Bar room critics like to say ‘FORD’ stands for ‘found-on-road-dead’. Looking at this 1974 Ford Maverick, you might think it’s halfway there already. This particular Maverick, however, is proving hard to kill; it has not only delivered thousands of miles of service for its Iowa owner, Luke Finley, but also starred as an unlikely test mule for an automotive experiment, and a new business venture.
Ford’s Maverick was introduced as a compact economy car in the US to counter the foreign small car invasion taking place in the lates Sixties. Launched in 1970, its slinky, two-door coupe style won plenty of fans.
Ford moved more than half a million cars in the first financial year. As a replacement for the Falcon, it initially offered a choice of six-cylinder engines, with the Grabber model being the ‘sporty’ offering, including the five-litre 302 Windsor V8 as the top option. The engine would be offered across the range that also included a four-door sedan, the model that Luke purchased. The Maverick would stay in production until
