by 1971, a 302 V8 had become available. The Grabber sporty package contributed to the coolness of this little sports sedan.
In total, North Americans bought 2.1 million Mavericks, which were amazing sales numbers back then. Unfortunately, you almost never see it getting the same restomod treatment as a Mustang, and few people even remember it.
However, the Maverick was also sold in Brazil from 1973 to 1979. From what we understand, people in that market bought it not because they had to (oil crisis was going on in America), but because they wanted to. And today, a fresh rendering by Rob3rt Design supports our theory.
He created a digital restomod project that's way better than anything in the real world. Like with many muscle cars of that era, the Maverick just isn't wide or low enough in its stock form. So a healthy infusion of coilover suspension and fender extensions is made.
The clean look culminates in new aero at the back and an integrated exhaust system. Swapping in a modern Coyote is the obvious thing to do here.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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