What do you guys say?

It seems every time I take out my mavericks I have someone asking me something about them which is neat to have happen. I’m sure most if not all of you have had the same thing happen either it be someone saying… “I use to have one of those.” Or “I don’t know why more people don’t build these?” “I’ve never seen a maverick look like that b4!” etc. etc. etc. …. However when I take my stock one out I always, always get asked by someone either at the gas station or the store or something…. one of two questions. Do you want to sell it? Or how much are those things worth now? Plus you can’t imagine how many people e-mail me to ask how much there car is worth!

I guess if they ask me if my cars for sale I always tell them it’s not for sale… but I’m not really too sure what to tell people on how much they are worth. I mean to me, they are not worth much.. it’s a Maverick! Then again I’ve never paid more the $1000 for a maverick…. In fact I still wouldn’t pay more then $1000 bucks for one, Grabber, LDO Stallion or not! But when I see people buying mavericks these days for like $2500 to $4500 bucks I’m like… ok? thats what they must be worth…. and when I see some of these things on e-bay selling its like…. “that’s crazy” I mean I know its only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but do I tell someone its worth some crazy amount and jack up maverick prices… lol! I mean most of the time I always tell them I need to see what the car looks like before I can say anything but it really never comes down to the person sending pictures or showing me the car.

I also noticed that if a buyer is from anywhere on the mid to east coast its seems they are willing to pay more for it and might buy something that’s needs more work.. I don’t know something I just noticed by here on the forums and even on e-bay or other sale sites. Do you guys feel any of this is true? Plus don't you think this would effect prices as well?

Lastly I always have someone asking me if it’s a Grabber. No offense to anyone who owns a grabber or loves them. But I don’t know what the big deal about a grabber is… then again that’s just me. I mean it’s a Maverick I love them anyways standard or grabber! If I had one I’d probably tear it all up anyways and you wouldn’t even know it’s a Grabber! So anways, is it something that non-maverick owners only know about Grabbers or something? Seems to be? Because it always seems to come up. It people are always under the impression that Grabbers are V8’s which we all know is not true. I mean to me all a Grabber is, is just a hood, tail and stickers. And 73 and up don’t even have a hood or tail? Am I miss representing the grabber? I mean I know one day (if not already) people will be going “that’s not a real grabber!” “it’s just the hood and tail on a regular maverick” to me who cares, it’s a Maverick! Don’t get me wrong I think the grabber hood and tail are way cool! But again why are non-maverick owners just so fixated on them? :confused: I don’t know sorry just starting up conversation here… I’m sure this one will stir up something so hate me!

But this is just something that was on my mind and it seems to be a bit slow around the forums lately.

 

I guess IMO......the Grabber started out as an appearance package and seems to have stayed that way. It never really advanced.

 

I agree with you 100%. Especially on the Grabber part. I don't care if it's a Grabber or any of that. If it's got a solid body, I'll take it.

And yea, I get people all the time comeing up to me at gas stations and stuff. Yesterday I was going to get supper and stopped at a red light. A car pulled up next to me, rolled down the window and some woman in the passenger seat said "excuse me, what kind of car is that?" I told her it's a Maverick and the guy that was driving the car said "see, I told you it wasn't a Nova!" A while back a guy in a brand new Jaguar pulled up next to me and goes "what year is that thing?" I told him it's a 74 and he goes "I bought a 73 Maverick new and put over 200,000 miles on it. Those are the best cars Ford ever made".

And of course the never ending "wow, a Maverick! I didn't think there were any of them around anymore!"

When I first got the car back on the road it was kind of annoying, but now I'm used to it.

People very rarely believe me when I tell them it's a Grabber.

 

It is true about us people from the right coast being willing to pay more for maverericks that need work than you left coast people do. Our problem is we can't find cars that aren't rust buckets. I keep a close eye on the cars for sale on ebay and if there happens to be a rust free car in there it is always from california or arizona. If a righty was to but one, the cost of getting it shipped to Florida would bring the total to way to more that it is worth. So we just keep buying the rusty relics and keep the body shops in business.
There is one other idea that comes to mind! If the lefty's would buy up some of these rust free cars and have them shipped to the east coast we would all have nice cars.

 

I got mine for $180 in '97 and it was still wearing it's original paint.

 

True...Although I am on the west coast and my car is rust free....I am from the east coast.There is barely a fraction of the body shops here in the state of Wyoming as there is is an entire city/town back east. As for shipping some of these rust free cars back there....it just might happen!

 

I went to the Ford Fun Sunday in Vallejo a couple of weeks ago and stopped at a convenience store on the way home. Sure enough two guys asked if my Grabber was for sale. I said I just bought it, and they asked how much. Someone at the fun show said the interest in Mustangs is because that was the first car a lot of young guys got in the 1960's, and now that they're older, with time and money, that's what they buy. He had a Couger -- same car, different paint job.

Now the Maverick crowd are aging (ah hum, not me ), and looking to recall their youth. My first Maverick (and I wasn't a young guy then, but a 20 something female) was a 1969 two-door. I sniffed at the Grabber when it came out as just an ostentatious paint job. Twenty years ago I bought a four-door because I wanted another Maverick. But this time I wanted a Grabber. I figure if I'm going to drive an eye catching car it should be ostentatious. Original Grabbers or Grabber Clones will increase in value more than non-Grabbers, because people who buy them want to show them off.

As far as price, I don't know where you are in California, but I started looking for a Maverick around May. I bid on one on eBay in Texas. My high bid was $1550, but it would have cost another $850 to ship it to California. I started looking around for a local Maverick. Four Doors were usually the easiest to find in good condition. Prices for really nice four doors were between $1800-2800. These were clean, rust-free, with perfect interiors. Two doors in beat up condition were between $500-1500.

But Grabbers are $2000-3000. I paid $3000 for the one I bought in Modesto. It appeared to be in better shape when I bought it than it turned out to be. I figure I probably over paid by $500-800, but I'm still glad I got it. I could still be looking for another V8 Grabber here or on eBay, and not find anything better. It may not be a show car, but I can use it as a daily driver. I sure can't buy a new car for $3000.


Roz

 

I think there are plenty of decent Mav's left on the east coast... my cars been in GA it's entire 31 years of existance. Was bought new in Macon. Pretty much the only bad rust on it is where a battery let go years ago. I gave a whopping 600 bucks for it.

I've seen plenty of rust free cars or very little rust in junk yards around here. I know where theres a rust free 73 2 door Comet in a junk yard for $300 that I'm going to buy sooner or later.

I see your in Florida though. My 4 door is from Florida and is a rust bucket.

And I'll bet even being a documented Grabber, I can't and will not ever be able to sale my car for more then a non Grabber. It dosen't look like a Grabber.

 

I think the value really depends on the condition of the car and the options it came equipped with. One has to figure-in the cost of restoration. The less work the car needs, the higher the price should be, and vice-versa. One must also consider the fact that inflation has drivin up the cost of almost everything, so why should Mavericks be any different, right?

 

You cant hardly buy a decent new car without spending more than $20K. Therefore, decent used car prices will also rise. "Collectible cars" will bring in more money, especially early 70s and older. The Maverick & Comet are collectible. Maybe not on the level of true muscle cars but still collectible. Some people fixate on the fact these cars only cost $2K -$3K new, so they certainly cant be worth more than that now. Yes, there are still bargains out there to be found, but to buy a decent one can now bring in a price higher than the original costs.

I have seen many Mav/Com on ebay that were not any of the special packages. They were just stock but in extremely nice shape. Or had a unique feature. I remember one Maverick that was a basic Maverick with a 302, 3 speed on the floor, and a white bucket seat interior. White interiors, especially bucket seats, are extremely rare in Mavericks. It was a rust free AZ car. It had all the things I love. I would have gladly paid up to $5K. But I didn't have an extra $5k to blow at the time. I remember another big bumper Mav that was bone stock. Excellent shape. It was baby blue with blue bench seat interior. Again it was a factory 302, 3 speed, floor shift car. I would gladly paid up to $3500 for that one. For me, I put a higher value than most people do. But then I'm the kind of person that if I make a dollar, I'll spend a dollar. It usually boils down to how bad I want it and how much free cash I have to spend.

 

Ok, here's my short story.
Let me just start by saying that I've always liked Grabbers/Mavericks. I think it had something to do with a rental Mav that my brother had in the early 70's.
In '96 I saw a 72 Grabber at a guys house who was selling a 68 firebird. I looked over at the Grabber and offered him $1000 if it would just start. It didn't even have to stay running. Just start. He declined my offer.
About a year later, I found a Grabber in the paper for $200. I called the number and it was still available! I got directions to the house and it turned out to be the same place/car! I offered the woman $150 and she said someone offered $175. I matched it and got it out of there within the hour. She ended up getting $180 because the ATM only spits out 20's.
(the guy who owned the car was "not around" anymore.) Come to find out years later that he was in prison and his grandmother's property had been sold, so they had to get rid of a lot of his stuff.
The car needed lots of work but the body was ALL ORIGINAL. Totally solid body with the original paint still intact(and it still looked good) The problem(for me) was that it was that mustard yellow and to top it off......it had a light tan interior. (What were those people thinking?!) To make matters slightly worse..........the owner before me spray painted the WHOLE INTERIOR black and it was peeling.
It has taken tons of work over the years but I'm definitely glad I got it.

 

I agree that Mavericks have held up as used cars and are now old enough to be considered classics. I needed a new car, but couldn't afford $20-25K, or even half that for a recent used car. Cars from the 70's and 80's are now priced reasonably, but can be driven daily and maintained easily.

I bought a 1996 Ford Ranger extended cab in 1998 and still can't park it right. I can't carry passengers. When my sister and her husband came to visit, she had to sit on a jump seat in the back of the cab! I needed a real car.

That's when I decided to buy a Maverick. I wanted it both as a daily driver and classic, hence choice of V8 Grabber. I'm amazed at how smooth and straight driving the Maverick is. My past Mavericks were all sixes, and except for my original stripped down 1969 with the unadulterated 170 cu engine, the others were slugs. This V8 has more power than the 6 in my pickup and runs very smooth with 91 octane gas. In fact this car drives and handles so nicely, and the bucket seats are so comfortable, that I consider this my new car .

Roz

 

ok this is what i'm talking about.... on the value of a maverick and who determines what its worth.

http://www.classicmusclecars.com/cgi-bin/swrm/embed_real.pl?id=6111445&bl=m-;;k-maverick;;nhs-;;status-Available;;sb

as you can hear he says a couple things that isn't ture. hense that grabbers came with a v8 package. hum i love how he says no BS. more like hes a used car salesman thats all BS

so by new people seeing these kind of things promotions drive prices up regardless because people don't know but what people tell them.

 

What exactly is wrong with Mustard Mavericks with Tan interiors!

The guy shooting that video sounded like he was gonna have a heart attack!

Nice looking car .. except for the shifter. Need to put the correct sport lamp bezels on there and that is not Maverick upholstery.

Pretty sure this was on either eBay or Autotrader not longer ago for like 10 or 11,000 ...

 

I was wondering if you were gonna catch that.