Ford Allegedly Buried Thousands of Unsold Mavericks Underground

[AzScorpion]

I never knew they had an underground complex like this which is pretty ingenious of them. Storing them like that kept them safe from the elements and from having to sell them off at reduced prices. I always thought the Maverick was a pretty decent car especially with the 302 V8 and know a few who had them back then and liked them. Good thing Farley wasn’t the CEO back then or they probably would’ve somehow lost money on them or all went into the crusher. lol

https://autos.yahoo.com/general/articles/ford-allegedly-buried-thousands-unsold-130900079.html

When Ford had a problem it couldn't sell its way out of, it buried the evidence. Literally. During the 1970s, as unsold Ford Mavericks piled up with nowhere to go, the automaker quietly moved thousands of cars deep underground beneath Kansas City, stashing them inside a sprawling former limestone mine while it figured out what to do next. It's one of the stranger chapters in American automotive history, and it says a lot about how Detroit operated when things went sideways.

SubTropolis isn't some obscure footnote. It's a massive underground complex carved out of limestone beneath Kansas City, stretching across millions of square feet of usable space. The facility maintains naturally stable temperatures year-round without the operating costs of a climate-controlled warehouse. For Ford, which was already using the underground space to store parts for nearby assembly operations, it made logistical sense to expand that relationship when the Maverick surplus became a genuine problem.

The strategy worked as a short-term buffer. Ford could redistribute cars gradually, wait for regional demand to recover, or reintroduce inventory on its own terms rather than reacting to a crisis in real time. That's not the way most people think about surplus car problems, but it's the way a large automaker with access to underground real estate thinks about it.

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[Chris M]

I never knew they had an underground complex like this which is pretty ingenious of them. Storing them like that kept them safe from the elements and from having to sell them off at reduced prices. I always thought the Maverick was a pretty decent car especially with the 302 V8 and know a few who had them back then and liked them. Good thing Farley wasn’t the CEO back then or they probably would’ve somehow lost money on them or all went into the crusher. lol

https://autos.yahoo.com/general/articles/ford-allegedly-buried-thousands-unsold-130900079.html

My first ex wife had one way back when we were dating. 4 door. I don't remember it being troublesome.

 

[Bob902]

I don't remember it being troublesome.

wife or the car?

 

[Chris M]

wife or the car?

The car.
She's an "ex" for a reason

 

[dozxab]

They were great cars, really ugly, light weight Mustangs. Much cheaper to build a fast car from a Maverick and they sure didn't look the part. I did up a 302 automatic with the basic bolt-ons, cam, headers, 4V Holley and aluminum intake. Smoked the spoiled brat bosses son's Buick Grand National at New England Dragway. He was FUMING! Side note: I had a vanity plate that said DDDDC (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap). He asked what it stood for. I looked at him, smiled and said Dave Doesn't Drive Daddy's Cars.

 

[TxOTRRanger]

My favorite Ford Maverick of All time.
Dyno Don Nicholson's 1970 Ford Maverick Pro Stock drag car.

For anyone that is new to the forum and probably wondering how someone my age would know about the Pro Stock pioneers like Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Sox & Martin, and Dyno Don Nicholson. Full credit goes to Dad and getting to watch the drag races and drag racing documentaries that he recorded on those old VHS tapes when I was a kid.

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