Weird Maverick Myths

for those who remember, I finally tracked down the owner of the mysterious '70 Grabber that was sitting in the middle of an empty field in Jones Co., Texas.

It belongs to a woman who lives in the houston area and her husband and sons were dirt track racers. She tells me that she bought the car in 1981 as a restoration project and she's just waiting for the right time to 'get around to it'.

Long story short: she knows that she has a semi-rare car on her hands and she has a bit inflated ideas about it...her son informed her that if anyone came by and asked about it, not to let it go for less than $1,200(!), although she told me that she would let me have it for $800...please remember that this is a 70 grabber that has weeds growing up through it and has never been cranked since '88 or something... I was honest with her and told her that I was only interested in the rear deck, light bezels, hood and a few other bits...then she got angry and told me that I was 'one of those cannibalistic car guys that was probably going to turn it into a drag car or something' she then told me that she would only sell it to someone who would do a factory restoration on it.

okay, so that wasn't so short. Thre thing that kept striking me was that she claimed to know so much about the maverick line, but kept giving me all these odd facts that sounded well...kinda made up...

like did you know:

1. that the spoilers were only available on 70.5 models

2. that the 250 was unique to the 70.5 and it was the fastest, rarest motor ever put into a maverick

3. that sthe stripe package (again) was only available on 70.5 'GT' models

anyways, whenever I would ask 'real' questions about the condition of the car, as well as any mention of 'grabber', she would just pause as if she had no clue what I was saying.

anyways, just an amusing anectode for you all...

 

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've run into this person. Well, not this exact person, but their breed. I've tried to buy two cutlasses, one big block and one small block. Both sitting outside and rusting away. Each owner thought the Barrett Jackson people were going to starting knocking down their door to get a crack at these nuggets. One '69 firebird without the numbers matching engine. Had a worn out 350 with chrome valve covers and those obnoxious t-handle hold downs. Wouldn't let it go for anything less than $5,000 and it was ROUGH to put it politely. Found a GLH Omni that the owner thought was going to find its way into a museum some day. A guy I work with has an LT1 anny firebird that he thinks will still sell for over $20k!! Ha! The coup de grace is an old man who lives out in BFE Indiana. Has a 65 vert mustang and a matching 65 vert vette sitting on top of a hill in front of his house. Both tops are gone, stuff growing inside them, lots and lots of rust. His plan was to sell these cars and use that for his retirement money. Seems like a lot of people think their junk is worth tons of money.

 

yeah i know what you mean... i found a maverick this weekend...

body is a little better than mine with no rust
but engine wont start and tranny is caked in grease and oil.. tires are all flat .. rims are steel rims... doesnt look like it has driven in 8 years or more.

the guy wants 4500 for it.. i laughed out loud and said no thanks... he said, " Well if you are so smart, how much do you think its worth?"

i said well mine is worth 2500 and thats because the engine and tranny is worth 2000 together. yours doesnt run, tires are flat and no idea if the engine and tranny are near driveable condition, i would say no more than 800. he said, no way i cant sell it that cheap.

i said sorry to waste our time.. good luck.. and i left..

people make me laugh so hard.

 

Most of the time I find that the seller payed to much and now is looking for another sucker. I always say show me factual evidence(documentation) as to how rare something truly is.

 

ive seen both ends of the spectrum on this as well. when the wife had her cougar we had it professionally appraised so we could keep collectors insurance on it. people would walk up and offer half what it was worth like they were doing us a favor....luckily when we sold it, the wife waited for someone who was looking and new what it was worth. wasnt a rare model and we knew that, but wasnt a rust bucket beater either. oh well, guess its all about knowing what you have/want and what its worth.

 

Any rust-free big-bumper 2-door is worth atleast $800 ... more if it runs ..... I would say a rust-free small bumper 2-door car is worth twice as much as that even without a running engine ...

Just looks at all the time, heart-ache, blood, sweat and tears folks put into repairing cars that have rust .... now imagine the value and benefit of starting with a rust-free car

 

I paid way to much for my 72 but it was what I wanted. It made me happy & I still love the car and don't regret spending the money. Sometimes spending more is worth it!!. But I do understand that some people can get out of hand. Just my opinion

 

Dan your funny. I actually like the look of the big bumper better. I traded my 72 for my 75 because of the bumpers. Plus Yellow 75 gave me a good deal on it.

 

Iv'e seen this so many times Iv'e lost count. It seems like the less informed a person is about thier car, the more they think they have a diamond in the rough. And in most cases, I do mean ROUGH. This past summer there was a 71' Grabber for sale a few miles away from me. The lady who owned it wanted $7000 for it. FIRM. She truley believed it was the most valuable car in town. The poor car was horrible. The body work was shabby, the paint was faded and peeling, the interior was shot, rust was popping out everywhere, a parking light was missing from the car and the jumper cables inside were a dead give away that it would not start on it's own. I never heard it run myself, but someone I know did and they said it sounded like it was about to explode. And the color! Who in thier right mind would want a blueish-green Grabber with PINK stripes? Poorly painted on stripes at that. As the summer wore on the price gradually started to drop. I think she finally sold it for about $2000 and from what I could see of the car, even that was too much. A few years ago there was a 72' Comet GT for sale that we stopped to look at. The car was solid rust from top to bottom. Actually, solid is the wrong word here. It had no floor in it. Nothing. Nada. Zero. The kid came out and proceeded to tell us how rare the car was and how few of them were still around. Right.:16suspect When he said he wanted $1700 for the rust bucket, we laughed and walked away. I don't think he ever did sell it.

 

Jean:

Jumper cables in a car back east mean noithing more then "being perpared" You should know that!

 

I found a 71 Ranchero at a car lot a few years ago, I'd driven by a few times before deciding to stop in for a look. The thing had a nice paint job, so I started crawling around under it. the entire car was held together with duct tape and good intentions. The typical salesman, acting like it was an absolute gem, started commenting on this and that, and when asked the asking price replied 3500. I looked at him and said " It would take that much to..." he interupted : "to make it perfect?" I replied " to make it SAFE".

I love that look on a salesman's face.
(I'm just too much like my dad)

 

I was talking to someone about this today.

Several people trying to sell rustbuckets at a high price because they're rare... yea, rare alright... most people throw away garbage, they don't keep it around.

Another thing I expected to read in this thread, the Mavericks and Comets with the BOSS... lol

when I bought mine, finishing up the paperwork with the lady, her husband came out afterwards and told me I got a good car, with a 4bbl Boss 302, he rebuilt the carb himself... Autolite 2100...
:confused:

 

i had a "boss 302 74 maverick" hahahaha. thats what the guy i got it from told me. it just had a stock 302 in it and when i told him that he lost his only selling point. the car was a rust bucket and i ended up talking him down to free. i pointed out every little thing that was wrong with the car. took me about an hour and a half but was completly worth it. got the 302 in my car already.

 

If Barrett-Jackson can't get the HP rating correct on a '77 Comet, what do you expect from some Lil' Ole' Lady in Texas?

 

I went through the same thing with a guy down the street, he was selling a 63 Falcon two door sedan.

I test drove it and could up-shift but couldnt down shift, it kept grinding, his excuse was that ford didnt make them to downshift.

A couple other faults were that the entire underneath of the car was covered in a tar like substance, I dont think it was POR 15, but when I was about done looking at it, he said, "You have to keep this bucket down by your feet because it leaks when it rains." (bad cowl)

I said thanks and walked away from the $1700 price tag

Glen