From 1970 to 1977, the Ford Maverick was mostly just another econobox. When it was released in April 1969, Ford advertised that you could buy one for just $1,995. But special editions would be offered from time to time to attract more attention, including the 1972 Sprint. Painted in white, it had ample blue graphics in honor of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team (the games were not held in the U.S., BTW). With just 33,000 miles, this nice example spent more than 40 years in hibernation because its owner felt it was something worth preserving. Located in Henrieville, Utah, this Maverick has emerged into the sunlight and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $26,000. Thanks, T.J., for bringing this interesting car to light!
Because the Sprint package was an option and not a model, exact production numbers of the Sprint aren’t known. But estimates place the output at north of 15,000 units for the single year. The Sprint offered a largely white and blue interior with red pinstriping, and the same blue was repeated in decals on the outside, most noticeably on the hood. Apparently, if you liked the theme, you could order a Pinto or a Mustang in the same fashion. The standard 200 cubic inch inline-6 or 302 V8 were your powerplant choices (the same as in any Maverick).
It’s fairly safe to say that no one bought a new 1972 Ford Maverick with plans to keep it for 50 or 60 years. But the original owner (or someone else) did, as it was used sparingly for its first 11 years and was then put into mothballs for the next four decades or more. The result is this unrestored survivor that’s not quite in show condition but comes close (a few little scratches and dings as you might expect).
This one sports its factory 302 V8 with a floor-shifted 3-speed manual transmission, and we’re told it runs well. The paint, graphics, and interior are from the day it was built. A Marti Report was purchased and will come with the sale of the car to verify it’s a real deal (but would someone clone a ’72 Sprint?). We wonder what measures were taken to preserve it and what was needed to get it going again. BTW, the U.S. Olympics team collected 94 gold, silver, and bronze medals in the Summer Games.
The early Mavericks definitely get the nod with the Barnfinds crowd for having the nicer bumpers. The 302 and 3 speed sounds like a fun around town cruiser. As I always say about 3 speed manuals, we only NEED 3 speeds….. Slow, Medium and Fast. Very nicely preserved. At first I thought the 26 Grand sounded awful steep. And still does. But truth be told, how many nice original Mavericks are left out there?
Exactly what the seller is thinkin Driveinstile.
Nifty Maverick. The pre-big-bumper Mavericks with their sporty styling were quite attractive. The Sprint added an eye-catching package. 302 3-speed would be plenty fine for a cruiser. A Marti would help nail down the production data.
I was at a show many years ago and met a gentleman who was working on the Sprint trifecta. If I recall, he had a Mustang in good shape and a Pinto in fair shape. He would have been glad to have this Maverick.
3 by the knee 🦵 boys 👍😎
Bob in Tennessee loves him some Fords. Just dawned on me..has the man ever even had a spelling mistake or slip up in his comments? They’re always so tidy. 🍻
Thank you for the kind words Stan. “Tidy,” I like that. But being accurate (and I take pride in being accurate), I have certainly made spelling mistakes and have made errors in comments.
Bob: How many trifecta owners could there be in this world? I live in a small town outside Raleigh NC and am an AACA member. One of our guys has (I believe) all three Sprints. He has shown them occasionally here local. I was just back from the war, and couldn’t afford a new one of these, so I bought a ’67 Mustang F/B beater and had the Earl of Scheib paint it white, and I did the blue and red pin stripes. Sold it to an old High School buddy who later wrecked it. Oh, well…….
I agree about Bob; he’s as tidy (and nice) as it gets.
I thought the Sprint looked familiar; we saw a Pinto version back in 2019.
https://barnfinds.com/sprint-decor-option-1972-ford-pinto-runabout/
I thought these had the Olympic logo on them, but I don’t see one.
Probably the nicest Maverick I’ve seen on BF. Never drove one with the 3 on the floor. In the day my old girlfriend had a sister Comet with the 302 and it was a quick little car.
Yes they had a Olympic Logo over an US flag on both rear quarters if I recall. First thing I noticed otherwise it looks great!
You are right Don. The Olympic “Shield” was attached on the rear quarters above the side marker light. A high school friend had one of these. Cool car. Had the inline six and automatic. At speed, she could floor the accelerator and you could hear the downshift but couldn’t feel any real acceleration. God help ya if she had the A/C on because whoever was riding in the back seat had to get out and push🤣‼️ Was still a cool car! Lots of memories (most of which were great).
It had a Red, White and Blue shield on each rear quarter, near the bumper. I have no idea why the shield is missing on this one, though.
Having the 3-speed with the V-8 makes a transmission upgrade very easy. A top-loader bolts right in. This in a no-rust, original car is very rare, indeed.
This car weighs a little over 2700 lbs. Adding HP to that 302 is all bolt-ons. It would need a gear, though.
I shouldn’t have these thoughts at my age!
Don’t feel bad, I’m having the same thoughts, LOL! A Tremec five-speed, while not available from the factory at the time, is also a bolt-in proposition, as it was used on the Fox Body Mustangs with the 302/5.0L V8.
The Fox body Mustangs use a cable clutch system where the “older” Mustangs (and I’m goimg to assume the Maverick does also) used a counter shaft clutch system. The aftermarket offers a kit to install the T5 in the older Mustang style cars. So you are correct that installing a T5 is an easy process. I suspect a drives haft or at least an ujoint/yoke change also. As a bare minimum I would install a throttle body injection system.But a factory 5.0 SFI would be great.
Well, they definitely held on to it, until the price of Mavericks started heading to Mustang territory. In my wildest imagination, I could never fathom a Maverick of any iteration, with an ask of $26K.
My first LEGAL car was a 1970 Maverick with the inline six………..to this day it was the best car I ever owned. Gas mileage was great. in the 70’s $5 would fill it up and get me a pack of cigarettes. Go from St. Louis to Chicago on old Rt 66 and use 3/4’s of a tank………..I loved it!
Nice, attractive package! If you want a Maverick, this may be the one. I loved the slow, medium and fast comment by Driveinstile. Not sure it will bring 26 large but who knows. I thank the seller for keeping it like this, good luck!
$26k!… Wow… I guess given enough time… I was in high school in the mid ’70s and there were many of these in the school parking lot. Mostly rusty beaters, bought for a few hundred bucks, or hand me downs from the parents… these things deteriorated pretty quickly in the Northeast… in my memory they all had the straight 6 and three-on-the-tree… and held together with bailing wire and duct tape. That’s my “stake in the ground” when it comes to Mavericks, so that ask is just wild to me.
I’m with you, except the one I drove had an automatic transmission and an AM radio, but yes, was a bottom feeder with a straight six and manual drum brakes. These were as common as dirt in the late seventies and early eighties, and yes, most were beaters, covered in grey or red oxide primer, with more holes in them than an entire wheel of Swiss cheese, LOL!
Living in NJ untill 1996 My Dad and my Aunt had 2 of these cars with 6cyl engines one with a auto and one with a 3 on the three in the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s and the were rusted out then. My Dads was a 1972 and my Aunts was a mid 1970s. Everything car made cheap in the 1970’s rusted out and barely made it to the 1980’S in New Jersey.
As close as I’m gonna get is the 72 Olympic Stang 1:18 model in my collection. But, then, it only cost me about $100. 😂
I had a 72 Mustang Sportsroof in the Olympic white/blue red pin-stripe theme with the matching interior. 302 2bbl Selectshift. A/C car. Bought in 1974 and drove maintenance free till it was stolen 11/11/80. Broke my heart. These cars are hen’s teeth!
At the Ford Nationals in Carlisle back in June the had an Olympic Maverick, Pinto and a Mustang coupe and convertible lined up. Very cool. This might have been the same one. They were all perfect.
Whoa!!! $26K for a Maverick with fancy paint & decals! Will pass…. BTW! The Ford Mustang also had an Olympic option similiar to the Maverick.
Ditto the Pinto as well! All three (3) Fords could had with this color combination in ’72, but the Mustang and Pinto came with bucket seats. Only the Maverick had to make do with a bench seat, IIRC.
A Maverick is not worth owning, except if you want a “garage queen” such as this. At least THIS one has the V-8, and not that terrible six which was endemic in Mavericks and Comets! You COULD NOT get the timing right on one of those!!! It either idled roughly, had a tendency to stall, and had no pep at all (as factory-set), or you could advance the timing until the idle was smooth, and she had lots of pep, but pinged like crazy the moment you leaned into the accelerator, even with high test gasoline. Worse yet, these rusted through very quickly above and behind the headlights, and behind the rear wheels into the trunk. Total piece of garbage as a CAR. And you could not GIVE me a floor shift, unless it were a 1938 or earlier vehicle! As soon as you get into bucket seats and centre consoles, I’M OUT!!!
Those engines of the Malaise Era also included the “lovely” run-on feature after you shut the key off, LOL! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The Ford Maverick was quite possibly the worst car Ford ever made! V8 and paint notwithstanding on this example, the Falcon platform was clearly showing its age by this time, and much like a slice of twice warmed up pizza, it wasn’t a very tasty dish, LOL!
Ha, I love it: “unless it were a 1938 or earlier vehicle”! I daresay most people on this site have never driven a vehicle that old, unfortunately – they don’t know what they’re missing.
Girls back in one hour, or Milt will come for you
Slight error. The 170 was gone by ’72, the 200 six was the base engine, the 250 six and 302 V8 were the optional engine choices. My Mom’s ’72 had a 250 six from the factory, which we later replaced with a 200 six from a 1970 example.
And the Maverick is the same underneath as the Mustang. Only the topside of the car is different. So any improvements to do to a Mustang, you can do to a Maverick. 5 speed, dual exhaust, suspension mods. brake upgrades, etc., etc. etc. AND virtually any wheel/tire upgrade (within reason) will fit in the fender wells! I love this body style. Got hooked when Mom rented a V8 Comet for the week and then Sis bought a 2 door lime green car that was beautiful until the day it got “T”-boned by a drunk driver. The body style (without the park benches) is just beautiful. And being a Mustang underneath is a huge plus.
Never knew these were produced, neat colour combo
They were part of a trio, you could also get a Mustang or a Pinto in the same color scheme. I’m not sure if you could get optional bucket seats for the Maverick version, though. That would come later, with the Luxury Decor Option (LDO), in ’74, I think.
I love it. I really do. Honestly I love the small bumper ones. Even the 4dr. Nice car but 26k seems a bit pricey.
For years I’ve wanted an early Maverick, well any Maverick at this point. I’ve had a ton of thoughts as to what modifications, paint and wheels, interior and so forth. I remember the Bi Centennial quite well.
At almost 65, I’d still like to have one parked next to my 04 Anniversary GT Convertible right now, funds permitting.
When I see this one, no mods, and not much beyond tunes, I’d leave this one bone stock. And just enjoy it for exactly what it is.
Very nice. Best wishes with the sale to both seller, and new caretaker.