The V8 Economy Car That Drag Racers Loved - The Ford Maverick Grabber
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2024
- In this Rare Cars documentary, we are diving into the history of one of the coolest yet least appreciated American cars of the 70's, the V8 powered Ford Maverick Grabber.
Built from 1971-1975 the Maverick Grabber could be optioned with a 302 cubic inch small block ford and was essentially a miniature Mustang for the era. And spoiler alert, drag racers LOVED it.
Learn all there is to know about the Ford Maverick Grabber in episode 41 of the Rare Cars documentary series.
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Which would you take - A Maverick, A Nova or A Dart?
I had a chevy nova as my 1st car and later I had a maverick loved them both but i was always a fan of 6 cylinder engines especially the slant 6. all of those older models put modern vehicles to shame because they were built to last.
What year? '66-67, Nova by a MILE. '68-'69, Dart by a mile. '70-74, maybe Maverick? But probably Nova again. There's nothing WRONG with Fords, I just... can't usually fall in love with them (dentside F-series/Bronco excepted). I'm a GM guy, but that's only because I can't afford to be an (old) MoPar guy. The '68 MoPars are, to me, the pinnacle of muscle car awesomeness (the notchback Barracuda being my very favorite). I do love a smaller car with a real motor. I have an LS Miata and a 5.3L extended cab Colorado with factory 4.10s and a not-factory Magnuson blower and Detroit TrueTrac diff. A Tremec swap is in the works for the Colorado.
Tough choice but I have to go Nova. Most power in stock trim and most aftermarket parts availability.
Nova
How about a Plymouth Duster 340 or a Hornet 360?
The Maverick was indeed available with a manual floor shift from the factory, though not a 4 speed. I had a ‘71 with a 302 in it. I changed the intake to a 4-V, added a 600 Holley, and headers. I had bought a top loader 4 speed to replace the 3 speed shortly before it got totaled. It was really quick even with the 3 in the floor. I’m guessing that the 0-60 times would have been more in the 6-7 second range instead of the 9 seconds mentioned. Traction was a big factor to overcome. I often had to play catch-up before blowing by my competition. In fact, I only lost one race, and that was to a 1970 351 Cleveland powered Mach-1. Yes, street racing was dumb, as I was only 18 years old. But, we all did it. After 10 months of ownership, I was rear-ended in stopped traffic, totaling it. 46 years later, I’m working on another Maverick.
Sounds just like my cousins car back in the seventies! About the same mods with the 3spd floor shifter. We raced a duster 340 4spd repeatability one evening and he would gain a little off the line, but we would quickly catch him before I got to fast and had to let off. By the way, we had 3 people in the car and he only had 2. Good times!
Had a 71 Comet GT with a 302 and the C4 auto when I was 16yo. All of the Mavericks and Comet were single exhaust, and all of the hood scoops were fake. I added headers, Holley 600 - 4 barrel, B&M shift kit, electronic ignition, and made the hood scoop functional. That woke it up and made it a pretty quick fun car.
I had a 73 Grabber auto with the 302 ! White with an orange vinyl top and orange interior ,I loved that car ! Bought it new for $3200.00 in late 1972 !
I currently have a 1970 small bumper Maverick! Not a speck of rust anywhere on or under the entire car either. I just built a 351W and installed in it as well. It was bored to a 363, with 12:1 pistons, AFR Renegade heads, mildly big cam, long tube headers, and a 3 speed toploader manual transmission. This thing is scary fast! It should be pushing about 450+ HP at the wheels, but I haven't had it dynoed yet.
Mavericks are completely marvelous. Superb design and the V8 engine is a classic. It's a real badass musclecar.
You do a great job with this series. I’m old as dirt and drove a clapped out deadly dangerous ‘69 GTO as my first car in 1978 that was never safe to drive due to minimum wage part time jobs. But I never forgot! I love what came before 1972.
I owned a 1971 Grabber. Its was a FACTORY 302, bucket seats, and a FLOOR SHIFT 3 speed manual transmission.
In 1972, most HP figures went from gross or something similar to SAE Net HP. The HP may have changed from 1971 to 1972, but the engine's performance could have been close.
Not with the lowered compression ratios
This resumes in around 197hp so was not that much of loss...
Back in 72 I wanted a grabber real bad but being only 10 years old it didn't happen.
LOL
I had a Ford Maverick Grabber with 302 engine v8. I wish i didn't sell yhat car. Was my best car even today.
Another "ready to race" from Ford was the Pinto based ,"Mustang II Cobra II " 302 with a top loader 4 speed.
You are joking, right??
I personally observed one challenge a 69 455 Bonneville station wagon at a light late one Friday night. And got his azz totally handed to him.
The guy was dating my buddy' s sister, and was trying to impress him with his street racing prowess. "B" was one of the local street/strip racing "heavy hitters" and race engine builders.
The only thing that would have made the azz stomping better, was if there had been a couple of occupants in the wagons rear facing third seat, waving bye-bye.
I've always dreamed of creating my own "ego deflator", a nice but mundane mid 60s/early 70s intermediate wagon.
(Chevelle, Coronet, Satellite, Vista Cruiser) with a 500 inch plus torque monster under the hood,, and an appropriate update to the drivetrain. I personally think it would be good for a killing laughs.
@@bizjetfixr8352junkyard near me has nothing but 50s-80s cars but there's a few Malibu wagons the best is 69 and 70
@@bizjetfixr8352cool story
As someone who had the opportunity, to drive both a 302 Maverick, and a 289, 66 Mustang, both 2 barrel engines. The Maverick was the real successor to the 65 Mustang, feeling and handling the same as the early Mustang, and on the same wheelbase!
I worked at several Ford dealerships in the 70's. Maverick was the car for little old lady librarians and people so tight they'd squeeze a nickel until the buffalo crapped. I don't remember seeing a single Maverick Grabber come in the door, or go out the door for the 4 years I was at two dealerships. Lots of folks bought Mustangs, and lots of folks bought Mavericks, but the Mavs were always cheap zero, or near zero optioned econo-mobiles with base inline sixes. Grabbers are rare these days for that reason.
had the grabber and the comet gt too... sad ford made the maverick into a silly 1/4 ton truck...urrrgggg
My thoughts exactly. I had the same issue when dodge released the new dart. Dont even get me started on the 4 door mustang 🤦🏻♂️
Agree, and now the Idiots in charge, are about to ruin the whole Ranchero legacy, with another half SUV 4 door, with a 4 foot bed. 😡
Urrrgggg
After watching this video, I think my 71 mercury comet was a limited edition. Had a what looked like a boss 302 in it was all original, and looked factory! Full factory intake, full factory dual exhaust. W/4 barrel carb.the carb was a Ford 565cfm square 4. I kicked myself for not buying it I had the chance!
10:16
I had a 1970 Maverick, good cheap car that couldn't be killed
Narrator mentioned at appx 4:20 no floor shift options with the new 302 option. After discharge from the service in Nov '70 & reentering college in Jan '71, I traded my white on black with white interior '66 Coronet 500 w/383 4v w/console shift for a '71 white Maverick Grabber w/302 2v. It indeed had a factory 3 on the floor. Enjoyed driving it. After graduating in '73 with 40000 miles trade it for a black '73 Charger SE 440 4v and Slap Stick auto. Ain't hindsight 20/20!
I've always been a Mopar guy but my buddy in high school had a grabber, it was the early 80s so it was still in pretty good condition. I can't remember what year it was but it was a small bumper car. I didn't see the color mentioned but his was a root beer brown with black graphics. It also had slotted mags and the back ones were fat. I remember being impressed with how big a tire would fit on the back. We definitely had some good times with that car
Great vid!!!! 🏁🏁
I had a green & white '74 Grabber in high school. I added an early scooped hood and a wing from an Olds Rallye 350. Mine was a 3 speed, which I replaced with a 4-speed and floor shift. That was a quick, fun little car.
My mom drove a 71 Grabber back in the day. Was a great car! My Grandfather drove a Merc Comet of the same year as well.
Very cool!!!!!
My parents had three, the original 6cyl, and they traded and bought two with a V8
I was just 16 and thought my Graber was the best thing in the world , I would love to have it back 😢
My first brand new car was a 70's MAVERICK with a 6 cly engine and blue paint.......Seeing that I had to drive 20 miles to get to work, it was a perfect choice using less gas and 'kinda fast for a 200 c.i. 6 cly......I didn't spend a penny on it except oil and grease....Loved it.
Another great video my friend! Thank you
I bought a slightly used yellow 1972 Comet GT back when it was only a couple of years old. It had the 302 with a 3 speed factory floor shifter. The car was a lot of fun in high school. I swapped out the 3 speed for a top loader 4 speed and rebuilt the engine with some speed goodies. It was the first car I ever owned that could pull the front wheels off the ground, great memories!
I never liked the Maverick when I was young, but now, 30 years later it’s grown on me and I would love one.
We had a '72 Maverick 302/auto, non-Grabber, that my mom and dad bought new. Good car and served us very well until my parents bought a new AMC Eagle SX/4 hatchback in 1981. The next year, '82, we gave the Maverick to my aunt as she really needed a car, and it soldiered on for several more years. It would have run forever but by the time she finally got rid of it the body was pretty well shot.
They were available with a floor shifter, I bought a new one and still own it!
I had a maverick back in the mid 90s not a grabber but a fun car with a 3 on the tree
My buddy got his grandmother's when it was 22+ yrs old already. I'm going to guess one of the earliest model years as I don't recall the rubber/plastic between the bumpers and body on it. It was however the 6 cyl but he drove that car another five yrs until some drunk hit it while it was parked and totaled it. That car was solid. I remember the metal dashboard.
No mention of the Mercury Comet, which was virtually identical to the Maverick.
my Mother bought a butterscotch brown '70 with a 200 ci. and i was always impressed with how fast she drove when we left town , i still remember how hard 2nd gear pulled when she was on the gas, i thought she was quite a hot rodder.......good thing she did'nt have the 302 ! i still think they are great looking cars, especially when the rear suspension is jacked up a bit................they can have a nice stance.
You got me. I don't think I have ever heard of this vehicle before.
There was a returning Vietnam vet in my area who completely bypassed the Grabber and simply bought the lightest, most stripped down Maverick available, ordered a Boss 302 engine and installed it. Completely stock engine, 4.11 gears and headers along with stock 4 speed out of a Mustang pushed it to 12.9 at the local track, this was through mufflers. It was a great sleeper, reasonably quiet and ran hard. The whole Grabber thing didn't float in my area at all, next to no sales.
When I was in the Navy there was this guy on our ship that was getting out the end of May 1973. A couple months before the got out he went home on leave, but only for a week. When he came back, I asked him why he went on leave so close to when he was getting out. He said he had gone back home and ordered a Comet (Mercury's version of the Maverick) with a 302 and a 4-speed. He was pretty excited about waiting to get out and get it.
Never had a maverick. Although I thought to grab her Maverick was pretty interesting. My cousin had one he bought for $25 or $50. That would have been back in the early eighties. All he wanted was the seats out of the front to put an old pickup. You got one picture of the car looks pretty good. He just ran around and tore it up. Then he took the seats out. He took it to the salvage yard and sold it for three times what he paid for it. Just a few months ago he brought that car up and he said he regret it doing that.
Maverick hand's down. But then again I'm biased. 74' Grabber disc brake, AC, auto idle kickdown, PS, 302 C4, trim package, Medium Bright Blue Metallic with Medium Blue interior with special order Super Soft Vinyl Bench Seat. One of 186 made that year.... Love that car! Even if she has park benches for front and rear bumpers!
Best car ever.
Mav. Aunt had a new '70 302 her " Lil' Horse "😋. I'd stick a 71 'grabber' hood and custom functionalize it to go with a 'Boss' swap set-up🤪 like ford shoulda did..
A shame Ford didn't offer at least a 4 barrel carb on the 302. A Boss 302/351 would have been killer.
My mom and dad had a 1972 Mod Maverick with the 302 Boss and 4 speed manual gearbox and chrome sidepipes. They were basically a drag car for the street
With some work they made some fast cars back in the day, remember them with 351 windsors,,Cleveland in them.
Cool car I remember those.
All of the Subcompact's from era were popular for Drag racers, The Vega and Monza were so popular at one point in the late 80's-mid 90's if you wanted a Vega/Monza you had to buy a Drag Car and build it back to road worthy cars because that's all you could find.
My friend had a 70 or 71 Grabber with a six and fake scoops on the hood.
The only thing that was cool on that car was the under-dash tray and the sunroof we put in it from a friend's 78 Camaro hat had rolled on a farm road.
The roof was flat and there were scratches on the inside of the glass.
We pulled that sunroof and frame from that F-body & put it right into that Grabber.
"Green ass Grabber".
My dream car !!!! I was hoping that ford would make a new version of this car , who’s idea was it to turn it into a dang truck 😮
I was a busy mechanic when these and most of the cars this channel has featured. I haven't watched one of the documentaries compiled for each car that I thought was not accurately and very well presented. Top shelf research. Intelligible oration perfect. Great stuff. Don't change anything. Nobody does this better, they should take lessons from this channel.
The Maverick and Dart were here in Brazil during that time too, but the Nova went to Argentina to be called Chevy Serie 2...
Here we got the substitute: The Chevrolet Opala.
Never heard of it. Such a nice car.
One of Ro Mcgonegal's best lines at Car Craft came at the expense of the Maverick Grabber. "...it'll grab your wallet and still won't run.."
What?! No mention of Gapp & Rousch (Yes, that Jack Rousch...) running a four door Maverick instead of Mustang in drag racing? I forgot what loophole in the rules the rules they were trying to exploit but it was pretty cool to watch it!
Don’t forget the Maverick’s twin; the Mercury Comet.
My Dad and Mom had. ‘72 Mod Maverick, it had the 302 Boss engine and 4 speed manual gearbox and it had the chrome side pipes running the length of the rocker panels. Basically a drag car ready right off the showroom floor
The car should have gotten the 351 Cleveland
The 302 was a squeeze, 351W or C would have given major issues on assembly line.
I'm very surprised Ford put the 302 in it, as the shock towers made it a very tight fit. The larger 351 barely fit into the larger (previous year) Mustangs because of this. I don't even know that they would have dropped into these.
@@HAL-dm1eh I know that with all 1960- and 1970 Ford unibody cars. They have the big shock towers. There is a way to remove them and replace them with flat panels and a cross brace and short shocks and short springs.
Gotta love the 70-76 Ford Maverick mate, they look a million times better than the new Maverick truck.
129hp 😡😠pathetic Damn smog emissions controls, my 92 Nissan 1800 is rated at 125 from the factory, BIN the SMOG crap warm cam, some compression, free flow exhaust, 4 barrel carb hell yeah 4 or 5 speed man/trans👍👍👍👍
Don’t forget it’s brother the Mercury Comet gt
One of the best fun cars I ever had I had a 73 deluxe model with a 302 auto ps ac reclining bucket seats shag carpet rear defrost vinyl top a real bag for my buck in 86 it had 70k miles mint for only 150.00
Caralton had one with 302 4bbl 11 to 1 pistons cam 4 speed std.
My first car… ❤
My cousin has one when we were young and living in small town Texas. My 67 mustang never stood a chance against it, he smoked me every time we raced.
It had the same suspension as Mustang disc brakes.
That car is not mini, actually bigger than first gen mustang.
In California a 1973 and earlier are exempt from smog equipment and tests ! So find one of those and modify the hell out of it !!
you got it wrong in the intro buddy. the maverick was the first car to come out back in April of 1969 and was released as a 70s model with it having the smooth body lines. the Chevy Vega came out September 10th 1970. the very next day September 11th 1970 the ford pinto was introduced. mavericks started it all.
Candidates for my museum of "Cars Detroit Should have Built":
-Maverick with 351W/351C, or (Lord help us) a Boss 302. Four speed.
AMC Hornet, w/401ci engine. Hatchback, or wagon.
1971 Dodge Coronet wagon, with 440/Six Pack.
1985-86 Chevy Monte Carlo Aero Coupe, with Port injected 350 from Corvette/Camaro
1971 COPO Camaro, with LS-6 454
1972-73 Ford Torino fastback, with 500+ci "Lima/Super Cobra Jet"
1996-97 Ford Thunderbird "SVE". Look it up.
Basically it was a first gen Mustang since it was using the mid ‘60s Ford Falcon chassis.
The last NEW car I purchased was a 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger. I wish I still had it 53 years later.
One thing missing here, no mention of the 4.1 liter 250ci inline 6! Offered mid 1970 on, and that's the combo I happen to own today. It is my very reliable daily driver in 2023!
Also there was maverick Stallion edition in '76 only, replacing the Grabber line. Great video, happy to see the Mavs getting notice again!
That's a fairly sporty combination, with the right transmission. I had a 77 Hornet X hatchback with a 258, and 4 speed (same Ford trans as Pinto), and it handled great with the handling package.
@@ramblerdave1339 oh man, those Hornet hatchbacks were rad, I'm Jealous! haha
Also I agree, got a T5 swap in the works for this reason ;)
I had a '77 Maverick with a 302 but it wasn't much to think about. Nice car but no power and crappy gas mileage. That was because of the 2 bbl carb and low compression. Rauise compression and get it a 4 bbl and it would have gotten better mileage with more performance. Government regs though prevented it at the time.
Just like adamcoe, I'm not going to say I've been doing this since b4 u was born, but I will say this, Wax is gr8 but has no petroleum products in most of them. If u simply mix a bottle of mineral oil, used oil, trans fluid, melted Vaseline, etc it will really make the wax last for years. We've done this to cars, trucks, semis, heavy equipment, etc. As an example log bunks on a log trailer are usually 4 inch square tube. They will be rusty inside even weeks after building it new. I've used wax n oil down in them through light holes, drilled holes to access and even decades later with a bore scope there's no rust. I spray them maybe every 5 years. And I live in PA. Between roads and salt this state is hard on all things that are on road. This started as my pap worked with a guy in 60s who drove a 48 Ford sedan. He asked him how he kept it so nice next to Lake Erie and all the snow etc. He told him he saves oil and trans fluid, mixes a quart of each plus a tube or tub of grease and bees wax and heats and mix n a pot and sprays in and on vehicle. My dad learned then I learned. We've not had to fix any rust problems on any autos or whatever we've sprayed. It's so cheap and simple it's retarded to let urr whatever go and rust out when usually it's good mechanical shape. Needle scale any rust chunks, spray with ospho product, use a master coat type of primer and paint with aluminum and zinc to stop and keep rust away, spray a coat of farm implement paint, Rust-Oleum etc then wax and oil. It will never rust and last a lifetime. Compared to a new vehicle, this is so cheap. Kill the rust. Don't crush them.
The horsepower. ratings were changed to SAE net from gross horsepower after 1971 which lowered the horsepower ratings.
My neighbor had one
My cousin had one. It was surprisingly fast. the only problem is they didn't beef up the frame and he literally twisted it.
When I was a kid my mother owned a 70 Ford Maverick with the inline 6 it was the first car I drove on my own after getting my license I wished I had held on to that car and put a 302 in it that thing would have hauled A
Man this Chanel would be the shiznic if only had the sound to these cars movies always kill the engine noise with music maybe one day
I have a 72 comet
Government regulations, energy costs, and INSURANCE PRICES all played a part in killing the muscle cars. My Insurance company raised my horsepower rating on my 1968 GTO from 325 hp to 350hp!
Remember a 71 or maybe 72 in my small 1500 population town in northern Ontario
What are side hood scoops?
My dad had a Maverick a green four-door Maverick with a 200 6 that was gonna be my first car I thought let's just say I wasn't excited lol it wasn't the best lookin car on the road but it was tough as a tank it ended up not being my first car that honor went to an 85 Pontiac Grand Prix
The Maverick neer had dual exhaust from the factory.
I want a grabber maverick bad! I know where a wrecked 71 Boss 351 mustang that will donate its running gear.. gonna create what ford should have a boss 351 4 speed maverick grabber
Wish they could handle corners . Never got to do a suspension upgrade. Damn tree .
You most certainly could get a floor shifted 3 speed manual.
Got two grabbers, was very sad for named an etruck maverick. The high back buckets did not recline in the two door ldo package.
Do better research. For '71, floor shifter was available as a $25 option for both auto and the three speed. If you wanted a the 302 in your Grabber, was a $169.00 option. V8 was never standard in any model. No Maverick in any year ever left the factory with anything other than asthmatic single exhaust(admitedly catalytic converter models suffered most). Beginning '72 FED mandated Hp be advertised as NET vs Gross, this knocked off 25-30% without turning a bolt. The '72 were slightly detuned and more so each year afterward. Pair a Nova or Dart with their best V8 option was a serious beatdown.
I had new 1976 with 302 v8 only new car that i have had
Hmmm! What would happen if I were to take one ORIGINAL Ford Maverick Grabber, open up the hood scoops and make them functional, install a Rack and Pinion Steering box, an all Independent Rear Suspension from a Mustang Cobra R, or a current Generation Mustang-complete with the Disc Brakes? As for the engine, I hear that the Ford Ecoboost four can put out more power than the OEM 302 Windsor Engine. Or, could I go with the Ford Coyote V-8 instead. As for the transmission, nothing but a 6-Speed Manual Transmission would do! I almost forgot anti-sway Bars-Front and rear. Now, with this compination, can you see me dispatching such cars as the Nissan Z I would like for readers to tell me what you think!
The new 1976 i had sticker price was 4600 dollars
Always loved the early mavericks. I had an inline 3 speed 1970 model that was beautiful… then later I had a 74 302/auto that was ugly and a pain to drive. (Neither were grabbers)
I would kill to have that 70 back, had it in 93, in Texas, with
Z E R O rust. While it was slower than stink, it was a great driving car
Not jus a 302 but a 302boss
nice!
Can you imagine if Ford had used their brains and offered a four barrel carburetor, four speed manual and a ~3.50-3.73 rear gear??
These cars kind of look like the Cuban Chevrolet Opala cars.
There was a South American version of the Maverick (Maverick GT) that IIRC had a 250 hp 302 4 bbl. Apparently they weren't as restricted by own government as we are here in the "land of the free".
The Maverick was neither fish nor fowl.
My first wife's first car was a maverick with a 302 with 57000 miles in1987. I could embarrass camaros in it lol..
It was ugly but what a sleeper
Yeah I have to get rid of the big bumper.
Didn’t actually know there’s a pickup Maverick 😂
The three speed was floor shifted