Ford Maverick

Ford has used the Maverick name on four completely different automobiles in the last three decades. A Maverick car was produced for the Americas in the 1970s, and the name has appeared on three different SUVs in Australia and Europe.

1970s

The 1970s Ford Maverick was a rear wheel drive compact car that was built from 1970 to 1977 in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and later in Brazil. The original model was a 2-door sedan priced at USD$1,995.

Over the years, the model lineup was expanded, with the introduction of the 4-door sedan and with several limited edition options: Grabber (1971), Sprint (1972), LDO (Luxury Decor Option, also 1972) and Stallion (1976). Ford of Brazil launched a new Maverick model at the 1973 São Paulo Auto Show. While generally sold only as 2-door and 4-door sedans, a rare station wagon version was introduced in Brazil in 1975.

Initially the Maverick was to be replaced in 1975 by the Ford Granada (which subsequently became a sedan range in its own right), but it lasted until 1977, when it was then replaced by the Ford Fairmont.

Australia

The Ford Maverick name was later used on an SUV in Australia based on the Nissan Patrol GR and sold between 1988 and 1998.

Europe

A completely different Maverick was sold under the same name in Europe. It was a rebadged version of the Nissan Terrano II and had no Ford parts except for the badge. It was built at Nissan Motor España from 1993 to 2001.

From 2001 to 2004 the Ford Escape was sold in Europe under the Maverick name. Only two versions were made, the 2.0L Zetec engine with manual transmission and 3.0L Duratec with automatic transmission, both using petrol as fuel. The absence of a Diesel version did not help sales and production halted late 2003.

The Escape/Maverick was primarily designed for on-road use - sold with normal road tyres, and to be used with front wheel drive most of the time. A switch on the dashboard enabled four wheel drive mode with full differential lock - this precluded using 4x4 full-time on the road as it caused undue wear on the transmission and tyres.