Word: mavericks
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...door, four-passenger car is designed to beat back the invasion of imports. The Maverick is much lower and wider than the Volkswagen, which Ford executives call "the target car." It is also a bit thirstier-Ford claims about 22 miles per gallon v. the VW's 25 m.p.g. -and nearly two feet longer, measuring 179 in. from its broad nose to its short tail. But the Maverick is also several inches shorter than such "compacts" as Ford's Falcon, which has grown to 184 in. in length and $2,283 in price. Partly because more and more...
Freudian Gilt. The company has tooled up to produce as many as 400,000 Mavericks a year, and lacocca has suggested that he would be happy if sales in the first twelve months reached about 300,000. That would make the Maverick a $600 million-a-year proposition. The car will go on sale April 17, five years to the day after lacocca introduced the Mustang, which has been Ford's most successful product since the Model T. The small-car field will soon be crowded. American Motors' new entry, the Hornet, will come out this fall...
...lacocca determined to build a new car, code-named Delta. It was to be inexpensive enough to appeal to three-car families and retired people, yet sufficiently stylish to attract young people on their first or second cars. Ford is attempting to attract young buyers by offering the Maverick in colors that were created at a group brainstorming session, presumably held in a cornfield. The colors include Freudian Gilt, Original Cinnamon, Thanks Vermilion and Hulla-Blue. The standard gag among the executives is that the company will entertain any name except "Statutory Grape...
...planning, the primary goal was to build a car that would list for less than $2,000. To do that-and still allow dealers a reasonable 17% profit (v. the usual 21% to 25% markup)-Ford had to pare the tooling costs. So it built an eclectic car. Maverick owes its front suspension to the Mustang; the steering gear comes straight from the Fairlane; the standard 105-h.p. six-cylinder engine and the rear axle were borrowed from the Falcon. Even so, Maverick's development costs added up to a hefty $71 million. By contrast, the initial bill...
Plenty of hard compromises had to be made on the Maverick. Anything that added to style, size or performance raised the list price. In the fervid debates among Ford's engineers, stylists and cost accountants, lacocca was the final arbiter. The accountants wanted plain gray upholstery; lacocca ordered bright plaids, though the decision increased the price of each car by several dollars. He ordered the body made wide enough so that six passengers could squeeze in in a pinch. "I could have taken a slice down the middle of that car, maybe three inches, still gotten four people...