Part of the reason for the modest output was the extremely mild camshaft - a stick designed to deliver good low-speed torque for A to B driving. The little V-8 was factory rated at 210 hp (SAE gross) in 1970 - or about 100 hp less than the output of a healthy 302. (For some perspective, the “compact” 1970 Chevy Nova SS weighed about 3,200 lbs.) a flyweight even by early ’70s standards. It had the potential to be a screamer - especially in a car that only weighed 2,786 lbs. The same basic V-8 that had made big power in other Ford vehicles and which only required a dusting with various factory and aftermarket performance parts to rise from its slumber. It was not a Boss 302 - or even a four barrel 302 - but it was a V-8 and even better, it was a 302 V-8. But buyers in search of a muscle car in the rough checked off the option box for the 302 V-8, which, became available shortly after the Maverick’s launch. Standard under the Grabber’s dual-dome scooped hood was the base Maverick’s 105 hp 170 CID straight six, with two larger (200 and 250 CID) sixes available as step-up options. “Select Aire” AC could be ordered, but the car’s effective ventilation system made this unnecessary. This was in addition to neat Maverick features such as the “flipper type” rear vent windows, which could be opened outward to draw air into the car.
* 14 inch wheels with special trim rings.