'76 Maverick, 2-door, $2250, NMNA

In reply to noddaz :

I'm allergic to nature's metal weight-loss recipe

I had a 74 with a 302.  Smogger or not, those cars are lighter than they look.  People laughed at me for wanting to put an STI drivetrain in mine, saying that I was stupid for putting a 4-banger in a heavy car.

... little did they know, the reason I wanted to do it was because they are the same weight.

Of course, mine was purchased for $500 in good, driving, inspectable condition with a verified 90k on it.  Seeing this ad, I probably could have increased my money by a factor of 8 if I still had it.

I've seen this one many many times around town being used as a DD for the past 15 years. We go to the same post office, bank, and grocery store.

Edit: And apparently the same old folks medical supply store as I realized after posting that's where this pic was taken, ahahaha.

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In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

It really is crazy what anything even remotely old and RWD is going for these days.  Bonus $$$ if its American. 

Dunno if that is solely COVID pricing or just the age tax

Might actually be a Comet now that I look at other pics i took of it. The racing stripes always distract me! Note the locking gas cap. They were popular during the gas shortage in '74.

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A friend of mine who was responsible for the 4th gen Mitsu Eclipse did this drawing a while back. 

drock25too said:

Kinda want to "Mad Max" this thing.

They did 7 years ago with the help of West Coast Customs.

I... think about it still. Problem is, Mavericks like so many Fords of the era have narrow shock towers so engines bigger than the 302 are difficult to fit before you have to start cutting.

In reply to OjaiM5 :

THATS THE ONE! That's the inspiration Shawn and I remember. God, I loved his drawings in CarCraft. For some reason I thought it was a Praft drawing.

Thank you.

Here was my 74.  Boring white, and not many options, but the 302 didn't seem like a wheezer in that car.

My plan was to do the STI swap, make it look a lot like those flared-fender pictures on page 1, but go full-on cage and two race buckets.  Paint a huge number on the side with all of the stickers from my tool box.... then daily drive it.  Put a big stereo and a cupholder in it.  Imagine pulling up to a stop light beside a full-on race car with the driver in a tie sipping a starbucks and listening to NPR.

I have a huge soft spot in my heart for these cars.  I remember going with my dad to pick up his new Grabber Blue 74 Maverick from a Ford Dealer in Louisville KY.  I was about 6 years old.  A six year old boy does not care that it was a 170 I6 with a three on the tree.  To me at the time it was the coolest car I'd ever seen, except for my babysitter's 66 Mustang convertible and maybe my mom's 68 Torino GT.   Dad drove that little car until the body had just about completely rusted away, and only parked it for good when the gear shift broke off inside the steering column, meaning that you could only get 1st and Reverse.

A few years ago, I was at Sears Point Raceway (It will always be Sears Point to me) for a NASA event and there was a stunning Maverick there that had been given the full-on Pro-Touring treatment.  Hand-laid carbon fiber hood, 9-inch rear axle (Full Floater) with a Watts Link, Full-race QA1 front suspension on a custom tubular front clip, and the crowning glory, a big honking twin turbo 2JZ engine and a Magnum 5-speed gearbox.  It was very well done, and the attention to detail was awesome, full of really cool details like converting the Maverick fuel-filler cap into the battery cut-off switch.  

Spent quite some time talking to the owner about it, he had done some of the work himself, but the majority had been done by an obviously talented custom shop.  It was damn quick too.   

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Additional bonus if it's a two door.

Yup, that's the one I was trying to find.