Stock, Custom or Modified.....

We have seen this alot on here lately and I have read all the threades and looked at the advice and who was giving it.....and it just gets fuzzier from there. I have had a couple decent mavericks in my time but built nothing of trailer queen status to this point, or what I would even call good status. I guess this disqualifies me as a crediable advice giver, I don't know. I have a title and a dash from a 71 Grabber and if I find a decent 71-2 body I will make it a 71 Grabber. Does this offend, sorry, People do it all the time with high dollar mustangs that have been rotted out or wrecked beyond repair. The way I see it is that it is no different from a person having a grabber and altering it to pass it off as an original. I'm going to give some examples. Dan Hines car, I believe, was originally a 6 cyl car, now has a V-8, 4 speed, 4bl and he tries to pass it off like an elitest at a concours mustang show. Craig Selvey, headers, 4bl, wheels, nice dual exhaust and I don't know what else. Dave Boyer, wrong hood, engine mods and I don't know the car well enough to know what else. These are all very nice cars and I think they are worth more the way the owners did them than if they left them stock. So......... why preach about the worth of the originality of a car if you yourselves don't leave them alone. Like I said, I'm not knocking the cars because I think you have went the route that actually adds looks/value over a total stock car. Another example is Dennis Martins Sprint, he has what is being touted a rare car that is worth alot because of rarity, but Dennis built it the way he would have liked to seen it built, and it is an awesome car, and I would dare say worth more than any original sprint. Face it the only thing separating our cars are stripes and interiors, I know some grill lights and the 2 yr hood and 4 year spoiler but these can be transferred to other cars and they are. There was never a performance difference and because of this our econmy cars will only draw attention modified as you are starting to see in magazines more regularly, like MityMav. Don't get me wrong on this either, I love these cars and have owned about 10 over the years I just believe that you should buid them however you want. If you want a stock maverick and that makes you happy by all means thats what you should build, but if you are doing it for the increase in value be prepared so that you are not disappointed. Of course all this is my opinion and only the markets can know/show the truth.

 

i agree :Handshake

 

As for the title and VIN switches, do what you "feel" is right.

Otherwise, do what you feel is right for your project!

Chop, swap, and crop where you think it is appropriate for your project.

As I said in a previous thread...

 

I say do whatever you want....it is your car. Sure....there are some cars I wouldn't change/modify....but that is just MY opinion. If somebody comes on here and asks for an opinion...I am going to give them what they ask for: MY opinion. I personally think there is something special about a REAL Grabber/Sprint/Stallion. If you have a clone....say you have a clone. It is nothing to be ashamed of....and a clone probably isn't worth any more or less than the real thing. Only the market will truly say. From all the ebay auctions I watch, on-line ads, Craig's List, etc....sellers seem to place a premium on real Grabbers, Sprints, Stallions, etc. The key is....what do BUYERS place a premium on?

Are you saying Dan is an elitest....or his car?

I personally built my car to concours standards...or at least to LOOK like concours standards. I thought: People do it to Corvette's, GTO's, Camaro's, Mustangs....what if somebody did it to a Maverick? So I did it.

 

I'm saying Dan portrays an elitest about his car much like some Mustang people I have been around, not a bad thing, I'm just not that serious about any car.

I thought concours standards would be that it is totaly stock down to nuts and bolts? You can't have headers, duals, 4bl, wheels, and be concours, can you. Again Craig, I like your car but stock it ain't so by your post in that other thread does that make it just a fixed up maverick? I don't think so any more than that Sprint would have been less of a sprint because it had been altered.

This is why I'm keeping the dash and title, seems like they do want the "Grabber". But it doesn't seem to help it if it is totally stock.

 

stock,custom

Well what a topic. Will raise a few backs.If your change anything which did not come on that car,ie-- hood, exhaust, tires, interior, then you have moved from stock to either custom or modified. Like many have said, just build it the way YOU want and then be HONEST and say this item,items are not stock for YOUR car.Don,t try to make your car be something it never was. JMO Ron

My car is grabber green, not original color.It has original 302 motor in car. It has original Ac.Has custom CNC sill plates, not original. Custom interior. When people ask , is it a grabber, I say NO but then explain to them what grabbers were. Most people think grabbers were V8, but we know there were more 6cyl grabbers than V8 produced. My car has never won a trophy when compared to a grabber. ie -Port perry all ford show. A 75 grabber, faded paint , stock interior,slight rust in some areas, closed hood won 1st in class and I got second. People who judge the cars just love grabbers thats all. Oh well I don,t care.
I built my car to look the way I want it, What I perseve as a mild custom car of the seventys or eightys. I think by comments made from others , I have succeeded.Again if You want an original grabber, then don,t change the car from its original mfg from FORD. Again my opinion. TTFN RON

 

Dan raised the standards by which a Maverick get restored in my opinion. He was very helpful in offering advice, tips, etc. in the restoration of my car. I guess I wouldn't refer to him as an elitest.

I suppose TRUE concours would be 100% stock, right down to the correct dated oil filter, etc. Yes...my car is far from stock, but to a semi-casual observer, outside of the wheels and headers....it looks dead stock. I was at a car show once and a photographer from Hemmings Muscle Car magazine wanted to do a photo shoot of my car...only if I put the original wheels and tires on it. I passed. Yeah....I could have done it....but it wouldn't have felt like it was MY car in the magazine.

Yes....I could have done what I did, to a regular old standard Maverick...I just happened to do it to a real Grabber. I think I still retained what made the car a Grabber...and made it better. Taking a Sprint and putting in a black interior is going the other direction in my opinion. It is less of a Sprint in other words. The MityMav in the current issue of Modified Mustangs and Fords magazine started out life as a real 1970 Grabber. It is far from that now, and to some extent, is no longer a Grabber.

If it doesn't really matter if a car is a real Grabber or not....why hang on to that VIN? Once placed in another car, it is still a Grabber clone in my opinion, regardless if the car looks like a bone stock 1971 Grabber....or a wild, tricked out modified car. I know there have been many discussions over the years about "rebodied" cars (placing the VIN out of one car into another car), like Shelby's, Boss Mustangs, etc. Outside of being illegal, I think the concensus is that it is not worth as much as the real thing.

With the trend of cars going more in the modified direction, in the future a car might be worth less if it is a real Shelby, Boss, etc. Who knows. Interesting to think about.

 

its you car its your money its your lie you can tell it anyway you want to,clone it hot rod it rat rod it if you are worried about what other people think about ANYTHING more than likely you will be miserableit only matters what other people think is when you try to sell it

 

Because some just can't get past the allure of having a real grabber it might net me a few extra $ later on. As far as legallity goes if the title of grabber is in my name and I have the title of the other I can legally make the change, all I have to do is have the county sheriff come out and inspect, I have already looked into it.

Maybe not to you but it is better than Ford ever built it. And it still has the vin #, if she says it is a Grabber to some one it is. The shock towers could be put back in if someone wanted to. If it was a bigblock 4 spd mustang it might be worth it but it would not help the value of a 70 mav grabber, so why do it?

They're all regular old standard mavs, IMO. The most important aspect is a good body with little to no rust. From there you can make it what ever you want it to be. I don't think your car would be worth anyless if the vin didn't say it was a regular grabber.

So to the people ignorant of the maverick world would think you have a concours Grabber? Look, the reason I started this post is to point out that modified mavericks(Grabbers/sprints/stallion) are more popular, worth more, than they were offered stock.

I'm not saying a stock Shelby, Boss is going down this road, they will always be in demand, they were a true performance car and that made a difference, not even close to a maverick that had a styling package.

Dans car would be what I would call concours except that it was never built that way either, yours is not what I would call even close to concours, what are you calling "concours standards" that you followed?

I totally agree and that is what Terri did with MityMav, Dennis did with his sprint, Dan Starnes did with his Stallion, and then look at the Hahns cars, Grabbers and non Grabbers, they have 3 of the nicest cars in the Mav world and are highly modified, and the dollar value (of all these cars) is more than they would be any other way.

Craig, I have ? Would your car be in the stock or modified class in your car show?

In the end MY opinionis that all you there with regular old standard Mavericks rejoice, because your car is what you want it to be and modified or not enjoy, all of you with actual Grabbers/Sprints/Stallions rejoice also, you can have an original car if you want or you can make it better,

, if you want and probably increase the value.

 

I don't have a car show. I would say all the shows I have ever been in, my Grabber would be considered Semi-Modified or Modified. Definitely not stock...even in appearance.

As far as what do I consider concours.....I would say the presence of paint dabs, paint striping, and chalk marks to correspond what was on the car originally as well as what you would find on a build sheet.

 

Check out this vid around the 4:50 mark. This fellow is no stranger to cars yet he still looks upon my car as ORIGINAL. Not even close.LOL. The majority have no idea what our cars are supose to look like ORIGINAL. It really matters not to me (original) with these cars even as much as I love them. Its actually one of the big reasons I do love them. You can do so many mods without worrying about hurting value/ or ORIGINALITY. I do like a well restored Mav as well but no more or less than a nicely modified one.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw1-cyllS2U"]Howie Skater Punk Ancaster Car Show and Swap Meet 002.MOV - YouTube[/nomedia]

 

I have looked into "rebodied" cars. Just google it....lots of interesting reading. The Mopar guys seem to go NUTS over it. I mean really nuts!!! Thank God you are not rebodying a Belvedere into a GTX just so you could, as you say, "net me a few extra $ later on". They would probably put together a posse, saddle up their horses, and head to Kentucky.

Moving a VIN from one car to another is illegal here in Indiana, as well as many states. I am not sure on Kentucky. In my reserch, it seems that the states that do allow this, even with a police inspection, issue a title stating what has been done.

 

A little more research. This is from the 1969-1970 Mustang / Cougar Boss Registry:

Straight to the point: Let there be no doubt that it is illegal to tamper with a VIN on a vehicle or even the parts of a vehicle.

This is not an all inclusive list of state laws/statutes. It is merely a sampling. Do not assume because a state is not mentioned here that there are no such laws in that state (country).

Here is the link: http://www.boss302.com/legal.htm

 

You can bring this up more but I will some day and there will be no way to tell, I'm sorry I brought it up because this thread is not about rebodying a regular old standard maverick into a Grabber. I doubt anybody is going to put together a posse to hang me over a styling package, especially when I offer them good cold beer and great company. I just wanted to point out that even a modified grabber/sprint/stallion is not hurt in value because it was not kept stock and that some on here preach stock/original and don't even observe it themselves because they know there is so much room for improvement.

Another thought is why liking a gabber hood and or spoiler and using it makes your car a clone? It is only a clone if you are trying to create a grabber out of it. If you are just using these beacuse you like the way they look and it works with the plan of your car that doesn't make it a clone.

 

SILENCE!

I cant believe theres a debate over this