Greetings, Even though I’ve made a handful of posts to this site, I’m new here and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Denny and I bought a pretty rough 71 Grabber a little over a month ago. She’s not my first Maverick. Back when I was about 19 (I’m now 33) and pretending to be a professional auto mechanic, I worked for a GM dealership back in Ohio, near Cleveland, where I grew up. The dealership had a row of vehicles that were too ugly to be easily seen by customers that was a sort of automobile “death row.” These were cars reluctantly taken in on trade that a respectable car salesman wouldn’t sell to anyone. I had a decent car at the time, but a 73 Maverick with a 302 ended up on the “row.” I think I paid $100 for it and it ran pretty good, although the motor seemed like it wanted to keep pulling when the two-barrel carb was delivering all the air-fuel mixture it could. The car was completely rusted out and a half-hearted attempt to repair the car with bondo had only made it look worse. It weaved all over the road and felt like it was trying to go in at least two different directions at all times. It was painted red and had a vinyl, saddle-colored interior, I believe. I enjoyed driving the car around town and put quite a few miles on it. I left the Mav over a friend’s house one night and we didn’t end up getting home until the next morning. His house was in a rural area where crime was really low…but…we were both stunned what had transpired while we were away. The car had been thoroughly vandalized. Every piece of glass and every plastic lens had been broken. I was pretty upset. It was such a shock…especially in that area of the town. But I had no plans to restore the car or anything like that at the time. After all, it was "only" a Maverick…not a 70 Mach I with a 428CJ like my friend had...and of course I didn’t realize how different I might feel about the car in the future. Who thinks about the future at 19 years old? Anyway, I knew a guy that was really into demolition derby. I now cringe at the thought of what I did next; I gave the car to him and he did what I would now consider unthinkable. I’m sure my friend didn’t fare very well at the county fair demolition derby in that classic compact. It really makes me sick to realize that I’m responsible for there being one less Maverick in the world. It brings to mind scenes from the panned Steven Spielberg move “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” at the Flesh Fair where some only slightly flawed machines (human-type robots) were destroyed in a spectacle surrounded by cheering crowds. Today I almost become physically ill when someone at a boneyard says to me, “Oh, yeah, sorry you came all this way for nothing…I thought we had a few decent Mavericks here, but we must have crushed them.” I try not to think very often about the Maverick I turned my back on…but I wanted to come clean. All I can do is make the 71 I have now the best she can be…and I won’t let her down J
Welcome Denny! As you have already seen, this is a great board with many knowledgeable people. I learn something new here at least once a week, maybe more. Congrats on your "new" Mav, I know you'll have a lot of fun with it! Talk to you soon, Sam
Welcome Denny, I enjoyed your story. Glad you are back into Mavericks. Lots of nice and knowledgeable people here. Dan
Denny, welcome to the board from a fellow Ohioian. You are not alone in the regret area for those of us that once had a Maverick when we were younger. I am sure you will do your current Maverick up right. So, how long have you been away from Ohio? How did you end up out in CO?
I've been out here about five years now. I was doing computer work where I traveled almost constantly and spent some time out here and liked it. A good friend of mine I grew up with in Ohio had moved out here years before. He had married Don Cockroft's daughter back in Ohio and then moved to Colorado with her and her family. (Don Cockroft was a kicker for the Cleveland Browns) I moved out here and we rode dirtbikes and fished and did a lot of things that we used to do when we were kids...my Dad and grandfather have since moved out here. In fact, I just got back from having dinner at my Dad's...who lives next door to me now! Imagine if I gave you the "long version" for an answer...lol. Where in Ohio are you? I grew up in Aurora.
Denny, I am just outside of Canton. It's great to see your dad and grandfather is out there, that would be the hardest thing for me is leaving family. One of my bothers who was in the Air Force had been stationed out in CO years ago. Sounds like a great part of the country. One thing about Aurora as you may already know, no more Sea World, which was a great place to go once and while. Glad to see you found a Grabber for your project, maybe your dad and grandfather can give you a hand. Make some memories!
