Good. Grief. The more I look at this 1971 Ford Maverick Grabber the more I’m in disbelief that there’s no reserve on the eBay auction seen here. The seller also has it listed here as a Barn Finds Classified. As I was going through the photos, I was almost laughing out loud and not in a bad way but in a good, exciting sort of way, or maybe a crazy way as I’m sitting here by myself. This Grabber is located in Artesia, California, the current bid price is $10,488, and there is no reserve.
It just seems too good to be true but it is true. This really is the little-old-lady-from-Pasadena car – although in this case, she was from Torrence. Sorry for going overboard on this Grabber but please check out the photos and I think that most of you will agree that it basically has it all, or close to it. After having grown from a trim-level in the 1970 Mavericks to their own model the following year, the Grabber lasted until 1975.
This car looks absolutely amazing but the seller does say that it had one repaint in its original color, an “older repaint” at some point years ago and I can’t imagine it looking any better than it does. It’s a southern California car and has been since it was new. The seller recently bought it from the original owner’s son. The son inherited it from his mother who bought it in 1972 and used it for short commutes to work and back.
GA! I know, most of us expected to see an automatic shifter on the hump, not a manual transmission. All I can say is the original owner was about as cool as it gets. This one is a 3-speed and according to Hemmings, whether they were automatics or 3-speed manuals, it was optional to have a floor shifter. The seats look perfect both front and back and the underside looks rock solid. This is one amazing car.
It doesn’t stop there, this car also has the top engine for the time, Ford’s 302 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 210 horsepower and 296 ft-lb of torque. It runs and drives great according to the seller who mentions having the carb rebuilt recently as well as having some brake work completed. Are any of you as taken with this Maverick Grabber as I am? What’s the selling price going to be for this gem?
Scotty, I’m right there with you. Not too many original or near-original condition Maverick Grabbers looking this good. And it’s a 302 with a 3 speed on the floor, very old-school-cool. I like the colors. I’d spruce up the engine compartment but not much else to complain about. Someone is going to get a car which will be lots of fun to run errands, and to take to Cars and Coffee where you will get plenty of attention.
Nice car with the right options (302, 3 speed in the floor and bucket seats) in a very good looking color combo.
That combined with being a life long CA car should fetch a pretty good selling price.
Looks exactly like my Grabber purchased in Gadsden, Alabama in 1971 after returning from VN. Wish I still had that car, as a young man newly married we enjoyed that car so much. Wife and I are in our 70’s now and still talk about that Grabber.
A little work on intake and carb we added stainless dual Big Daddy exhaust that exited in front of both rear tires. What a beautiful rumble.
Nice car. I follow a few flippers on eBay that don’t never put a reserve on their auctions. They have a couple of things in common, they buy desirable cars that are in good shape, take lots of detailed pictures and write clear and concise ads. The money takes care of itself.
If this were mine, I’d ad a 4spd, Edelbrock F4B intake, finned Cal-Custom or Edelbrock valve covers and maybe a Mallory dual point distributor.
Steve R
Nice Maverick. I guess the Little Old Lady had the dual exhaust and glass packs installed?
Beautiful little deathtrap. Don’t ever drive it in the rain. #MaverickSurvivorsClub
Great Ford. Great Ford.
Wish it had more specifications, any mods, whats the rear gear ?
The door tag says it came with 2.79 gears.
Steve R
Thanks Steve
how many miles on it
Possibilities are endless with this lil’ Maverick. Or drive as is. Just beautiful.
Does anybody see anything wrong with this statement from the Ebay ad?
“I recently acquired this from the original owners son, Mr Moore. In which he had inherited from his mom in recent years. His Mom Purchased the Maverick in 1972 & was her point A to point B car.”
Are Mavericks $10,000 cars now?
Small bumper Grabbers, pre-1973, in nice condition have been for several years.
Steve R
Are Mavericks $10,000 cars now?
pesos
They seem to be worth more in your country that here. I see several Mavericks not as nice as this one for 200,000 Pesos
Yes Mitch I know.
I also see them for sale, but I don’t see anybody buying them at that price. I see the same cars for sale for months and months, which is why I questioned this one.
Mavericks have always lagged behind the Dusters in price.
It shocks me to see a high price on these entry level cars.
I recently cleaned out some files and stumbled across an old ad that I had saved. It was for a V8 Maverick Grabber and the price was $10,000. And that 20- 25 years ago. So $18k-$20k is a very fair price for this car. And I think this car is much better looking than any Duster. I had a lot of fun with mine in the mid 80’s beating a lot of cars with only a little HiPo 289.
Wow, auction ended and there’s now proof that Mavericks like this aren’t $10k cars, they are now $30k cars. Great car with a great story, I can see why it went so high. They are only original once…
Ford should have learned the lessons learned by GM and Chrysler and sold a 351 version to compete with the 340s and 350s found in the Nova and Darts/Dusters. Back then the 351W wasn’t the hot ticket but a lot of time has passed. A Maverick like this with a 351W-4V, four-speed, disc brakes would hang right in there.
Um Dave, you forgot about AMC. They had the 360 in the Hornet and could be had with a 4V carb from the factory. Gremlins and Hornets could have had 232,258 6 and the 304 V8. Only the Hornet could have had the mighty 360. Anyone could swap in a 401 and many did. No special parts. A drop in.
The Grabber package was a trim option to insinuate performance, Most were equipped with the 200 six.
I worked with a gray haired guy who bought a Maverick Grab. new. He traded a 67 Fairlane GT in on it. Worst car ever he said. He was a solid Ford Guy (then) He had the 302 and 3 spd manual. No power. The worst part of driving it was the slanted rear glass and minimal side windows. Too many blind spots. After a few years pawned it off to someone else.
He later saw it in a junk yard. Good place for it he said!
I just bought a new car otherwise I’d be interested in this one. I had a 74 with the ugly bumpers, but had the 302, C4 auto with the luxury decor option. Built in Canada. Quick little car for straightaways. Handling was not it’s strong point, but I didn’t find it to be particularly bad in the rain like the other poster did, if driven properly for conditions. It did fishtail if pushed in wet conditions. I drove an 83 Celica that was much worse in the rain. Anyway, I inherited mine and had it 13 years, for a total of 24 years in the family. I sold it for $400 in 2001. It was still running fine at 175,000 miles, but sadly I had no garage or any placey to keep it at the time and was paying for a spot at a storage facility. I had to let it go.
Beautiful Maverick! I get far more excited seeing something like this than the endless parade of Mustangs and Corvettes. You just don’t see these very often anymore….especially in this condition.
This is a rare and gorgeous car. My first car was a 71 Maverick with a worked 289. Quick enough and sounded great. Would love to own this one
My first car was a 1972 Maverick. Brown over a tan vinyl interior. Straight six automatic. I drove the hell out of that car. It met an untimely demise when I hit a parked car. No major injuries except the poor Maverick.
Wow, super nice little Maverick. It probably IS the nicest Grabber in existence!
I’ve always wanted a Maverick with four front turn signals! Looks like they added a later grille, but left turn signals in valence as well, odd, but ok.
The car doesn’t have 4 turn signals. The lights in the grille are called sport lamps and are controlled by a toggle switch mounted above the package tray.
Not a Fomoco ,especially “Maverick ” guy ,but if you don’t see the
“Cool per Dollar ” factor here ,you’re not car crazy ,and need to head directly to your nearest Camry dealer.
These Mavericks were very typical of alot of how many cars performed in wet weather. My ’72 Mustang bought new would slip and spin its tires if it even looked like it was going to rain. You earned how to drive your car in various conditions. And, besides, if I owned this beautiful Grabber I would never drive it in the rain anyway!
Beautiful! I’ve had 2 experiences with Mavericks – I took driving school in one, a ’74 2-door with the huge bumpers, and I owned a ’73 in dark green – small rear bumper, medium sized front one. I liked that ’73 – had the ‘big six’ and automatic and was pretty bulletproof.
I’m reminded of it every time I look in the rear view mirror of my Tesla Model Y, as the view is pretty much the same – both have a large but nearly horizontal rear window!
It was owned by a little old lady that only drove it on weekends. A quarter mile at a time. The only thing I would do is add factory A/C.
A Holley Sniper, 5 speed, and power brakes would make this one an outstanding cruiser while appearing totally original to the casual eye.
My friend had the Comet GT version of this Grabber. A 72 as I recall. White with black stripes and a red interior. 302 3 speed. This was back in the 80s.
The car was being sold to the junkyard for 50 dollars so we offered the guy 100 dollars as it was coming into in the junkyard parking lot so naturally he jumped at the offer. We were in the right place at the right time. The junkyard manager came out yelling at us for making the deal in his parking lot so we had the tow truck driver get it out of that yard quick! I guess the manager was ticked off we beat him to it. Those were the days you could sit across the street from the junkyard and see what interesting cars are being towed in.
The quarters and floors were rusty but the original paint still looked great. My friend just added a Holly 4 barrel carb and manifold setup plus a set of hooker headers which transformed the car into a monster. You couldn’t keep that little thing on the road. Tire smoker through all the gears. He sold it a few years later for 1000. I’ll never forget that car. Wish he kept it.
The Comet GT was a Mercury. Very important. Notwithstanding, this Grabber is way cool just the way it is. No need to modify the car.
This is a very rare car and should break the 18k mark. We’ll see.
Auction update: this Maverick sold for $30,100!
I had a 1971 Maverick which I crashed into another car in 1979. I had auto body in high school and put a beautiful grabber green with blacked out rear end on the car. Pulled the motor and replaced it with a 289 block, 302 crank and 351W heads. It now had 12 to 1 compression with hooker super comp headers and a radical high lift cam. On top was a 650 Holley Double Pumper. On the bottom a 3600 stall converter in a C4 with 3.50 gears. This was the quickest car I ever owned! No one I raced could beat this car, the only one that came close was a V8 Vega station wagon on Pershing by LAX.
I miss it so much, it was bas ass!
What a perfect shade of blue on this Grabber. And the black interior goes great with it.