What would you rather have?

Darren, i can't see how they look the same at all?



See totally different.

 

Ah, I don't know. I think you're right to a point, but I think for a lot of people it goes deeper than just "Sweet, got me a cheap car now let's get on that Internet and figure out how to fix it." There are a lot of cheap cars out there that make more sense to own than a Maverick or Comet.

For me it was simply, I'm passionate about cars. Obsessive, really. I love driving cars that fit in the very narrow definition of what I want, and I hate driving anything else. I have a Maverick not because I settled, but because I won't. The Maverick fits or can be made to fit almost all of the criteria for what I'm passionate about in a car, and I can have it right now instead of letting it be a dream I obsess about for the next 20 years. I want to have my cake and drive it too. I make enough money that I could buy that "real" musclecar, but not if I want to put my family in a nice house and let my wife stay at home in it to raise our son, and put them in a new, reliable and safe vehicle. If I compromised on any of that just so I could have my dream car, what kind of a bastard would I be?

So, a lot of people in my position either wait until the kids move out or their other financial responsibilities go away, pay off their house, etc. and then they get that super awesome car they've been dreaming about. I will undoubtedly do that too if I continue to work hard, work smart and God wills it. But remember I'm obsessive. I want it right now, and I want to drive it every day without worrying about scratching up my dear sweet priceless baby, so there's a Maverick in my garage. If it wasn't a Maverick it would be a Duster, Nova, Falcon, 240Z or some other piece of 2-door, pre-'73, RWD goodness that Barret Jackson overlooked.

I bet that describes a whole lot of people on here. Cost is a factor, yes, a big one. But it's not just because it was a cheap car. Far from it.

And for me specifically, I didn't just happen on it and say "oh hey, that'll do." Mavericks have been on a very short list of cars that I would jump at the chance to own ever since I saw my first one rotting in someone's yard when I was 13. I didn't know back then which old cars were valuable, but I knew which ones I liked and that one looked awesome. That was a pure reaction, unbiased and untainted, and it was the same way I felt when I saw "real" muscle, but not when I saw a Vega or a Mustang II. The shape, size, everything was perfect. When I asked and found out it was "just a Maverick" it was no less awesome.

When my chance to get one came around, I saw the pics and felt just like I did the first time I saw one. In all that time I'd learned quite a bit about cars, what they're worth and what makes them great, and by then I knew what a Maverick was, and I still wanted it just as badly. So I got rid of my perfectly good daily driver for it because I can only park two cars where I live, and for six hours I limped that sad gasping thing 200 miles home with no idea what I was getting into, knowing I had to drive it to work in the morning, and grinning the whole way.

Oh and I did join the MMB before I got it.

Me too. Lots of people at the huge weekly cruise-in here know my car, but not many know who owns it, because when I get there I just roll down a window, raise my hood, and then roam around looking at cars and talking with people. When I do walk back by my car, It's kinda cool to step back and listen to what people say about it when they think the owner isn't around. I hear honest opinions that way, and of course lots of hilarious misinformation, mistaken identity, and stories about the Boss Grabbers they had in high school.

 

That's was my point.

Well said.

 

32% grabber,67% non grabber so far, probadly close to what the ratio of actual owners are on this board, you could ask the same of a lot of cars :Chevelle loaded or an SS, mustang or mach 1, lemans or gto,etc, one you can option out but it will still be a clone, not the real thing, I ran into this when I had 2 GTOs, I had to get rid of one so got rid of one had owned for over 10 years, had pictures of my wife an I with just married on the car, but it would never be a Judge like the one I kept, I know we all get attached to the car we own,( I wouldn't trade my crown for a fully restored one) but ask if you had a choise between two more cars besides the one you own what would your choise be, I would take the Grabber

 

Yeah, but there's a big difference with the other cars you mentioned. Chevelle SS, GTO Judge and Mach 1 all have considerably higher value than their plain-jane counterparts, and those are the kind of cars you can actually make investments in. There's not a massive amount of difference in the value of a Grabber, Sprint, Stallion, Comet GT or plain Maverick if all other factors are equal, and none of them are valued high enough to make restoring one a good investment purely from a money standpoint. Even a Bearcat or Drag-N-Fly doesn't approach the value of the cars you're talking about.

By the way, I voted non-Grabber, and I have a Grabber...

 

i would have a hard time choosing between two mavs, but it would definately be a mav. i would given a third choice get the highbacks and put them in the grabber...... when the wife had her 68 cougar (a car that i loved and at the time was in better near factory condition) and said one of the two had to go so we could have another snow car, there was no hesitation to which i was keeping. LOVE MY MAV!!!!

 

I don't know, i had my Comet for many, many years before i ever heard of this website. I have loved them since 1978 and have wanted one just as long.

 

Not to mention the power and handeling packages.

 

None of the old lauded "Muscle" cars handled (sp?) well.Even the vettes of the late 60s' and early 70s' handled poorly.Alot of it had to do with tires of course.As for power...Most were 14 second cars off the showroom floor, tops.Not bad no, but...We have many cars on this forum that will spank a showroom stock "Muscle car" 6 ways from sunday and it dont take much. Value aint why were in it...Emotion is more like it.Can you put a price on your personal color choice or how much you like red over orange???

 

If the bodies are both in the same condition ... Definitely the Grabber ... otherwise I'd want the one with the least rust ...

 

I am not sure about mach 1 vs regular mustangs and all the others I mentioned but at least with the GTO I had vs the Judge I kept there was no difference in motor(366 hp ram air) or handleing packages, just 3 "The Judge"decals, a glove box emblem, a spoiler, and 2 stripes, functioning ram air doors in the scoops,or about the same difference in an optioned out Maverick vs Grabber. When I bought the Judge in 1978 I paid 750.00 for it , the GTO was bought in 1975 for 650.00, there was not a big difference back then for a Judge option but time has changed that, I think as the Mustangs and other muscle cars get higher and rarer ( almost to rare to drive and enjoy like the Judge) cars like the Mav and comet will become more in demand then I think the grabber and gt options will rise as the Judge option has.Let me say that I would still love to have many of the non grabbers I have seen!!!!

 

Ill find an example of handeling packages... i need to watch my american muscle car videos again.

 

back in the 80s you could get an lx mustang with the police handling package and 5.0 was supposed to be same as gt, I bought a new 85 gt that listed police on something( can't remember if it was window sticker or what) as standard for the gt .

 

I'd take the real Grabber, but I happen to have a fondness for bench seats not many people share (going to be measuring up to see if i can fit a sweet split bench out of a Toyota truck into my Mav)