Sit right back and let me tell you a long but True story ... of my 1st Maverick. I was 12 or 13 years old in middle school, living in New Bern - NC, there used to be a 2dr 1972 gray primer painted 250 6 cylinder auto Maverick sitting in this guy's yard, and my dad wanted to buy this car but every time he'd get off work around 4:30-5:30 pm there was never anyone home. 1 day being the car loving fanatic nightmare my dad created I managed to get myself suspended from school for a 3 day vacation lol, I snuck out of the house while my mom was sleeping for her 2nd shift job, jumped on a bicycle and peddled my butt about 2 or 3 blocks and began knocking on this guy's door. He answered 1/2 asleep and slightly annoyed looking because he too worked 2nd shift, I asked him would he sell the Maverick, does it run/drive, and of course does the car even have a title? The man obviously could tell I wanted the car so he told me " it runs, drives, about 50 or 55 mph it gets a real bad shaking, it has a title, if you want the car I'll give it to you just to get it out of my yard, and if need I'll give 5 gallons of gas to drive it off " . Being a car guy I peddled my overly happy butt back home, call my dad @ work telling him the guy gave me the '72 Maverick, and he needs to get off early before the guy leaves for work to get my car so we can start working on it. Pops being the man he is indeed took off, spoke to the guy, and told him it's worth at least $50-150 in scrap metal so he asked for the title and keys. After what seemed like forever we had it running off a milk jug full of gas, Pops taught me about points/how simple they are to clean+adjust using something simple as a matchbook, and I got to drive 2 or 3 blocks back with him telling me to stay in 2nd gear. Unfortunately we had to move not long after getting the car back to SC because of his job so this Maverick got sold for $150 to a then friend of the family in the area. Now to the car I own ; Early 2000's sometime my dad heard on Tradio (kinda like a swap n shop am station) this man has a 1972 2dr Ford Maverick, 250 6 cylinder, a/c, automatic car with a rebuilt engine, car is solid all around but needs some tlc and a transmission for $500. He asks do I want to go look at it for that price and of course my answer is " H**L Yeah I'll get ready right now" . We go check out this "golden brown? " Maverick in Monroe, NC guy says "bought it to do a Grabber clone for my 16 yr old daughter, using a 302 ford Granada 5 lug disc brakes/rear end parts car, says I wouldn't sell it but the transmission won't pull in any gear, and she no longer wants an old car but something newer like a Honda " After finding out the motor had supposedly been rebuilt I checked the trans fluid, bone dry, and the freshly painted ford blue engine ran so smooth I had to ask " can I go buy some trans fluid to see if it'll do anything at all ?" guy says sure but if you don't buy the car or it doesn't work you're just out of your money. 4 quarts of dexron/mercon and a few minutes of circulation through the system Pops pulled it into drive and low n behold it moved like she had never missed a step. Dad drove the car for a while until 1 day the brakes went to the floor and slid him right through a 4 way intersection. The car hasn't been on the road since 2007. Skip ahead a little to my 31 st birthday I was given the car to do with as I wish because I couldn't let it just die under a pine tree, guilt tripped him into either selling me the car and or selling it off to someone who would do something with it. Now for some pics of a car built in St Thomas Canada, shipped to Charlotte, NC where I believe it's been most if not all of it's life .... My '72 250 a/c, power steering, 4 lug drum/drum 6 banger (for Now)
Cool story! Usually these cars end up travelling in the opposite direction!! Ask me how I know... So this was a Newfoundland car?
Sorry about the crappy camera phone pics but she's still a project So far I have her running again with a milk jug, mismatched wire set, and a little cleaned up from the pine trees she was dying under. I don't believe other than some surface rust there's much wrong with the ol'gal other than a little typical rust in the rear quarter panels the size of maybe a silver dollar at best, the battery tray area, and of course the rear valance where the tow truck driver let the winch slip pulling it loose bending it
Sorry Idk why it did that again, I think I fixed it, and according to the vin/door info it says the car was built in Canada. It even has the little red maple leaf still showing on the door sill area. So far I have a free set of leather S10 high back buckets to add to the car given to me by another S10 truck fanatic, a set of 16x7 Mustang GT wheels I bought for $150, and a 5 lug setup of '77 disc brakes to convert the front from drum that I found from a forum member here.
So the VIN is 2X91L...... The "X" is for the St. Thomas, Ontario plant that built these cars. The DSO would tell you what region or area the car was originally shipped to and sold. Looking forward to watching the progress!
Yes Sir! You are indeed correct 2X91L and here's the door tag I decoded it once when I 1st got the car from 1 of the decoding sites ( I'm sure since it was a Maverick site it's 1 of the guys here who operates it ). This of course was before I ever knew about this great site and any real info on these little cars .... other than they never seem to have any real aftermarket or get much love like Mustangs and other muscle cars do
Thanks for sharing the info! I have added you and your VIN to the VIN List that I look after here on the site. http://mmb.maverick.to/resources/categories/maverick-comet-vin-list.12/ Each VIN year has it's own list, then the lists are broken down by plant, then sorted by serial number (last 6 digits). My Grandfather used to have a 72 Gran Torino Sport that was the same colour as your car (5H). I really like that colour! Keep us updated on your progress!
Thanks a Lot Paul you're 1 cool guy already I've made it to page 20 of your restore on the '71 Grabber and omg I was shocked when I seen the rust that car had but I realized this man has more than just love for the car to see the dedication that was going into it up to that point. '72 Gran Torino Sport Somethin' along the lines of that ? I dislike the color because I don't know if I should call mine patina 70's crap brown, copper, or what . I'm not a fan of the 70's colors in general but the blues, greens, and blacks are probably my preference lol. The Torino though is legit regardless of the color
These are the 2005-2009 Mustang GT wheels that I bought for $150 a while back for the car when I do the disc brake swap I have, the Vintage 1972 North Carolina tag I will sandblast to bare metal+clear coat to run on it (the letters are my Middle Initials and the Year I was born) sooo cool , and a 1974 model car I intend to customize/repaint to what I'd like my car to eventually turn out to look like.
