1973, upon graduating from high school and my grandfather bought me a brand new 73 LDO. 302; AM/FM-----it was groovy, ended up trading it for a 63 T-bird even-steven in 1976. I honestly would have a dream about once a year (usually after going to a car show or something) that I had put my Maverick in storage and had forgotten about it and suddenly remembered where I had put it and would go to pick it up but wake up--------since I found, bought and finished the 73 LDO about 3 years ago I've never had the dream again.
Damn, you must have gotten better grades than I did. I graduated in 1973 and only got a crappy 4 door 65 Falcon. It did only cost me 140 dollars and it did run so it was the best thing on the road at the time It wasn't "groovy" though
it was late and i'd been drinking while watching the Colts get their ass handed to them (give me a break)
GEEEZ Bob! You're an old fart like me! Didn't know that! I graduated in 72,Indy13 is the same age as you,wow,old school guys with" groovy" cars...far out man! Jack
1986...I was in the navy. The 64 T bird I was driving finally gave up the ghost (trans died) None of the electrics worked either and the front suspension was finished. So I needed wheels...Found an ad for a 72 Maverick V-8 stick for sale in town (China lake) Bought it on the spot as soon as I saw it from the second owner...Still have it and will most likely be buried in it ( If my wife gets her way...LOL) I have had plenty of cars, some muscle some antique and some just plain old junk. I like the Mav the best out of em all. Heck!!! I like em so much I bought another on last year. Just need a GT Comet and a Grabber to finish my collection and I can die a happy man.
It took us to this point in our age to fearlessly torch, sawzall & cut off wheel Mavericks to shreads and throw all of the stock stuff outside, up against the garage wall, to finally finish rusting away as God intended them to. I like Jethro Tull's take on aging "Too Old To Rock & Roll and Too Young To Die"
great uncle bought my '73 4dr new right here in our county. before he passed, he sold it to my grandfather in the early 90's where he drove it untill he passed away in 2000, where it was left to me. always loved the look of it but always wanted a 2dr as well. finally bought and built my first 2dr in 2004 and it's been downhill ever since. so after 10 yrs, 37 mavericks and comets, ive been neck deep into the interest of them.... and have never really found "the one" 2dr that i truly want
In 1972 our next door neighbors bought a new '72 Maverick Grabber in Grabber green. I was 15 years old. Pam hired me to wash her new Maverick once a week to make extra money. I washed all my parents car a lot. When I got my license, she let me take the Maverick to the car wash . It was a 200 cid with an automatic, power steering and and an am radio. I loved the car so I bought an new '74 Grabber with a 302. Pam moved away form home in '75 and trade the Grabber for a Mustang II.
I was about 12 years old back in 1978 when my mom bought her first car which was a 1974 Comet. All i remember was that i no longer had to stand out at the bus stop waiting for the friggin' bus any more. I remember sitting in that old Comet not believing that my mother finally had a car, WOW, what a thrill to just go wherever we wanted to go when we wanted to go there. I remember sitting in the front passenger seat driving around and looking at that Comet logo on the dash. To me that car was the best ever, no more standing around in the rain, snow, cold, heat waiting for a bus. No other car could ever have those memories for me and i have loved Mavericks and Comets ever since. Here is the only picture of that special Comet way back in the day, and yes it did get fixed after that accident.
Cool story there, Comrick. In your case ... Comet=Freedom ... amen! What really got my attention about Mavs and Comets is the project car that Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazine featured in the mid-70s. I was just about to get my driver's license, and was "doing the math" on that car ... flyweight car with a strong engine in it has always appealled to me since. I like the "sleeper" aspect of our cars, too. They don't have the heritage ... they're not supposed to be fast. Seeing lots of them made into bracket drag cars has always helped too.
My first car was a '70 LTD 4dr hardtop, given to me by my grandmother. It was really nice, so to keep from "tearing it up" I bought my '73 Grabber. Really rusty, but it did have a v8, floor shift and bucket seats. Cool stuff when you're raised with a 4dr LTD, a longbed Chevy truck and a '79 T-Bird. I never really paid much attention to them until I got one(I had always liked the '66-67 Fairlanes), but later figured that Mavericks look pretty good done right, and thanks to the lack of weight it doesn't take much to make 'em fly.
My first car when I was 16 was a 74 Maverick bought in 1980 from a local used car lot. It was pea green and had a 200, no pwr steering, no pwr brakes, no A/C and it was three on the tree. Texas summers were hot but she was all mine for $1000. What sucked was right after I got the car a heavy dew fell and in the morning I could read where the original owner had written in shoe polish on the windshield: "For Sale $500" I learned a lot in that car and sold it to my dad in '84. It left our family in '87.
I graduated HS in 1974, and did my best to convince my Dad to help me buy an Opel GT. But he wouldn't have anything to do with them furren cars, even though he was a Buick man, and Opel was retailed by Buick back then. Anyway, he found a Vega GT and figured that it would satisfy me because it was small, 4 cyl and had "GT" on it. We drove out to Bond Motor Co in Arlington TN on a rainy Sunday afternoon and the dark green Vega was parked next to a Medium Ginger 73 LDO 4 door Maverick, and I said, "Too bad that Maverick is a 4 door." Dad repiled that it was too expensive for me to pay the notes on. We drove the Vega the next day and afterwards the Sales Manager and Dad went off to deal. Dad was Superintendant of Maint and Engineering at a food manufacturing plant and had bought several F250's for the company and his use, and would shortly need another. So the S.M. told him the truth, "You don't want that boy in a Vega. They have bad engines and it won't last with him jerking it around." So he sold Dad the LDO 4 door for the same price as he would have sold him the Vega, for Dad's word and handshake that a new F250 would be bought by Labor Day. In essence, my 2 sisters learned to drive in my car and it was wrecked and rebuilt 4 or 5 times before it had 80,000 miles on it. Two wrecks being near totals. Rear ended by a school bus, and then had a girl in a 69 Cougar turn left in front of me in the rain as I was coming down a hill. The car had 211,586 miles on it when it was taken for abandoned and towed off back in 1996. Really looked bad at that point, but ran great. 250-I6 with a Weber/Carter YF taken off of an industrial 300-I6 Ford in a baggage cart Tug, and a C-4. Several mods to get it to flow properly, but regularly whupped up on 305 Camaro's, and LX Mustangs. In 1990 I bought a Grabber Blue with silver stripes, 72 Grabber with 200-I6, 3 spd manual, and with working factory A/C!!! Woo Hoo. The friend I bought it from had just had a oil warning light problem fixed for $200. The so-called mechanic removed the bulb from the dash. It blew up and was replaced by a 200-I6 that was in it's third Maverick, a 1972 Sprint Maverick that my best friend gave me. Came from the factory in a Mercury, I think, and had more mains and a larger bore than the 73 engine we thought it was. Sold the Grabber in 94 and was without for the first time in 20 years. THAT'S when I knew that Mavericks were special. In 2000 I bought my currently owned Medium Ginger 1973 LDO Maverick two door with a 302-V8, C-4, and A/C and P/S, and all stock everything except Flowmaster exhaust and Perktronics conversion. Had 88,000 when I bought it, now has 111,600 or there abouts. Needs some clean-up due to age, and paint, and the vinyl top removed and roof repaired and painted. Same looks as the first one, but now the two door that I wished it were way back on that rainy Sunday afternoon in May of 1974. This one goes to my grandson in 8 years and 2 days. Unless he takes the Grand Wagoneer instead. Max
Great story Max. If it isn't against the rules I would love to see a pic of the Grand Wagoneer. I love them, my wife hates them. After she graduates from Nursing School in May she's getting an SUV. If she liked them, a Grand Wagoneer would be high on the list, but a 4runner will have to do. Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack the thread.
