The Original Maverick was a "Hand-me-down"

 I hated the original Maverick... but was wrong to do so.  

Growing up in the 80's, the Maverick was a hand-me-down car.  It was as fashionable as a pair of hand-me-down Toughskin bell-bottoms from your older brother.  Cool cars of that era included coupes from the 60's, 80's Japanese imports, Firebirds, or two-door Cutlass Supremes.  Mavericks were the tragically unhip, back of the lot specials, and the kids that drove them would hide out until everyone else left school.  

The Ford Maverick replaced the Falcon in 1970.  It had the Falcon's hand-me-down platform, which dated back to 1960.  Engine choices were also handed down from the Falcon, including the 170/200/250 Thriftpower 6 and the 302 Windsor V8.  But the Maverick sold well and compared favorably to its contemporaries in the compact/import category.  It also wasn't a bad looking car either.  Early examples of the coupe had clean lines with classic long hood/short deck proportions.  I think the car even looks a little bit like a Ferrari 250 Lusso, which may have been intentional on Henry Ford IIs part, since he looked for every opportunity to stick it to il Commendatore. 

Viewed without malice or my 80's teenage New Wave and synth pop/post-modern cynicism, I've realized the original Maverick was a good car for its time.  A cheap, practical appliance that met the 1973 Oil Crisis, and ever changing pollution and safety regulations.  This year Ford is launching a new Maverick, and while the new one is a truck that offers a hybrid drivetrain, it is also a car for it's time.      

Regardless of what form vehicles take in the future, whether they are cars, trucks, or crossovers powered by hydrocarbons, hydrogen, electricity, or nuclear fusion, we will still need cheap cars.  Vehicles that are reliable, practical appliances, ones that eventually become hand-me-downs, even tragically unhip ones, sitting in the back of high school parking lots.