Non-political things that make you say...WTF?!?! (Welcome To Florida!) **NOT CV RELATED** NO TALKY!

I mean I get it. I live in California, besides the terrible roads, those home depot speed bumps can be HUGE!! As for rock crawling with this ford ridgeline... Well you're the only one who is actually considering it. Me personally, while I won't be buying one, I'm just glad they're trying. Maybe we'll eventually see something the size of an 70's or 80's compact with a modern drivetrain.

 

Chevy can bring back the LUV.

 

I'd be happy with something the size of an S10, but the size of a Luv... Now THAT'S compact. Ford had their own minitruck, my grandfather had a Ford Courier. Had a hood that opened forward... With ford bringing back classics lately, I'm surprised they're calling this the maverick and not a ranchero.

 

Hyundai Santa Cruz?

 

Yep, they were small. I've owned 3. One was stock, one I turned into a hard top convertible with a 305, one was a step side with a tilt front clip, vertical doors, and a 350 PI that I yanked from a caprice.
Small trucks, but lots of fun with a V8 (unless you are the guy that purchased it while I was deployed and nearly shyt your pants when you gunned it and flipped a 180 on dry pavement).

 

I've seen a few of those and they aren't all that great looking. I think the maverick looks a little better.

 

Did you grow up in California? I went to highschool with a guy who dropped a small block in a luv. The thing was wild. There's just something about small nimble vehicles. I was reminiscing in another thread the other day about my Honda Elite 250 and how I miss it.

 

Nope, I never had the displeasure of CA other than random trips.

 

And that's a badge you should keep throughout your entire life!! It's not terrible in the rural areas, and the weather is nice, and that's about all the good things I can find about it.

 

True, but our composite beds are useful. The cladding on the Maverick is Fugly.

But I will give Ford credit for trying the segment out.




The Santa Cruz looks better than I thought, in a sort of whimsical we'reheadingtowardsHalo sort of design dynamic

 

That plastic IS useful. Just think about the rust belt. Can't have any rust if you don't have any metal!!

 

Plenty of rust when road salt gets trapped under the cladding against the metal....

 

Well then obviously the problem is they added too much metal! Maybe the 2nd gen will have less.

 

Rust is pretty big but it also doesnt dent like a steel bed. If its lighter it might help with mpg a tad when compared to a steel bed.

 

Not exactly. I've got a gen 1.5 2013 Volt that gets about 40 miles of range. The first ones were about 35. It was never meant to be a range monster, it was meant to prove that they could make a semi affordable plug-in hybrid that was more useful than a parallel hybrid (looking at you Prius) that still relied on the engine when load called for it. Series hybrid was infinitely more beneficial for 90% of the commutes out there that were 20 miles or less, or for folks that could charge at each end of their trip. I've used exactly 16 gallons of fuel in all of 2021, and it's been driven approx 15k miles.

For an EV flex GM created the EV1. With the lead acid battery it was rated at 55 miles (adjusted to 2019 EPA cycle). The NiMH battery was good for 105 miles. For those that don't know this was back in the late 90s. The pilot was suddenly & inexplicably canceled... Fossil fuel lobbyists?

Elon was responsible for sticking his neck out first. Established mfg's had too much red tape, back room agreements & shareholders to appease to take such a risk on something their line hadn't even broached. They knew what was possible but didn't think it would sell. Elon's company could come out of the gate with that product without having to worry about any of the decades of baggage.

 

100% lobbyists killed the EV1. Watched a special about that a few years ago, the official reason was that the car wasn't selling, but people lined up at the dealerships to try and buy them and stop the car haulers from taking them away when the Feds decided there would be no more EV1s.


And the Prius is useful. 55mpg regular on my best friends ride, and she's not a car person. Just goes A to B and wants to get there safe and reliably.

 

Useful for many people no doubt. I work 1.5 miles from home, but Chevy was never really committed to it. The story that I heard was the Volt was created because regulations that required automotive manufacturers to have a certain number of vehicles that got a minimum mpg. When those regulations were rescinded, several manufacturers canceled their projects to meet them. The explanation being manufacturers should be able to decide for themselves what they want to make. Whether it was lobbyists, politics, etc. The end result was the same, they only made the volt to meet those regs, and then said screw everyone once they were gone.

 

The Volt was made from 2011 until 2019, the Bolt made its debut in 2016 and once production was stable the Volt was sunsetted. Perhaps you're referring to the late 90s EV1 pilot car? To bring this back to the WTF: why shouldn't the market dictate (via sales) what mpg they prefer in their new vehicles? I know this forum beats its collective chest with "it's a truck, mpg doesn't matter".... But all opinions have their price...when will some of you start to wince at the pump? Ford's Maverick may very well be enough truck for enough people with enough gas savings to do pretty well. A very small number of buyers need full lockers, a fully boxed frame, clearance for 73" tires & enough room to haul a football team PLUS their gear. Room for their mountain bike, some firewood, landscape supplies each spring etc....and 40mpg the rest of the time? Not bad.

 

^This.

The vast majority of trucks in my area (mine included) are usually loaded down with a full bed of atmosphere and not much else.

Actually, let me qualify that statement by saying that it's the smaller trucks up to and including F150/Tundra/Ram 1500 size trucks that are usually empty. The 3/4 ton and up trucks are usually loaded and/or pulling a loaded trailer.

A Maverick would probably be plenty of truck for a LOT of truck buyers who don't need to offroad or tow regularly.

I still see a ton of old single cab Toyotas and Rangers around here.

They seem to be the ones that last as there's not so many of the other small trucks from that time frame.

 

Yeah but.... Why is it so ugly? Lol