A long overdue return to the world of Mavericks!

Discussion in 'New Members Forum' started by Drifter69, Aug 1, 2021.

  1. Drifter69

    Drifter69 Member

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    '72 Maverick Grabber
    Glad to be here... some background- When I was 17 I bought my first car (back in 1986) after about 6-9 months of looking... I had looked at Torino's Satellites, and Mavericks... the Mavericks were the least expensive (we're talking $300-$600, vs $500-$900 at that time.... (That's about $750-$1500 and $1200-$2200 in 2021 dollars)

    One of the Mavericks I almost bought, and the car that hooked me on Mavericks was a beautiful metallic gold '72 Grabber with black stripes and an LDO tan interior, AT, 302, AC. This particular Grabber had door panels I have never since seen in any Maverick. In addition to the Maverick emblem door badges, it had western lasso style roping all around the doors embossed into the vinyl panels. It was a real nice touch, and makes me wonder how many different LDO "themes" Ford offered for the maverick in '72?

    Well, for reasons I cant seem to pinpoint, I never bought that Maverick. But soon thereafter I did buy a Maverick. This was about half the price of the first and was definately not as clean or refined. It was a '72 Grabber, Medium Metallic Blue with Gold Stripes. 302, 3 spd on floor, no AC option. Black interior, buckets, etc. It was a "5cyl v8" when I drove it home, with 3 cyls only along for the ride. See first picture.

    Over the next 5 years the Grabber was torn apart, picked at, cleaned, sanded, primered, put in storage, reassembled, put back on the road in 1990 and a restoration was started. By 1991 I had gathered dozens of factory options for the '72 from local wrecking yards in and around Phoenix AZ. Back then there were easily many hundreds of Mavericks to be found in the dry desert air of the central Arizona wrecking yards.

    Some options I had installed: (all original ford parts) chrome wheel well trim, rear window defogger with grille, wiring and switch/bezel, original intact uncut rear package tray, original floor shift and boot/bezel, three-spoke torino rim-blow steering wheel with ford crest, torino optioned Magnum 500 wheels with beauty rings and ford crest center caps.

    It was a great looking grabber, but by 1991 I had discovered motorcycles and snowboarding, and for $900 I sold the car, a spare engine, worked heads, new comp cams 280 cam, engine stand and many extra parts.

    In the years that followed I realized how rare the 302 3-spd option was, and more so how rare (and valuable) some of those options I installed have become.

    A few weeks ago, I learned of a '72 Grabber for sale in Montana and it should be arriving this week here in Maine. It's not as special as my first Grabber, but it is a solid project car and has great potential to become a beauty in it's own right. This Maverick is a 302 AT with AC, column shift and console option. (working on finding a console, as it is missing). Color is light blue with gold stripes and black interior. The only gripe I have is how on earth anyone would have ordered this Grabber with the dark blue vinyl top option?? The vinyl top has been removed and I am not keen on replacing it! It was loaded on the transport hauler last week... The adventure begins!!!! (Second picture)
     

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    Last edited: Aug 1, 2021
  2. yellow75

    yellow75 MCCI Oregon State Rep Supporting Member

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    72 Maverick 1976 Maverick Stallion 2007 Shelby GT 500 2019 Ford F150 FX4 2023 Bronco
    Welcome back, let the fun begin. It wont be quite as cheap as when you did it before but at least there are a lot of after market parts available now
     
  3. DGD

    DGD Member

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    '72 WITHOUT VINYL , ? ? Welcome back and enjoy the NEW ride.
     
  4. mav1970

    mav1970 Bob Hatcher

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    Welcome back - I am pretty close to continuing on with my own project after a few years of being away from it
     

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