How did you find your maverick?

I found my 70 sitting at a marina with a for sale sign on it. The owner just bought a new Lexus and they wouldn't take the Maverick as a trade in. It was an all origianl low mileage one owner car. I got it for $800.00 and drove it as my daily driver for years.
I found my 77 in my driveway when I came home from a weekend trip. A freind had bought it for $900.00 and needed a place to leave it for a few days. I ended up buying it from him on the spot.
I spotted my son's 69 sitting in a garage with junk piled on it. The place was so full the garage doors wouldn't close. 3 hours of moving stuff and $100.00 later I owned it, a ton of extra parts and the 77 V-8 Maverick parts car that was parked behind the garage. I think they wanted me to haul the junk away too I just piled it all back in the garage.
We still have all but the parts car.
Fred

 

Bought both of mine from tiny used car lots.

Got the white one in 1980. I had started to look for a V8/stick Maverick/Comet after my Torino had become an invitation for every local cop to give me a hard time. Wouldn't have had anything to do with driving habits at the time ... Thought that a "sleeper" would make a much better driver. Only a couple of weeks after starting a serious search (no internet back then ....), this car showed up at this hole-in-wall car lot very close to my work. I owned it within another couple of weeks after driving it a couple of times and finally telling him that I would pay him $550 for it. It was a bit rough, but OK.

My current Green Comet came from a really nice small car lot 15 miles north of my home. It was 1992, which was 6 years after selling my first one. Work would take me to that area infrequently. As I drove past it the first time, I think I almost wrecked about three of us, because seeing one for sale at all was such a shock to me. It had "V8 $2500" written in shoe polish on the side window and was a creampuff, looked new. I took care of work, and on the return trip, thought "go take it for a test drive, just for nostalgic purposes". I did, and it drove great ... 72,000 one-owner miles. Made me really happy to drive it, and I was not at all serious about buying it.

A month later, I drove by and what do you know ... it was still there. I think the price was $2200. Just for giggles, I test-drove it again. And one more time, thinking that it would be impossible for me to buy it, and that it would cause more trouble than anything else. Oh yeah, my daily driver Taurus was starting to act up with only 50K on the clock. Second "new" car in a row to do so.

Another month or so goes by. The Taurus is continuing to aggravate me. Work takes me back past the Comet which is still languising there. It now says $2000, and the wheels start turning. I drive it one more time and leave without making an offer. Sleep on it a couple of days, come back a couple of days later and offer $1800. He accepts. Then, in filling out the paperwork, I made a guggling noise when he said that all the other fees would be an additional $175, and he backed them out so that the total for the car and fees was still $1800.

Got rid of that comfy temprimental Taurus and made the Comet my daily driver for the next 6 years and 80,000 miles ...

 

Well I ended up with my 69.5 when me and my dad were coming home from work. It was siting in a field with a for sale sign t told my dad if he didn't stop id jump out of the car to look at it. my dad thought the kid would want an arm and a leg it turned out to only be 800. so i called the kid he had bought a 04 mustang and thought the mav had a bad head. i talked him down to 600. turned out it had a bad heater core so i bypassed it and drove it home.
As for the 73 my grandpa was looking for a parts car to fix my 70 when I blew the motor. we found it in the local paper and went to look at it that day the kid wanted 500 he said it had some bad electrical. when i looked it had a new batt, batt cable, starter relay and starter cable. me and my grand father got the kid to 300 and bought it. we ran to the ranch and grabed my spare starter and i put it in the car and was driving it home in no time.

 

Stopped a rollback, same as Frank, but I had to give up $100! It was headed to the crusher also. That was 9yrs ago.

 

My grandfather passed away last year. Before he got really sick (about 5 years ago) he used to take my grandma, dad, mom, myself, and whoever else wanted to go for rides on Sunday. We used to hop in their minivan and literally just drive around looking at car lots. Stop for lunch and icecream, etc.


Well, on the 3/1/09 that's exactly what my dad, mom, grandmother, and I did in his honor. I've been looking for my first car. About 45 minutes away, we stopped at a lot because I said "there is a pretty poopy green car there... it's my favorite shade of green!"

The lot was closed, but we could see it through the fence. I wrote the number and the car down on paper, and we continued on our way. Every lot we stopped at that we saw a car I may be interested in I said "Nope, I still like the poopy green one."


We went back the next day and the rest is history.

 

I found my 74 Grabber in the Pennysaver, I was looking for parts for my other 74 Grabber, when George (he's on here) told me about a car with Orange interior that was in the Pennysaver, so I called the guy up, went over there with Mike Tucker (he's on here too) and found a pit bull tied to the door of the house, so I used a stick to knock on the door. The car was at the end on a long alleyway, with grass grown up around the car to about the tops of the fenders, I put a battery in it, and drove it home for $375. $375, was the price of a bus ticket back to British Coloumbia, this guy had driven the car to Ontario, moved in with an Exotic Dancer, and just wanted to go back to BC. That was 1990?
My first Maverick, I bought in around 1988 from a friend of a friends brother that was a Maverick nut, his house was full of Maverick parts , I bought the car, filled it with parts, and filled the pick-up with parts (even the cab) for $400. Sadly it was a rust bucket, and didn't last..
I won't go on about my 75 Comet, or my 74 Comet, 74 Maverick, 73 Grabber..

 

I was looking for a lightweight car from the 70's with a V8 or one that I could swap a V8 into. I wanted it to have a motor that would be inexpensive to build. I had it narrowed down to either a Vega, Pinto, or Maverick. I found mine in this paper called the Bargain Trader in Minnesota. You have to understand that the Bargain Trader was part of the Auto Trader group and did not have pictures, but all the Autotrader cars came out in this about two days before they showed up in the Autotrader. I saw this one and called the guy on Sunday night (the night that the Bargain Trader came out). He said that it was rust free (a relative term in Minnesota meaning anything from a small quarter sized rust hole to entire fenders being rusted off) had a 302 and he was asking $1750 for it. I was skeptical but asked the guy if I could come see it the next afternoon. Something about that car and the conversation stuck with me. I couldn't get it off my mind all night and decided the next day to swing by there before work instead just in case. When I pulled up I could not believe what I saw in the driveway. I thought to myself that the car in the driveway must be another Maverick that the guy owned since it looked so nice, it couldn't be the one for sale. The car that I saw had absolutely no rust at all! I knocked on the door just as the guy was walking out to leave to run errands. He agree'd to show me the car. It turned out that he bought it on a trip to Nevada when he saw it in a brake place. It had been in a flood and the brakes seized up. The owner did not want to pay to have it fixed. So he bought it and brought it to Minnesota, replaced the interior and had it painted by a local high school shop. I opened it up and the seats were absolutely perfect, the carpet was great and the paint (although fresh) was an amatuer job (better than anything I can do, just not perfect...great from 10 feet away). I was sold at that point but I had to ask...does it run? He gave me the keys and it started right up and idled. I did something that I've never done before, told him that I would take it without even driving it or challenging his price. When I called and told my wife she gave me that 'look'...I could feel it over the phone. Anyhow, I couldn't get the money out of my pocket quick enough for a down to hold it. I went directly to the bank and got the cash out and sweated the rest of the afternoon till I could get back and pay him in full. Turns out that the guy and his wife were teachers and had both been recently laid off and needed some money. He did tell me that he had a couple other Mavericks that he kept for parts. I'm guessing that he is on this website somewhere and if he is he should know that I'm taking great care of it and it is back in the southwest where she will not ever rust. Also I can't thank you enough for giving me the Maverick disease!

 

i bought mine a WALMART (in the parking lot) for $300.00. guy said it had a bad head gasket. i gave him the money, checked the vacuum advance, turned the dist. and drove it home.

 

My story starts out much like MNTony's does with the big engine, small body thoughts.

For four years back in the mid 80's, I was driving around in a 72 Gran Torino Sport which had a Q code (Cobra Jet) 351 Cleveland, top loader 4 speed and an open 3.50 N case 9 inch rear. The car got so bad with rust and rot that I needed to either fix it or get rid of it. The Torino wasn't old enough for the aftermarket to produce body parts for it yet so I decided to junk it. I kept the scooped hood, the engine, transmission and the 9 inch center section. Once I learned about the existence of the Tubular Automotive swap headers, that would let me put the 351C into a 1965 Ford Falcon 2 Door, I went searching for one. A 65 Falcon was my first car and I got sentimental, I guess. Everything that I found was just as bad, if not worse, than the Torino that I already junked. I even thought briefly (very briefly) about using a Fairmont body. I saw that the Tubular headers would work in a Maverick and I knew a guy that had an early 2 Door Maverick sitting in his back yard for years. He just wouldn't give up this car for no reason. He was determined that one day he would restore it so I just forgot about it. In 1989, he comes up to me in a gas station and says "if you still want that Maverick, come and get it". I asked "how much?". He repeats "just come and get it". So here I am 20 years later and finally on my way to really bringing this car back to life. I wish I could have done it over in 1989 dollars instead of 2009 dollars but that's how it goes.

 

I got mine from a guy my dad wprks with,he had built it for his son who drove it for a year and got a truck gave it back to his dad and his dad pulled the motor for a mustang he was building and the front brakes he pulled and gave to my brother it sat for 3 years and i got it and its close to being out on the road again!

 

back in 88 my newlywed wife and i only had one four door maverick between the two of us. one night we were talking about "dream cars" and i told her i always wanted a red and black Grabber maverick. the next morning she was walking to a class and saw one sitting in a parking lot of cars with a for sale sign. the sign was listing for how much we had in savings at the time. bought it and drove it for years as my driver, only recently has it become less driven and more of a playtoy. strictly by choice as i could have just done a close to stock overhaul and be driving it on non snowy days.


LMG!!!!

 

my blue '71, from a fellow forum member in Memphis, TN
my '73 4dr, my grandpa
my red '72 beater, local guy
my '73 comet, local classifieds
my '73 Grabber, Tim Keck (forum member and good friend)

as for my parts cars, ive had 3 from OH, 4 from TN, one from VA and the rest have been around here or in Ky at least

 

I was lookin for an older car on craigslist cause i grew up with them. Found a 4-door maverick and when i went to look at it the body was redone as well as the interior and i fell in love but the back shocks were thru the trunk pan and my dad said it was unsafe. I went and got another car to drive around and then found another red 2-door Maverick on Craigslist about a year later drove an hour looked it over and drove it home that day. The original listing was $2500 it droped to $1800 before i called talked him down to $1400 over the phone and ended up paying $1200 for it.

 

Looked on and off for a couple of years. Target was a 302 small bumper Grabber with air no rott. Found this one with a nicely done 302 drivetrain. Not a grabber and no air but It was rust free and original paint. we spent a lot of time getting rid of 36 years of dents and Texas hail damage. Found it on Ebay with an opening bid of 5000. Sent an email to call me if no bids. No bids and off we go to Michigan. 2 trips across the border to Michigan and home it came. Thanks to a mix up with Canadian customs. Turns out an old car is only exempt from the inspection laws up here and not the 3 day waiting period the US requires for export. The yanks were very helpful and walked me through the steps to export it. On the second trip the guy at US customs recognized me and brought us from the rear of the line to get us through. Damn fine people at the US customs Port Huron. When we got to the Canadian side it was the same guy who laughed at me the previous week coming home with an empty trailer. Good guy. He made a funny about actually having a car this time and sent us inside to pay our dues. Those guys inside treated me like a criminal. Asked me over and over again how I found and purchased the vehicle. Luckily I declared the full amount I payed and had the money order receipt to back it up. Cant thank the US custom agents enough. Too bad my own country men werent as polite and helpful.

 

Got mine 20some years after I fell in love with the car when I was a teenager living in Mexico.
My oldman sold it breaking my heart 'cause I told him that I one day, would buy it from him.
Then, back in 2001 and a grown man I went home to visit my father and he took me to the back and showed me a car covered with a tarp.
He had my car. Beat up and worthless but it was my car!!.
(In Mexico your title is the original invoice from the dealer when sold new. You just endorse the invoice on the back to the new owner when you sell it, and this document had my father's signature from the day he sold it in 1980.)
He run in to this Mav for sale close by his house and stopped to ask about it just to see it was the same car he had bought back in 1979.
It was in the sadest shape you all guys can imagine.
Well, 8 years later, a lot of frustration and parts hunt my Phoenix is almost done and waiting to be picked up at our house in Mexico.
She'll be coming home soon I hope.