How did you find your maverick?

I was looking for a Fox mustang. Perusing the 4 sales in the papers, I came across this ad. "1973 mav with 302. Good project car."
I went to look at it with not too a critical eye. After MUCH labor, 2 tranny's and a whole new roof, I have a Mav that is still a project car with only about 300 miles I have put on it. (No idea how many actual miles as I've changed speeodo heads 3 times.) I paid $775 for it.
I'llprobably never get rid of it, after all , it is my 1st project car.

 

got my 1971 origanal purple mav left to me by my best friend and mentor when he passed away in 1999 it was sitting in his mothers barn since 1974 only has 397 origanal miles. one day he asked me if there was anything i wanted before he passed away to remember him by.i said all i wanted was for him to beat the cancer and always be my friend. but he wouldnt go for that so i told him i would like to have the maverick in the barn and he told me it was already mine.thanks dick you were a true friend R.I.P.

 

my mav found me. a friend of our family knew i was into old cars so he said i could have the maverick for free

 

73 Grabber a friend found for me in Suncrest Wa
71 Grabber found on Craigslist in Auburn Wa
71 Grabber from Craigslint in Spokane Wa
69.5 parts car from Craigslist Spokane Wa

 

A guy near me had it. He wanted $900 for it. I drove it daily for about a year. I now have the old 250 out and a roller motor about ready to go in

 

Purchased the blue beast in 87.Was in the Navy and had just sold my last sbc 400 76? 280 Z(I had 3 of em back to back)The 64 T'bird I was driving was gonna drop the trans in short order and I needed a "reliable" ride.found an ad in the Ridgecrest local paper that simply read..."72 Maverick 2 door V-8 standard shift,make offer".So I called the number.Fella said he was the second owner,it was his wifes driver,he purchased it at a State auction while living in Seatlle WA in 76.Wife finally wanted a new car so this was for sale.I didnt even drive it...the guy opened the door...reached inside the car...wiggled the floor shifter to be sure it was in neutral...stuck the key in the ignition and vroom...the thing started right up and Idled so nice you could barely hear it running.I looked at him and said "I'll take it"...he told me I had to drive it first since the trans was iffy.He had recently put a clutch in it himself,said it was the first and last time he would do one.I drove it...realised it needed the cltuch to be adjusted properly.Told him what I thought was wrong with it.he told me he was looking to get 900 for it but felt the trans was no good any more and told me to give him 750 for it.I handed him a 200.00 down payment and said I would be back tomorrow with the rest.Had to get to work.Worked on airplanes all night thinking about the Mav and not airplanes.Showed up the next morning with the rest of the cash only to see another fella and his son talkin turkey with the guy on the price.I stepped into the conversation and explained to both parties that I had allready purchased the car.The sellers response was..."well he wants to give me 900 for it" I explained to him that we allready had a verbal contract pertaining to the sale of the car and a down payment! and that it was legal and binding in the state of california.I also explained that I was in the navy and plenty of legal means at my disposal if we were to go to court on the matter...(I wanted this car darn it!!!).The fellow capitulated and sent the other "buyer" packing with a temper tantrum throwing 16 year old son in tow.I gave the guy the other 550 and drove it home.Ive beat it...Ive dragraced it...I have even had it airborne...trans is stilll in it and workes fine...LOL...I am currently doing a "mostly" cosmetic resto on it and hope to have it back on the road next summer as long as I can stick to my current time table/plans for it.
My Sprint on the other hand.Well...I wasnt even in the market for another car let alone a project car!!A fellow here on the forum...(fordride)To whom I will be forever grateful for his posting of the sprint ad from craiglist here on the forum.(I passed up a cherry sprint about 15 yrs ago)...V-8...auto...A/C car for...wait for it........FREE!!!! and have kicked myself ever since.So I figured...heres my chance to redeem myself for my short sightedness.Spoke to the guy on the phone about it several times, got some pics to verify it was a sprint.Got him down to 1800 from the 2500 he was asking for it,Arranged the logistics of getting it home.Drove to Yonkers N.Y. with my friend Dan...picked up the spew haul trailer...found the house...loaded up the car, spoke with the guys dad who was the original owner for an hour...loaded up the extra parts that went with it...It started raining the moment we pushed the car out of the garage and didnt stop till we were done loading it all in the car and the truck(figures LOL) drove it all home...16 Hrs round trip.It runs now(hasent since 01)...does great smokie posi burn outs.Its on the back burner till I finish the beast...Its clean...its straight...it runs.It needs the common things...total frt end rebuild....switch over to 5 lugs and front discs...The plan is being formulated but not finalised yet.Time will tell.

 

My dad works at a junkyard so when he saw the maverick on the tow truck he called me right away,Went flying there paid $500.00 for it and then.. here it stands

 

From the original owner

We had ridden down to Myrtle Beach South Carolina with my In-laws in their 56 mercury Montclair for a Car show called"Run to the sun" in march of 2003. While there it was parked about 10 cars away from Us with a For Sale sign on it. My wife fell in love with it because her Best friends Granny had always promised her a green maverick She had and drove her to the store with when She passed. Well when She passed greedy kids sold the car . The original Owner of "my comet gt" wanted $5000 for it and I talked him down to 4700 Gave him 200 to hold it for us and He drove it Home to Sparta NC. The next weekend We drove the 150 miles to Sparta and paid him the other 4500 and drove it back home and the rest is History.have Never regretted it and Met Some Great friends through the clubs and had a ball with. last Year We took it back to the "Run to the Sun" and while I was away My wife said that some Lady walked up and asked her while her back was turned where She had got this car from and without turning around She said from You. Super nice folks and all I can say is they were proud to See the Comet still looking as good as it had left them only better because the Guy really liked The Magnums on it.
Tim

 

I have wanted a nice no rust Maverick for Years, Bought mine and drove it home from the Colombus Ohio Ford Show Last year in 98". In progress still but very happy with it. Looking forward to Show this month. V-8 Drop in in April........Kirk

 

Love hearing car stories. some are amazing deals. My story is longer but ill try to cut it down..
I was looking for a old restorable car for this summer when i got my license to drive around and show off. No luck for a couple months, then while online i googled fords and found mavericks. Fell in love with the bodystyle. Then the next day while at work i talked to my car buddy, mensioned somthing about mavericks, instantly he remmbered a maverick only twenty minutes out of town. Drove up there that day found it. paid 400 that weekend and my brother and i towed it home. No regrets and lots of experiances with her already

 

My girlfriend at the time, had a 74 Comet beater, as a daily driver. Ugly brown, with tan interior. Anyway! August 1999 I was on my way, to a one week vacation, in eastern Washington. Driving my 88 Hyundai Excel. We had no plans. Just drive from Seattle to Lake Chelan. Got to Monroe, on Hwy 2, saw that a country band, was playing that night @ the fair. Decided to head up the road & pitch our tent @ the campground. On the way to the campground, we passed a gas station. There was a 73 Comet that had a for sale sign. I stopped on the way back to the fair. The asking price was, $750 OBO. Got the phone number & started calling. Ended up staying in Monroe, for 2 days. Trying to get ahold of the person. Finally, on day 2, he answers. It's getting late. I ask him to come down. He says he'll leave right away. I told him to make sure, he has the title, in hand. Don't want any excuses. He gets there, gives me the key. Tells me take it for a drive. It hesitates, but shifts smooth. Has C-4 with floor shifter. The interior is mint. Just needs cleaning. The LDO body is straight & no rust. Lift the hood & there's a factory 302 cu in. We go into the tavern next door. Have a couple of beers & bulls*it with the guy. The car belonged to his Mom. She has owned since new. Always garaged & only city driving. Never seen the freeway. 53,000 original miles. His Mom is 84 & can't stop the car anymore. It has manual 4 wheel drum brakes. He bought her a Mercury Capri, with all the bells & whistles. Anyway, after a couple of beers. He says, we seem like a nice couple & will sell the car to us, for $500. I couldn't get the money out of my pocket quick enough. I was going to offer him $500. Ended up leaving the Hyundai, in Monroe, at a friends house. Took the Comet on the trip. The rest is history. Still driven daily, when not snowing or raining. I won't go into, the rest of my stable.

 

I used to race quarter mile dirt track, and my first race car was a 77 mav 4dr. I always liked working on that car. It was fun and easy. I knew I wanted one for the street. I was wanting to sell my 4 wheeler in feer of killing myself. I was searcing around craigslist and found it. I asked him if he would trade and we swaped straight across.

 

In 1983 I searched for several months looking for a Factory 5 lug,v-8 ,AC Grabber in good condition. I found mine (one owner) on a small used car lot and bought it for $1,650.oo. August 20th 1983.

 

My son was 15 he was helping me work on my 56 f100 and we were talking about getting him his first car as a project . The young man down the street and his dad were in the garage door business had a 71 mav grabber in there back yard that they traded for a garage door and a opener sitting there . The car was a one owner car with 80,000 miles on the clock that been sating for 10 years . The car was rough but had all the right parts ( good bones ) 250ci c4 p/s . With some work we got the motor runing redid the seats brakes . Two years later the some kid had 88 5.0 mustang for sell I bought it for the running gear then installed in the mav for my son as a graduation gift . Then my son bought a new focus and gave the mav to me for all the work I did on it ( I would not let him sell it ) paid 700. for the mav 1000. for the mustang

 

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to all the good deals going on this forum glad we are all happy with are cars

brad