Vehicle Description
When it was introduced in 1969, the new Ford Maverick was so popular that with over half a million cars produced, sales nearly overtook the previous record set by the Mustang when it was first introduced in 1964. Originally conceived as a compact car intended to compete against imports as the muscle car era ended and the smog era and gas crises of the 1970’s loomed, the Maverick was a sporty fastback that easily found a home in many garages across the U.S. Offered from mid-1970 until 1975 the Grabber package had a muscle car theme for customers who missed the bygone days of the fire-breathing big-blocks but not the pain felt at the gas pump. Built in January of 1974, this Ford Maverick was originally produced with an optional 250ci inline 6-cylinder engine mated to a C4 3-speed automatic transmission but has since been upgraded to a small block 302ci V8 with 2-barrel carburetor, which was the highest engine option available that year. Under the hood, nearly everything is new or has been rebuilt, including the starter, alternator, power steering pump, motor mounts, carburetor, and radiator, while the engine itself has less than 150 miles on it since being fully rebuilt as well. Shown in its original colors of Grabber Blue on white with a black interior, the exterior has been repainted in its original Grabber scheme while the interior retains its original Grabber high back bucket seats and remains mostly original and in overall decent shape. Additionally this Maverick retains its other Grabber-spec items such as its dual color-keyed racing mirrors with remote left hand mirror and its original Grabber forged aluminum mag wheels with original center caps which are mounted on a set of new Cooper Cobra Radial GT 235/70R14 tires. Although mostly original, the Grabber has a few upgrades in addition to its 302 under the hood which include a B&M Megashifter and a set of Sunpro gauges for oil pressure, water temperature, and battery voltage. As the second to last year offered, this ‘74 Maverick Grabber is considerably rare, with only 23,502 Grabbers built out of more than three hundred thousand Mavericks produced in 1974. Representing less than eight percent of total production, this Grabber is not only a very seldom seen model, it is also neat little car that maintains most of its originality but is still lots of fun to drive thanks to the V8 transplant under the hood.
