Put the 1970 Ford Maverick subsequent to a 2022 Maverick, and it’s nigh not possible to see any through line. The original is a weird mishmash of an archaic strategy of what an financial state car must be, floating in the stylistic space between the subcompact (and much-maligned) Pinto and the sporty (but portlier) Mustang. The successor? A compact unibody pickup that shares its bones with the svelte Escape and brawny Bronco Activity. In the sheetmetal, you can find not a lot to url them. But the concepts that birthed the authentic Maverick appears to be, to us, to be equally applicable to the new 1.
Here’s the pitch: an inexpensive, functional compact motor vehicle with some aptitude, serving to exchange the Falcon in its part as the quantity leader in the Ford variety. The Falcon was in a gross sales slump for a range of causes, but predominantly its derpy sheetmetal was not moving the needle in the battle for buyer’s hearts. The Maverick wasn’t all that distinct underneath the skin, but its fresh sheetmetal gave it a trendier, a lot more up to date seem.
In simple fact, it is arguably a superior-on the lookout pony vehicle from the front than the Mustang II that arrived on the scene a few many years afterwards. But much more importantly, it was the appropriate sizing for the instant, and weighed significantly less than the bloated Falcon that preceded it. At first, the Maverick bought like gangbusters, however the actuality it was additional a cosmetic reimagining of an previous system would arrive again to bite it when the fuel crunches strike, and its getting old line of inline-sixes and a low-driven V-8 selection didn’t reduce it. In the exact same vein, as individual luxury grew to become the vogue and pony cars and trucks outmoded, even the far more formal Maverick sedan didn’t audio the appropriate be aware. But for the duration of its operate, extra than 2 million Mavericks were being sold, which isn’t shabby by any stretch.
The 2022 Ford Maverick usually takes up a number of of the similar concepts as the original Maverick but applies them to a type issue that’s extra ideal to this era. For one particular, it truly is a genuine compact pickup, some thing American buyers have not been capable to acquire in a although. While the Falcon turned bloated in terms of body weight and motivated a lighter, lither Maverick, the previously compact North American pickups had turn out to be bloated in size—the mid-measurement truck course presents major capability, but signifies a authentic compromise for purchasers with extra modest needs, space, and funds.
With regular sedan revenue in a nosedive and pickups as broadly aspirational, imagine of the Maverick’s crew cab condition as the new ordinary. The pickup mattress provides some welcome utility, positive, but it really is also the condition of the minute. A lot more to the issue, the 2022 Maverick is, for all intents and functions, a immediate substitution for the Concentration as a compact profits leader. This can make its position in the lineup roughly analogous to the 1970 Maverick’s, with the subcompact EcoSport SUV slotting into the Pinto’s spot. If the 1970 Maverick applied quasi-pony motor vehicle fashion to aid sell its basic transportation proposition, so far too the 2022 Maverick uses its truck profile to do the exact same factor. Set a difficult protect on the very little bed, and it truly is basically a sedan with a capacious trunk.
And compact pickups used to be standard transportation for consumers who necessary a variety of capabilities: an economical commuter that could also enable out with the kind of household and professional function that modest utility autos excel at. There is certainly possibly a business enterprise around you even now hanging onto its fleet of outdated Ranger compact pickups mainly because they are the ideal dimensions and suitable capacity for the position. The 2022 Maverick has an additional charm for the reason that its foundation powertrain is a gasoline-sipping gasoline-electric hybrid, the lowest priced that will be on sale in The united states barring any surprises.
The Maverick’s mix of rock-bottom pricing and shockingly superior fuel economy—in the very same package—will surely desire fleet potential buyers, so maybe this minimal pickup will supplant the outdated compact Ranger in a myriad of gentle-truck organization obligations all-around your town. And possibly it’ll also fill driveways in your community, changing growing older compact sedans that are a lot less functional and significantly less fuel-effective than this minor trucklet.
1 important big difference, even so, is that the 1970 Maverick, even with its name, failed to buck any conventions. It was a new fit draped about previous bones. The 2022 Maverick, on the other hand, turns the truck paradigm of “larger, improved, stronger” on its head, betting that “successful, low-cost, and suitable-sized” will enchantment to a course of purchasers if not turned off by the balance that mid-sizing vehicles obtain. It truly is a daring transfer. We are going to see if it pays off.