Introduced on April 17, 1969, the 1970 Ford Maverick was marketed as “The Simple Machine.”
Ford Chairman Henry Ford II and Ford Division General Manager John B. Naughton
Introduced on April 19, 1969—five years to the day after the wildly successful launch of the 1965 Mustang—the 1970 Ford Maverick was designed in part to recapture some of the Mustang’s marketing magic, as orchestrated by Ford product guru Lee Iacocca. The Mustang rollout of April 1964 is typically described as the hottest-selling product introduction in Motor City history.
Like the Mustang, the Maverick featured classic ponycar long hood/short deck body proportions. But while the Mustang was tailored to the youth and performance market, the Maverick was designed as a no-frills import fighter, competing head-to-head against Volkswagen, Datsun, and Toyota. Speaking directly to the import-buying crowd, Iacocca’s marketing team presented the Maverick as “The Simple Machine,” as in simple to purchase, maintain, and operate.
Priced at only $1995, the Maverick offered little in the way of standard equipment. In essence, it was an updated and reskinned Falcon. There wasn’t even a glove box, and the standard engine was a 170 CID six with a three-on-the tree manual transmission. There was only one body style the first year, a two-door coupe, and the cabin was trimmed with the cheapest materials available. For curb appeal the Maverick relied on its sporty styling and some trendy gimmicks, including hip exterior paint colors that included Anti-EstablishMint, Fruedian Gilt, and Thanks Vermillion. In the following year, a four-door sedan was added to the lineup, and the floor pan was redesigned to accommodate an optional 302 CID small-block V8.
While the Maverick was a full size larger than the popular imported cars of the day, and thus not a great fit for the category, the product campaign was still a solid success. More than 22,000 orders were taken in the first three days, reportedly, and the total sales for the 1970 model year actually exceeded the Mustang’s first-year volume with 578,914 cars delivered. Technically, anyway. The Maverick’s figures are boosted by an exceptionally long model year that started six months early. While the Maverick spawned a Mercury Comet version and continued in production through 1977, Ford’s real import fighter was the 1971 Pinto, which launched in September of 1970.
I bought new a 4-door, 1974, auto, V-8, A/C. P.O.S.
1971 2 door, straight six with automatic, Grabber Lime.
Was fixing rust at 6 months, after a couple of years all sorts of aggravating engine problems, impossible to start below 10F, gave up after 6 years.
A real POS, and I don’t mean Point Of Sale.
I had 70 (200CID) and 73 (250 CID) Grabbers. They were great. Indestructible! Super easy to maintain.
Gee, that’s funny ! A true grabber came with a factory installed 302 !1’ve got a 71 in my yard waiting for winter to be done.
Our 70 Grabber was an early build for a Grabber, soon V8 was available. The earliest Grabbers came with a Mustang Mach 1 three-spoke, rim-blow and wood-grained steering wheel.
Actually, the Grabber package came with the 6 cylinder standard, & a 302 2 bbl was optional.
Since a V8 wasn’t even available in any 1970 Maverick, & the Grabber package became an option midway through the 1970 model year, obviously the 6 cylinder was offered in the Grabber. Even with the introduction of the 302 to the Maverick in model year 1971, it was still only an optional engine across the entire Maverick model line. The 6 was always standard.
In my younger days, I knew at least 5 people that owned Grabbers, only 2 had the 302 in it, & all 5 were as from the factory.
I worked for a Ford dealership from 1976 – 79. The Maverick had the least amount of warranty issues of that time.
I owed a 76 Ford maverick
I would give anything to have it back
I had one that ran trouble free over 300,000 mi &was the best gas mileage car I ever owned never failed to start
I loved our maverick growing up. It outlasted our 2 neighbors imported Toyota and Datsun by years.
Bought a 1974 4 door 302 used to replace a 9 MONTH old Fiat 128 that was just a piece of crap.
The Maverick was a welcome upgrade in comfort and ride. The only drawback was, no power steering.
Well I had a bright red ‘71 Maverick with a hot little 302 V-8. That car was a blast to drive with squealing tires to spare. I managed to get six different traffic tickets the first year I owned it. Miss that little thriller.
I built a 74 with a hot 302 and C4 automatic. Swapped the park bench bumpers for a set of the 71-72 thin ones, really improved the looks. Great little cars, a poor man’s Mustang. Basically, the same thing underneath, anything that fit a Mustang fit the Maverick. When I built mine, there was not much available in the way of sheet metal replacement parts, you had to source out original factory parts. Sure, they had rust issues, but most cars of that era did. Now, several companies have stepped up with reproduction parts making restoration easier. Mavericks have a huge following in Brazil where they were produced for a longer period than here in the US. I might build another one someday, they are enjoyable cars to work on and pleasurable to drive. Truly a simple car, unlike the complicated computer-controlled cars of today.
The Mustang also benefited from an extra-long introductory year, so the comparison is fair.
It really was the Falcon replacement, but since the Falcon couldn’t be built after December 31st, 1969, due to regulatory upgrades Ford didn’t want to have to make, Ford ran a decontented mid-size Fairlane as a half-year only “1970 1/2 Falcon.”
The Maverick also reflected Ford’s plans to shift the intermediates to a bigger, body-on-frame platform starting in ’72, replacing the Fairlane/Torino’s unibody Falcon underpinnings. One new car, one heavily updated one.
Those wheelcovers are 72 XA Fairmont here in Oz.
My father ordered up a ’72 Comet 4-dr for his FoMoCo company lease with the 250/C4 combo, a pretty decent car for the era. We even took it on a brief family vacation (back seat was not that great.) B-planned it to my aunt and uncle, who were fastidious about maintenance and cleanliness. They had it for another 6 years, then gave it to my cousin, who put another 6-7 years on it. Eventually, it fell to midwest tinworm in the early ’80s, think the odo had been over twice.