Been looking for a mid 60's Ford Falcon for a while now and decent ones are hard to find without taking out a second mortgage on the house and giving up your first born child. Anyon have anything to say about Ford Mavericks which will take a small block ford pretty easy.
In my opinion, one of the best looking cars of that era. Would love to build one for CAM.
bludroptop wrote: In my opinion, one of the best looking cars of that era. Would love to build one for CAM.
Your eyeballs be broken, dude.
They are just a 73 Mustang wrapped in weebly sheet metal. Kinda like an LTD2 is just a Fox chassis.
I'm in the love the shape boat. Better than a 73 mustang.
Also, get license plates or hang dog tags from the rearview mirror that just say "Goose".
Maverick > Mustang of the same vintage, all day long. All the good parts of the Mustang in a prettier package.
I never remember those nice looking Maverick's.
The smaller the bumpers, the better looking. Of course, that applies to more than just Ford Mavericks.
I'd love me a Maverick to build over a 71-73 Mustang unless it was a Boss 351, but those are very rare and expensive.
My dad had one. A blue 1972, 170ci 6-cyl and 3-speed on the column. IMHO they are good-looking cars that never got a fair shake from most car guys. As others have said, basically a Mustang-II but not butt-ugly.
I do know this, that little 6-banger was absolutely bulletproof. The shifter broke off inside the steering column when the car had about 130K on the odometer. Dad just parked it in the side yard and bought a pickup truck as his DD. I'd have to start it up every couple of months and move it so that I could mow that part of the yard. The shifter was broken but it'd go into 1st and reverse. 2 pumps on the accelerator and the thing would just fire right up. One bitterly cold January morning, temps well below zero, none of the cars in our little area (4 houses in about a mile, this is out in the boonies) would start. Not a one. On a whim I grabbed the keys and broke the ice off the door of the little Maverick. To everyone's amazement, though the starter was barely able to turn that cold engine, it started up on the 3rd try. Drove it around and jump-started everyone's cars. I think that was the last time it was ever driven. Good times........great little car.
I think the problem today would be finding one with a body in decent shape. If memory serves, they suffered from rust-cancer pretty badly.
TheRX7Project wrote: Maverick > Mustang of the same vintage, all day long. All the good parts of the Mustang in a prettier package.
Exactly why it is much cooler. While Mustangs are cool they are as common as cockroaches. Mavericks are far less common. I also happen to like the styling. Want to stray further you can look for a Comet of the same vintage.
You get all the support from the mustang while not being one of the herd.
Styling is a subjective thing. I like them but I have friends that think they are a complete styling failure.
Im a fan of them. Most of the budget friendly ones have the 170/200i6 but some had the 250. Smallblocks fit fairly easily. Finding a 9 inch seems to be getting harder. Just please dont stick the grabber hood on it like everyone ive seen in person.
I wonder if you can put a explorer rear end in it. I would love to do a pro street touring version. Wide tires with flairs and a little aero package. Put one of the new 5.0 motors in it or be different and a 3.5 ecoboost. or go old school and a basic 302.
I actually saw one recently, a very well used but original looking light blue 4 door that looked like it still gets driven daily.
Also, I think the difference in the love/hate for these mavericks is in the body angle. When lowered and the nose is angled a little downward it just looks so spot on. However, stock ride height or if it's tucking the ass end like a chihuahua with sting ring it looks fully retard. Examples:
Yes!
No!
Ass scraping chihuahua.
Yes please!
An early Maverick is a nice looking car. The second version was a pretty standard malaise era travesty
Gross!
Is that four door a 74 Mercury Comet?
The Mustang Ii was based on the Pinto platform, and the Maverick used the same platform as the Falcon and the original Mustang. I'll never forget my dad opening the hood of my sister's Maverick and saying that's exactly like our old 61 Falcon.
Jumper K. Balls wrote: An early Maverick is a nice looking car. The second version was a pretty standard malaise era travesty
Yeah, the first generation 2-doors are quite pretty for what they are, actually. The 4-doors, particularly the later ones like the pic above, are right down there with the later Matador on the hideous scale.
dean1484 wrote: I wonder if you can put a explorer rear end in it. I would love to do a pro street touring version. Wide tires with flairs and a little aero package. Put one of the new 5.0 motors in it or be different and a 3.5 ecoboost. or go old school and a basic 302.
IIRC, Ford Explorer 8.8 is wider than the Maverick rear end. But, since it has different-length axles (left vs right), it could be made to fit if the drivers side is cut to the passenger side length. Shorten the housing and use two of the shorter axles.
(The Maverick rear end is, I'm told, nearly a bolt-in for A-body Mopars. If I could find one with five lugs and a reasonable ratio, I'd put it in my Valiant. The Explorer option would be more work than I want right now.)
Streetwiseguy wrote: Your eyeballs be broken, dude. They are just a 73 Mustang wrapped in weebly sheet metal. Kinda like an LTD2 is just a Fox chassis.
Truer words were never spoken. Fords of that era were, for the most part, ugly, uninteresting, and under performing in just about every way.
Brad Green built one for the GRM $2012 challenge. Sadly, I could not find a picture of it, but is was pretty quick and handled quite well.
My Grandmother had one of the malaise Maverick 4-doors like pictured above.....only her's was tan. It was truly a terrible automobile. I thought it was a step-down from the 1966 Rambler American she had previously. Of course the Rambler didn't have power steering, and the Maverick did--- so it was a needed choice for her.
It did run......usually, so there's that. It sure was ugly, and badly put together. I think her's was a 1975 or 1976. Those were dark, dark days for the automotive industry.
I think the early (small bumper) Mavericks can be made into pretty cool cars. I'd sure skip the misshapen 4-doors though!
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