Vehicle Description
A Ford Maverick, you say? The Mustang's low-key cousin actually
looks pretty killer dressed in yellow and black livery, and this
1976 Maverick represents the end of the line for Ford's mid-sized
personal car. To be honest, we rarely see these anymore and for an
entry-level hobby car, it represents a whole lot of fun for not a
lot of cash.
We really dig the bright yellow and black combination on this
Maverick, which gives it a more performance-oriented look with a
more modern twist. All the yellow paint is recent and it was
finished to a strong drive-quality level that looks great, and the
black accents were expertly applied, and since they are decals,
could just as easily could be removed if monotone is more your
speed. Bodywork is quite straight when you look down the lines, and
there isn't any evidence that this Maverick was abused in its day -
to the contrary, it's one of the cleaner ones we've ever seen.
Because the paint is very fresh, it shines bright with a deep
luster you can see in our photos, and the black stripes on the hood
and down the profiles break up all that yellow perfectly, while
giving the car a very racy vibe. Of course, chrome bumpers were
still in fashion in 1976, but otherwise there aren't many shiny
bits on this car, which has a forward-looking appearance that works
rather well. The neo-fastback roofline has aged well and the car
makes the most of its curves with that high-impact paint job.
The interior is definitely comfort-oriented with a little
sportiness mixed in, anchored by the tan vinyl bench seat up front.
The vinyl seating surfaces are in great condition, the matching
dash looks so good it could very well be an OEM replacement, and
the door panels at the flanks look fairly fresh too, with
period-perfect designs that soften things up inside a bit. The
carpets are nice and plush as well, protected by stock 'Maverick'
scripted floor mats that are likely original because they must be
impossible to source for this year, and the headliner up above is
taut and ties everything in together perfectly. Two deep, round
pods house the speedometer and fuel gauge, and if you've driven an
early '70s Mustang, you'll feel right at home here, and an
aftermarket tachometer was strapped to the column to keep an eye on
the revs. An aftermarket 3-spoke steering wheel was added to sport
things up a bit, and a set of auxiliary units were neatly stashed
underneath the dash to augment the factory units. It's also
equipped with a modern stereo, a Pioneer AM/FM/CD/AUX unit that
fits into the center of the dash, along with a heater and
seatbelts, but that's about as far as you get with options on this
compact muscle car. The rear seat is in great condition and
probably hasn't seen much use and the trunk is reasonably
well-sized and shows no signs of body rot, which is critical on a
Maverick. You also get a full-sized spare tire with jack assembly,
just in case worse comes to worst, and it's all nicely covered with
period-correct plaid mats.
In the relatively lightweight Maverick, the 250 cubic inch
inline-six found in most of these was actually a decent performer,
but it wasn't enough for the owners of this Maverick. So in came a
302 V8 small-block, and now this lightweight Ford has plenty of pop
under the hood. It's smooth and virtually indestructible, and if
you want economical transportation with plenty of juice, you could
do a lot worse than this Maverick, with a Holley 4-barrel carb and
Edelbrock aluminum intake helping things out. It looks slick under
the hood, with black Edelbrock valve covers, a matching
open-element air cleaner, and Ford Blue on the actual block itself,
and it all looks very slick against the satin black inner fenders
and firewall. The C6 3-speed automatic transmission feeds an 8-inch
rear end with friendly gears inside, so the Mav is just loafing
along at highway speeds, and the Flowmaster dual exhaust underneath
sounds nice and throaty. Flashy 17-inch chrome wheels are a nice
addition to this most sporting Mav, and they wear performance
black-wall radials to complete the look.
You rarely see Mavericks these days and I'll wager that very few of
these special cars still exist in this condition. Who says
entry-level hobby cars have to be boring? Call today!
