- We’ve spied a Ford Maverick wearing uncommon 19-inch wheels, which suggests a new sport-tuned model.
- While we’ve thought the compact truck might adopt the ST moniker, Ford recently filed a trademark for “Maverick Lobo” with the USPTO.
- Ford also confirmed in its third-quarter 2023 results that new extensions of the Maverick nameplate are coming—so get ready.
A new kind of Ford Maverick is on the way. That’s directly from the horse’s mouth. Said horse being Ford, who last month revealed in its quarterly earnings report that new variants of its super popular compact pickup truck are in the works. We’re now feeling fairly certain that at least one of those upcoming derivatives will be a Maverick sport truck, likely called the Lobo.
Maverick Lobo Looks Likely
It’s worth pointing out that this currently is all just speculation, however, Ford’s confirmation follows a recent filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Back on August 14, 2023, the Blue Oval brand trademarked “Maverick Lobo.”
Couple that with new spy photos of a prototype Maverick wearing partial camouflage. What’s most notable about this test mule is that it rolls on 19-inch wheels wearing Goodyear Wrangler Territory HT all-season tires, size 225/65R19. Sure, that rubber isn’t exactly the race-grade Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tires available on the Mustang Dark Horse, but the rims are bigger than anything currently available on the production Maverick.
The camo covers the entire front and rear ends, with the former possibly hiding a more aggressive face. If the grille or lower air intakes are larger, it could mean there’s a more powerful engine under the hood. Of course, the Maverick’s current 250-hp turbo four is no slouch. We tested an all-wheel-drive model that hit 60 mph in a tidy 5.9 seconds and finished the quarter-mile in 14.5 seconds at 95 mph. For context, the truck’s sprint to 60 is quicker than several Mustangs throughout history.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Ford bringing the Lobo nameplate to the U.S. market, as a couple months ago we wrote about the company’s reported plans to build a street-performance F-150. We’re not sure what that would mean for the brand’s sporty ST moniker, except that maybe it’ll be reserved for SUVs such as the mid-size Explorer. Still, we’re excited about the possible return of a Ford sport truck no matter what it’s called.
Senior Editor
Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.