The Maverick

Tonight Jason said goodbye to an old friend. One he's had since high school. One that included fond memories and hours spent in the garage. Tonight Jason said goodbye to his 1974 Ford Maverick. :-(

Here are the after and before pictures of the Maverick. You can see some of the exterior changes Jason made to the hood, bumpers, and grill. And check out those sweet wheels!

After

Before

Jason purchased the car right after his senior year of high school. He dreamed about restoring the car and I have no doubt he can picture in his mind the final product that he hoped to achieve. He spent hundreds of hours working on the car during high school and throughout college. I remember fondly when he brought the car up from home and took me for a joy ride.

Here's a picture of the Maverick alongside some of his father's cars. He also took it to a few other car shows in Colorado Springs. On the right you can see the Mustang taillights that Jason and his father installed on the car. He had to cut the sheet metal to retrofit the lights in the car. A unique addition that I bet no other Maverick can boast!

Alas, Jason made the decision to sell the car. I encouraged him to think long and hard if that was really what he wanted to do. I know he loves that car. He felt that since the car had been in Houston (almost three years) that he had done little to no work on it. I reminded him that he's been in school practically that entire time and perhaps when he finished he'd be able to work on it more. He weighed this and more and in the end decided that he wasn't sure he wanted to put the time and money into restoring the car the way he'd dreamed.

Jason put the car on Craig's List and at the Marketplace of our offices and finally decided to put it on Ebay a week ago. Fortunately Fred the winner of the auction is a Maverick junkie. He just finished restoring one and promised Jason the car was in goods hands. He also ensured Jason he would send pictures of his progress.

The two of them spoke on the phone to make payment and transport arrangements as well as car specifics after the auction ended this past weekend. I swear they were speaking another language as I listened quietly. Even after 7.5 years my husband still surprises me and I loved seeing Jason speak this other language with someone else fluent in car.

Tonight the transport came to ship the car to Georgia. As Jason started the car and unhooked the battery charger, Maverick decided he wasn't quite ready to go. And stalled. We (me, Jason, and Ibo  - the shipping driver) spent the next hour trying to jump the car before Jason sent me to the store to purchase a new battery. We were able to get it installed and get the car running. Ibo asked Jason if he wanted to take it for one last spin around the block and he excitedly obliged.

Goodbye Maverick! We will miss you!