THANKS BOARD from a new guy

Hi everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Eric Johnson, and I have been checking out this site and reading the posts here for about 4 months now. I must say this is the place to be if you have a Maverick or Comet. Or if you just like to read about these classic cars. The information stored here is awesome!

Now about me. I grew up in the age of the muscle cars. When stock cars looked like stock cars. And emission controls, were not parking your ride with the tailpipes aimed at the open screen door on the house! Became a mechanic because I liked cars so much in the 60's and 70's. By 1980 I lost interest in what was now coming out of Detroit so I moved away from working on cars and stayed at the same factory job that I started working for "temporarily" in 1978. That lasted 20 years. Always wanted to get out and run my own business, but raising 2 children and having that nice suburban home was too important to risk changing jobs. After the kids were out on their own, my wife and I decided "why not"! We sold it all and bought a small "mom and pop" motel in the Green Lake area of Wisconsin. (here is a shameless plug now) If you are ever in Wisconsin and need lodging - check us out at www.acornridgemotel.com

I never lost interest in the cars from the 60's and 70's. I spent a lot of time working on the pony car days of the Mustang and Cougar. I really know the 67-68 Cougars the best, as they have been my favorite. I also have a fascination with the Maverick. I really like the fact that, although they are gaining by leaps and bounds in popularity, they are still cause for the average person to do a double take. And they almost always seem to bring a smile to peoples faces when they realize what they are looking at. That is something my Mustang friends will never have.

Well I had to sign up for the board, and will be joining the MCCI, as I now own a reasonably rust free plain Jane 1972 Maverick. Drove it 640 miles home from Kentucky a couple weeks ago. Ran and drove really well for a mostly original 32 year old car. It has a grabber hood and spoiler but it not a real grabber. It was a car from down south so it was saved the damaging salt that we see here in Wisconsin. I will be adding a 1968 J code 302 that is fully rebuilt, T5 conversion, front discs, and giving the interior a fresh look and of course nice new paint. Not really a grabber clone - more of a "grabber my way". Unlike many cars I have done, I will not be a slave to "factory correctness". You can drive yourself nuts trying to find the correct numbers and specific options in a restoration. With this car, I will try to keep it period correct - but if I like it - it is going in. I'm gonna have some fun with this baby!

:bananaman

Anyway - I don't want to get off on the wrong foot and bore you with my stories. Looking forward to a long relationship with you guys. After reading your posts for so long - I feel like I know some of you already!

Eric

 

Welcome! I like the idea of making a "Grabber my way".... after all, you will be stuck with the car

 

Dashboard Buddy

Thanks all! Love the humor! This is my 1st Maverick that I own, but in the years that I was a wrench, I worked on dozens of them. I remember a week or 2 in the late 70's, we had about 10 of them come in. All valve jobs, all 6 cylinder cars. I was mainly an engine guy so I got most of these assignments. My memories of the Maverick's, was just how clean, no frills the cars were in the early days. Simple cars for everyday people. Yet even with them being mass produced, they were all a little different. Each car that I remember had something a little different from the other. Even in the parts. It was as if the cars coming down the line one day would get whatever was sitting around the warehouse that day put into it. Also, a ton of dealer installed options were out there. And the popularity of JC Whitney and some of the other mail order places made "customising" your Maverick a must!

Why I went with a Maverick is easy. I like them, and nobody else really has one. Also, I have the 68 J code 302 with no home. To find a Cougar in half way decent shape now costs a fortune. And parts are way high for the Cougars too. The Maverick has a look that I think will only increase in popularity. What was once to anyone from my vintage, a plain old everyday car that you would see 4 or 5 of in any parking lot. Is now a real head turner. Simple, clean lines - I love that about them! On my trip back from Kentucky with it. All the way home I had stares, smiles, questions at the gas stations. And always, the people I talked to said " my Grandma had one of those", or "my neighbors daughter had one - I think it was her Grandma's". Even the one I bought was supposed to be an "85 year old lady from West Virgina's car". I don't remember, but did the Government hand out Mavericks with social security checks in the early 70's?

Anyway, I will have some decent pictures soon. I too like pictures with postings. So here is a picture of the little "dash critter" I picked up a a rummage sale today. the button is a real Nixon campaign button from 1972. Should look good sitting on my dash!

thanks again,
Eric

Oh yea - my "Paris Hilton" daughter is very married - THANK YOU!