How close to perfect were they

I have interior hood release on my mav

 

"Lets make the shock towers smaller for aftermarket header."

 

I vote for 5 lug from day one.
If you ordered a grabber you got a 351w and a toploader.no exceptions
Disk brakes from the start.
A full length console if you ordered a 4 speed.
Roll down quarter windows

thats about it that i can think of

 

Only 2 for me.
One being an accessible fuse box.
Two being a different cowl design or at least sealed/painted.

I think those are realistic improvements that could have been made.

Fantasy improvements are up to guys like us. If Ford built Mavs with all the goodies we would like they'd be priced way out of the market they targeted. Thats what the Mustang line was for.

 

The thing I've always heard was that Ford's pony car was the Mustang and they would not permit anything to compete with it within the corporation. There were (as I've heard) plans for a Boss 302 Maverick but that was quickly killed when they realized what it could do to Mustang sales....thus the watered down 2 barrel V8 and a 3 speed was all the Maverick could get. So for fantasy sake....I vote for a Boss 302 70 Maverick with a top loader and 9"....with a Drag Pack option. That would've been interesting till the Boss 351 Mavericks came out in 71!

 

Remembering it was 1968, I think just a V8 in the first models would have been nice, along with a 4spd.

 

actual cup holders not your passenger holding your drink as you drive I know they came later but a glove box or a center consol

 

that's what i was thinkin when he mentioned the...Stallion...

 

Factory-added hotrod stuff aside... (Honestly, half of us wouldn't be able to own a Maverick today if it came out of the gate as a legitimate musclecar instead of a DIY kit)

I wish they'd made the whole car just about an inch wider. Everything else the same, just stretch the body out a tiny bit in the middle and I think it would really help the proportions.

 

Aside from all the previously mention performance options (like the 351 cleveland). I think this would have been the most practical one to have had. My 72 Scamp had all the guages.

 

I think the body is pretty nice looking as well...but for some reason I've always thought the frt bumper on the 70-72s should have been mounted a little more "outward" and a wider gravel shield used. Like maybe a few inches.

 

^and im actually cutting mine down to fit it more inwards.

 

Full perimeter frame...able to do more mods, wagon option is interesting also.

 

The Maverick was built to bring the Falcon into the "Age of the Ranch". Mustangs and Mavericks with the Maverick as the low cost alternative for families. This was, after all, an economy car. Limited options were a part of that whole concept. Right after introducing the little econo-cruiser the EPA hit hard on emissions and the whole Ford line went to low compression and added all kinds of mystical systems that destroyed driveability, power and economy. It was just born at the wrong time to be a "Muscle Car".
Thanks to that we have an inexpensive alternative to build our own cars today.