Have to agree with Dave here. If you don't have a bumper, you have buy it, chances are you have to have it shipped to you, you have to ship it to the chromer unless you live close enough, at $275 for chroming you are probably not far off of the $475 only you are without the time and hassle invested in a bumper that needed rechroming.
Raymond had a pile of bumpers in Columbus last weekend, and he was telling me who ever was there selling re-chromed bumpers, was trying to buy the whole lot from him. Around here they just don't exist, I know of 2 cars in out of the way country wrecking yards that had their bumpers still, but the last time I saw those cars was in 2002.
Why is your Maverick not worth $1000 bumpers? It is with attitudes like that that keep our cars from ever bringing any real value compared to Mustangs and Camaro's. I guess I just don't understand why everyone on here fusses about why Maverick parts cost so much. Believe me when I say this car is by far the least expensive to get parts for. I have a ton of money in my Mav project, and I have most everything I need to finish it. If I was building a mustang or Chevelle I would need to spend double or triple the money to get to the same level of car. Yes, the Chevelle would resale for more. But that is part of the doing of some of you guys that keep the prices low with your attitudes. Our cars are worth what we think they are worth. Back in the 80's, if a guy in my old car club showed up with a 47 Ford coupe he would have been laughed at. But he also would have paid next to nothing for the car. Fast forward several years, my 47 won major awards, was featured in three magazines and was valued at nearly 50K. The car didn't change, attitudes changed. My Maverick will be worth every dime I will have in it. ok, off my soap box. Did not mean to offend, just surprised by how some Maverick owners value their cars.
I can almost see what your neighbor is doing down the street in the reflection - now everyone knows us Maverick owners like shiny things
Better you than me. You gotta remember that the vast majority of us don't have show quality cars so the idea of spending that much on a bumper for a Maverick is foolishness. From what I've seen in the current market, there are only a handful of Mavericks that would actually sell for over $5000 so a $1000 worth of bumpers would be a hard sell. It is a fact that only 1 Maverick has sold for over $5000 lately on eBay. A Maverick is a cool little car and a great platform to restore or build upon, but it is a Maverick. A car that was marketed to be a reliable economy car...is wasn't and never will be concidered a muscle car (well here in the US...maybe South America). It may have a following as a collectors car to a limited few, but it will mainly be for the Sprints, Stallions and Grabbers.
Sorry you feel that way but I'm trying to be the voice of reason and I am a numbers guy. Surely you can see that a $1000 set of bumpers is not a good investment for most of us.
I'm not looking at mine as either a muscle car, or any kinda of investment, I have other "so-called" investments that loose money daily... Lot's of so called economy cars sell for good money everyday, VW Bettles and Buses, sell for way more than Mavericks, but then they have a market full of people that are proud for their cars, and support the aftermarket suppliers. Mavericks & Comets are where they are, because of the majority of people that own them. If we all got together and started buying more parts (without bitching about the prices) then the aftermarket would respond, and supply us with more and more. I can tell you, a well built Maverick or Comet gets way more attention than a Mustang or Camaro any day. I hang around guys that have Boss 429's, Shelby's, Mach's and so on. When we goto a show people regularly walk right by their cars (some that have been in magazines) to see my car. We were talking last weekend while driving to Columbus, and about what we'd sell our cars for, I was saying I'd take in the 20's, but my buddy that owns a concours Boss 429 told me I was nuts, my car is worth way more than that. I don't know, and don't really care. But it makes for some good discussion, something that is lacking on here unless it's about an Ebay auction, and how crazy the price of the part is. Hell, my next car will have painted bumpers (Just don't tell John Ford, we had it out over painted bumpers once)
Sure I can. But I really think it is small minded to think that just because it is a Maverick that they are not worth investing money into. I am not suggesting everyone run out and drop thousands upon thousands in their car. Each person must decide what they can afford and what they want to get out of their car. I am fast approaching the $12k mark with mine, and that is just parts. I will say it again, mine will be worth every dollar I have into it. But then again I am trying to build something special, and I think because of that it will be viewed as such. If a car owner builds a car with the notion that it has no value... well then the car will never really have a good value. Also, keep in mind a statement you made before, these were econo boxes and not muscle cars. True, but so was a 65 and 66 Mustang. And look what they bring. Mark my words, eventually the poor Maverick will have its day. Again, I don't want to argue over the value of our cars. We are clearly here because we all like them. But if we don't really have a high value of our cars, well then how will the general public ever think of them as anything but junk. It has to at least start with us, the care takers of these forgotten economy cars.
Well if either of you are feeling up to supporting the market value of Maverick parts, buy that bumper and send it to me. I can PM my address once you've made the purchase. "I was saying I'd take in the 20's, but my buddy that owns a concours Boss 429 told me I was nuts, my car is worth way more than that"...and good luck with that.
I've had 2 solid offers, both in the 20's, but I'm not interested in selling anyways. I had the check in hand....but gave it back.
