SO what other cars are like the Mavericks/70s Comets?

What others cars fall into this class of cars? Old cars that everyone overlooked because of them being economic at the time but have a really nice look to them that will garner looks, yet are still not considered muscle cars? As well as them being easy to work on to.

I know I've seen some people mention the Chevy Vega here but that's about it.

 

AMC Gremlin, Gremlin X, and Levi editions, and Hornet coupe and hatchback.
Ford Pinto & Mercury Bobcat.
Possibly Ford Fairmont Futura and Mercury Zephyr Z7.

Gremlin gets a nod for funkiness.

I think that there was one year that there was a Oldsmobile Vega, Starfire?

 

Interesting post.

Yes, the Vega of course....Another that comes to mind is Chevy II/Novas, Like the Maverick, they started out as inexspensive basic transportation, but unlike Ford, Chevy recognized their popularity and sporty lines could translate well into the muscle/pony car image, and gave us the SS, and performance options all the way up to big block power as the model progressed through it's generational changes,.....somewhat the same story with the original Malibu/Chevelles.

Dodge/Plymouth had the Darts and Valiants/Dusters, but again, Mopar shared the muscle from their more performance oriented models.

Ford had other "econo" cars....inexpensive tranportation....Like he Falcon, and it didn't fare much better in inheriting any of the Mustang's performance than the Maverick did.

That's the sad part of the Maverick's history.....both Chevy and Mopar shared the performance from their muscle/pony/"sport" cars with their other, less flashy siblings, making some historic perfromance cars that started out as practical budget tranportation.....Ford seemmed to limit all the performance fun to the Mustang and the big muscle cars like the Torinos....Much like today,....where you see Dodge/Chrysler resurrecting Hemi performance, they didn't just limit it to Chargers and Challengers, the 300 and even the Magnum wagon got Hemis too.....Hell, they even made an SRT8 Jeep Wagoneer!

Ford continues to keep most all of their performance limited to the
Mustang.....can you imagine an All-Wheel-Drive Five Hundred with a DOHC 4.6 or 5.4 Cobra motor??

All of the big three had cars with similarities to the Maverick's style and marketed purpose......but back in the 60's and 70's....unlike Chevy and Dodge, Ford didn't spread the performance wealth with it's lesser models, which is where the similarities end,.....while Novas, Malibus, Darts and Dusters started out like the Maverick, budget-minded basic transportation with nice styling, the Maverick never did better than the Grabber option, which was more cosmetic than performance, while it's Chevy and Dodge counterparts evolved into great muscle and performance pony cars. At least the 70-up Comets had a performance history....but again, never benefitted from it beyond the more-name-than-muscle "GT" badge.

Truely sad.....can you imagine Boss 302 Mavericks.....GT350 Shelby Grabbers. GTs and GTAs, Boss 351s, CJ and SCJ Mavericks, Comet Eliminators....or, dare I say it....

Imagine a Boss 429 Grabber.

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Ford has brought out the Taurus SHO again. Price is $37-42,000 though.

For that kind of money, I would buy a 2009 Shelby GT500. Those base at $42k for the hardtop.

 

Well said, Bum's Steer. That about covers it.

 

I know it's more of a sports car but, the Mercury Capri? (Pre-79)

 

what about the super grabber? 460? hello?

 

i disagree with the nova on one point listed in the original question.... Looks. the mav is curvy and pleasant and sporty and many of the others mentioned are ok looking the nova was a box car like the chrysler K cars

 

I don't think body style was the comparison being made with this thread.

"Box" is simply another style, along with all those other "ugly" box style cars, like 55-57 Chevies, 64-67 and 78-82 Chevelle/Malibus, early Falcons, Fairlaine, Darts, Roadrunners, etc. etc.

And, like most all styles of cars, some people like them, some don't.

as for popularity and comparison, there's few (any? LOL) K-cars bringing upwards of $20-$30,000 like a nice original or modified Nova can.

Also pays to remember, the Nova's were only "box" styled til 67, about the time the Maverick came to life, Novas were also "curvy and pleasant" styled.....the looks of each model more reflected the popular style of their time, not so specific to the make or model of car.


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Right on again, Bum's...

 

Bums, again i agree with you on much of what you say, however:

so i do disagree with:

cause to me the 70-75 square car with a fastback is still ugly.... but then that's my opinion. some people would spend 40-50k on a nova, to me it still translates from spanish as "doesnt go"...id rather have a vega looks wise, hehe

 

I think after '73 they were pretty ugly, but my favorite Novas are the '68-'72 ones, and I'm just not seeing "boxy" at all, I think they have great lines. I don't love 'em enough to spend stupid money on one though...