Ford Maverick then vs now — same name, totally different vibe 😂

[MABETT]

This meme got me thinking about how differently Ford has used the Maverick name over time.

The original Ford Maverick was introduced as a small, affordable compact car built around simplicity, practicality, and attracting younger buyers who wanted something a little different from the bigger Ford lineup at the time.

Fast forward to today, and the modern Ford Maverick came back in a completely different form — now as a compact pickup focused on fuel efficiency, everyday usability, practicality, and giving people a more approachable truck option again.

At first glance, the two honestly feel completely unrelated

One was a simple compact car from the ‘70s.
The other became one of the most practical small trucks on the road today.

But at the same time… both versions kind of follow the same idea:
affordable, practical, easy to live with, and aimed at people who wanted something a little different from Ford’s “traditional” lineup.

That’s what makes this comparison interesting to me

Do you think today’s Maverick actually kept any of the original Maverick spirit?

Or is it basically just the same name reused on a completely different vehicle?

And which version of the Maverick do you personally connect with more?

Honestly feels like the Maverick community could have some pretty fun conversations around this stuff

Especially with how many people seem to like mixing modern Maverick practicality with a little old-school Ford personality lately

Would be cool to see more retro-inspired builds/setups ideas pop up in the group too.

Join our community to stay updated with the latest product releases, exclusive promotion discounts and abundant opportunities for free product trials.

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[CarbonGrayFX4]

Definition of maverick: : an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

The current Maverick is in a class of its own now that the Santa Cruz is gone, so I think the name fits.

Not sure about the previous Maverick, that was before my time.

 

[Backin15]

My wifes first car was a very badly rusted out Maverick, after it fell apart we bought a Comet which was Mercury's version. They were very basic and cheap transportation, I think we paid $250 for the Comet. The straight six engine was unbreakable.
Comparing the two, no I dont think there are many similarities. The original was bare bones cheap as possible and our truck is nicely equipped. The original had 2 doors and a small trunk and ours seats 4 comfortably and has a much larger cargo area. The original was very easy to work on, ours not so much. We traded the Comet in for our first new vehicle, a Ranger. That was a good day!
I have fond memories of the original, but really no comparison to the truck which is so much nicer and practical.

 

[Blue_Max]

This meme got me thinking about how differently Ford has used the Maverick name over time.

The original Ford Maverick was introduced as a small, affordable compact car built around simplicity, practicality, and attracting younger buyers who wanted something a little different from the bigger Ford lineup at the time.

Fast forward to today, and the modern Ford Maverick came back in a completely different form — now as a compact pickup focused on fuel efficiency, everyday usability, practicality, and giving people a more approachable truck option again.

At first glance, the two honestly feel completely unrelated

Did you even read what you wrote? You describe the car as "small" and the truck as "compact." You say the car was "affordable" and "built around simplicity, practicality and attracting younger buyers," and then say the truck is "focused on fuel efficiency, everyday usability, practicality, and giving people a more approachable truck option again." These are all the same qualities--completely related.

 

[808Goose!]

Actually, the original 1970 Maverick was created to compete against the VW Beetle. $1995 was the introductory price and I remember the newspaper and tv ads. My Dad bought a two year old one and it was the car I learned to drive on and first got my license. Automatic trans, but no power steering or brakes.

 

[MABETT]

Did you even read what you wrote? You describe the car as "small" and the truck as "compact." You say the car was "affordable" and "built around simplicity, practicality and attracting younger buyers," and then say the truck is "focused on fuel efficiency, everyday usability, practicality, and giving people a more approachable truck option again." These are all the same qualities--completely related.

Yeas You are right.Totally different vehicles on the surface, but a lot of the core philosophy actually overlaps way more than people expect.

 

[mPwalters]

Don't have a photo, but my mother owned a Maverick in the '70's. Blue on bottom, white on top. Legend says she wrecked it.

 

[JJMM]

This meme got me thinking about how differently Ford has used the Maverick name over time.

The original Ford Maverick was introduced as a small, affordable compact car built around simplicity, practicality, and attracting younger buyers who wanted something a little different from the bigger Ford lineup at the time.

Fast forward to today, and the modern Ford Maverick came back in a completely different form — now as a compact pickup focused on fuel efficiency, everyday usability, practicality, and giving people a more approachable truck option again.

At first glance, the two honestly feel completely unrelated

One was a simple compact car from the ‘70s.
The other became one of the most practical small trucks on the road today.

But at the same time… both versions kind of follow the same idea:
affordable, practical, easy to live with, and aimed at people who wanted something a little different from Ford’s “traditional” lineup.

That’s what makes this comparison interesting to me

Do you think today’s Maverick actually kept any of the original Maverick spirit?

Or is it basically just the same name reused on a completely different vehicle?

And which version of the Maverick do you personally connect with more?

Honestly feels like the Maverick community could have some pretty fun conversations around this stuff

Especially with how many people seem to like mixing modern Maverick practicality with a little old-school Ford personality lately

Would be cool to see more retro-inspired builds/setups ideas pop up in the group too.

Join our community to stay updated with the latest product releases, exclusive promotion discounts and abundant opportunities for free product trials.

In the middle to late '60s, I bought a succession of old, non-running cars, repaired them and sold them ('54 Ford, '56 Pontiac, '58 Buick, '62 Corvair) and worked a number of jobs to save money. By 1970, at 18 years of age, I was able to buy a brand-new Maverick from my uncle, Jack Mongiello, who was the sales manager at Town Ford in Redwood City, CA. Beautiful car, fun to drive, great mileage and, with big meats all around, it handled and ran the freeway with ease. Loved that car. 56 years later, I'm feeling exactly the same way about my '25 Maverick Lariat hybrid. At this point, I could have bought any truck I wanted but the symmetry between the two Mavericks was, for me, just too compelling. The new Maverick is doing everything I hoped it would and it's just a fun to drive as the '70 was. Wish I had kept that ride and thrilled I have this one! BTW, I found the '70 photo online. It's exactly what mine looked like. The '25 is mine.

 

[Blue_Max]

I

I love that color! Was that a factory color for 1970?

 

[JJMM]

I love that color! Was that a factory color for 1970?

Yes it was. I believe they called it Forest Green. Beautiful!

 

[Monark]

Ironically, in 1973 in my Driver's Ed class in Evanston, IL we used Mavericks! I remember first driving around cones in the parking lot and then out on the road. I can't say I loved it back then but I love mine now!

 

[Cherokee]

The Mav should have been named Ranchero.
I think that’s cooler.

The thing that really sticks in my craw is putting the proud Mustang name on that EV car. It should have been named, ‘Pinto’

 

[Backin15]

I love that color! Was that a factory color for 1970?

Our Comet was that color, unfortunately it came with a pea green interior.

 

[More w/Les]

Ford Maverick then vs now — same name, totally different vibe
Probably one of the very few folks on this forum who actually purchased a new 1970 Maverick, and a new 2022 Maverick, for my personal use.

You need to take into account the deference between context of the times when both vehicles were offered for sale. A lot of advances in technology have occurred, both in the materials and the manufacturing, between the release dates of said vehicles. Not only have the market desires for the type of vehicle changed, so have the government mandated regulations.

IMO, engines, handling, and maintenance issues for both were/are pretty much standard for the context of their respective time frames.

If I am a representative of what folks wanted then and now, and what was/is actually offered, IMHO they sorely missed the mark. What I wanted then, and now, is a smaller, well made, simple to operate and maintain vehicle.

The original Maverick was Ford’s sporty idea of what would compete with the looming foreign car invasion.

They created it by raiding the parts bins for design ideas, and selling it strictly on price. The vehicle worked fine, but was poorly implemented, and didn’t physically offer what I was really looking for. Instead Ford provided what they thought customers needed, not what they wanted.

The current Maverick is just the opposite, a lot closer to the physical reality of what folks want, but due to massive outside interference from all of the governmental regulatory requirements, it fails, as most other new vehicles, to meet the simple to operate and maintain, ‘wants’. Again, meeting the needs, but due to the complexities of our modern market requirements, failing to meet the customers wants.

Do really like my Maverick, but detest much of the forced electronic controls intruding into the actual physical operation of the vehicle. Makes me wonder if the folks designing and programming these e-tronic driving assistance marvels actually know how to operate the vehicles they design, and do so in the real world environment of todays highway transportation system.

It appears to me they seem to treat the operation of a vehicle like a video game. Where personal injury, property damage, and fatalities are only used to calculate your score, then if you loose, you can clear the scoreboard and start a new session. Without actual real world operational experience, they fail to understand the massive difference between sitting in a gaming chair, at a stationary desk, in a room, and operating a moving vehicle on streets with other moving vehicles.

~ From ‘Foreign Input’, an article by Steve Tarani
“The body cannot go where the mind has not been. Whatever your thought may be, relevant or irrelevant to the situation at hand, introduces distraction and is foreign input….…”

Driving is a privilege, granted to individuals who can demonstrate they have the skill necessary to operate a vehicle on public roads. It is not a right guaranteed by any document, entity or organization.

The original 1970 Maverick had fewer controls needed to operate the vehicle, and were more intuitive and easier to use while the vehicle was in motion.

Conversely, the 2022 Maverick, due to the governmental requirements, and the technology necessary to meet them, requires more elaborate operational involvement by the driver.

Unfortunately most of the additional driver involvement has been poorly implemented, necessitating more visual operational time be spent using a touch screen to find the correct menu and button spot location on the screen. In other instances physical button/knobs are placed in locations, necessitating the driver glance away from the operational line of site to use. The majority of this while the vehicle is in motion!

From my experience with both vehicles, like much of what the new technology provides, just wish it was not so physically intrusive. Many of the new features don’t offer a sensible way to select and lock your choice, instead requiring the operator to opt in, or out, each time the vehicle is started. May be fine for vehicles used by multiple drivers on a daily basis, but a time consuming, potentially error prone process for a single driver vehicle. And age only compounds the problem, don’t ask me how I know.

One can only hope that the recent ruling eliminating the required ‘auto start’ function, may be an indication that common sense thinking could be making a comeback.

If not, I will need to continue to use my pre-drive check list before each start. Just like using my daily medication list.

. . . . . ohpdl (old herr professor doktor lesmeister)

 

[Suzukiridr14]

This meme got me thinking about how differently Ford has used the Maverick name over time.

The original Ford Maverick was introduced as a small, affordable compact car built around simplicity, practicality, and attracting younger buyers who wanted something a little different from the bigger Ford lineup at the time.

Fast forward to today, and the modern Ford Maverick came back in a completely different form — now as a compact pickup focused on fuel efficiency, everyday usability, practicality, and giving people a more approachable truck option again.

At first glance, the two honestly feel completely unrelated

One was a simple compact car from the ‘70s.
The other became one of the most practical small trucks on the road today.

But at the same time… both versions kind of follow the same idea:
affordable, practical, easy to live with, and aimed at people who wanted something a little different from Ford’s “traditional” lineup.

That’s what makes this comparison interesting to me

Do you think today’s Maverick actually kept any of the original Maverick spirit?

Or is it basically just the same name reused on a completely different vehicle?

And which version of the Maverick do you personally connect with more?

Honestly feels like the Maverick community could have some pretty fun conversations around this stuff

Especially with how many people seem to like mixing modern Maverick practicality with a little old-school Ford personality lately

Would be cool to see more retro-inspired builds/setups ideas pop up in the group too.

Join our community to stay updated with the latest product releases, exclusive promotion discounts and abundant opportunities for free product trials.

Here's my story about Mavericks! I met my wife in 1972, and she had a 1971, Plain Jane Maverick, three on the tree, power nothing, but had a radio, and a heater. I had a Pontiac Grand Prix with a 400cu. engine. Then came the gas shortage, and I had to drive 40 miles each way to work, she found a job near by. Long story short, she said if you wanted to trade cars, you have to marry me. Like the Maverick Truck, I know a good deal when I see one. We got married in 1975, the old mav is gone, but I have a 1956 stick shift Thunderbird to replace it! And still have my original wife.

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