In Motion Classic: ’73-76 Ford Maverick – In Motion, Down South

Mavericks have appeared rather often at CC, but these ones from down south less so. This particular one was caught by riveranotario in Paraguay, and I would suspect it belongs to the Brazilian-built run. Production that took place between ’73-’79, and a chapter already covered at CC. 

Not that our previous post helps me much in ID’ing the car’s exact age. For one, it has the hood of the ’77-’79 GT model years, but other details belong to ’73-’76. Though I’m not an expert in South American Mavericks.

Those minor questions aside, this is a nice surviving Maverick. Nothing surprising as the model enjoys a devoted following in South America. That despite the model’s starcrossed original run which fell below Ford’s sales expectations for the region.

Of that original run, the GT version is the one that became legendary. It sported Ford’s 302 V8 and amounted for about 20% of the model’s sales. A 3.3L 6-cyl. Willys’ engine with roots in the 1950s was offered at first on the bread and butter models but faired poorly against the competition. While a newer 2.3L inline-4 Ford would arrive later on, sales never picked up as expected.

Regardless, the Maverick V8s became a legend in the region. I would suspect this one, like a lot of other surviving “American” cars in South America, may have an engine transplant. Whatever the case, this old Maverick is a nice survivor nonetheless.

 

Related CC reading:

CC Global: Brazilian Maverick – From Deception To Passion

Curbside Classico do Brasil: Ford Maverick GT