They were everywhere when I was a little kid. Blue, yellow, green, red, white, and every shade of brown under the sun…you couldn’t turn a street corner in Colorado Springs in the late 1980s without spotting a Ford Maverick. One of my dad’s friends had a white sedan that he used as a security car. My babysitter’s daughter had a yellow one. My grandfather’s barber had a baby-blue one that he treated like gold. You’d think that I’d be a Ford freak just by all of the little Falcon-based sleds that were in my life. Instead, it was a psychotic Mercury Comet, complete with a 302, a four-speed, and the twitchiest mannerisms this side of a Suzuki Samurai with a V8 in the nose that has left me a drooling idiot for Mavericks and Comets. It’s hard to not like them…for many people, this should have been the Mustang of the 1970s, not some overglorified Pinto. While I don’t hide my fondness for the Mustang II, I can understand that line of thinking. A Maverick with a small-block Ford…especially with a hot small-block Ford…can be very entertaining.
Which brings us to this earth-toned 1975 Grabber. Two doors and eight cylinders are a good start. The automatic trans and the half-vinyl roof aren’t so enthusiastically welcomed, and the 1970s-spec Magnum 500 style wheels make it on this car. After a few minutes of prying off the tacked-on Blue Ovals and Explorer-sourced “V8” badges that this car was plastered with, you’d have a clean, fairly original machine, one with the nicest stock interior we’ve seen in twenty years.
As these cars become harder and harder to find in this nice of a condition, the question has to be asked: do you leave a find like this alone? We’d hot-rod the hell out of the running gear, but we’d also leave the stock look for a bit of a sleeper vibe, and we’d keep it quiet. We’d also consider widening the rear wheels, but leaving the stock design. Would you go any further? Is there really a need? We’d leave the look alone…you don’t see them like this anymore.
eBay Link: 1975 Ford Maverick Grabber
I’m with you – keep the outside and interior stock, but I don’t have much nostalgia for replicating the power output and drivability of mid 1970s engines.
They’re only original once.
I say leave it alone.
man those Govt big bumpers killed the look of the later mavericks . I say leave it stock outside throw an flea bay turbo on it and have fun .
Get rid of the front bumper, vinyl top, steering wheel, then paint it flat black with a nice 347 and a 5 speed. Some slots would look nice too.