1996 Ford Maverick 3 Doors 2.7L TD 5MT AWD (125 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Introduced in 1993 as a response to the increasing demands of customers for SUVs and off-road vehicles, the Maverick lineup was updated in 1996 to meet the requirements of the Euro 2 emission standards.

Just three years after the introduction of the Ford Maverick, the automaker had to upgrade the vehicle to make it compliant with the Euro 2 emission standards that were due to come into force in January 1997. Both siblings made by Ford and Nissan, the Maverick and the Terrano II, respectively, also underwent some cosmetic changes to make the vehicles look slightly different than their non-facelifted versions. The blue-badged, three-door version included some specific styling updates that followed the brand’s design language, which was also noticed on some other Ford vehicles sold in Europe. In addition, the drivetrain was adapted to the new regulations. However, while that also brought more ponies for the turbodiesel version, the gasoline-powered one lost some of them. But still, considering that European customers were mostly focused on the oil-burner version, it was not a significant loss for the 1996 Ford Maverick 3 Doors.

The car’s front was the most visually updated part of the vehicle. There, the 1996 Ford Maverick SWB featured a dual-headlamps system instead of the previously used two rectangular ones. Furthermore, these were no longer flanked by the turn signal lamps since these migrated to the bumper. Ford also added a body-colored front bumper adorned with black trim on its upper side and sported a twin air intake on the lower side of the apron.

Ford couldn’t make too many changes to the car’s profile due to technical limitations, but it tried to improve the vehicle by adding new options for the door mirrors, which were available with chromed caps. Unfortunately, the flush door handles remained unpainted, black, regardless of the car’s color. However, customers could still get the car with plastic moldings around the wheel arches. These were useful since they protected the bodywork from chipping stones, which damaged paint and led to corrosion. The automaker made the vehicle with new options for the alloy wheels, while base versions still had to rely on steel wheels. In addition, Ford also provided a set of running boards to ease ingress and egress.

Even though the car shared most of its parts with the Nissan Terrano II, Ford used different materials for the interior. The dashboard had the same shape as the non-facelifted version but featured redesigned dials for the instrument panel. Like the 1993 Maverick lineup, it had a large speedometer and tachometer with red needles and smaller gauges for the fuel level and coolant temperature. The tilt-forward front seats eased access for the rear-seated passengers. However, legroom in the back was nothing to write home about on the split-folding (50/50) bench seat. At least customers could open the pop-out rear windows.

While Nissan moved to a new turbodiesel powerplant, Ford had to rely on the same 2.7-liter powerhouse as on the non-facelifted version, albeit enhanced. It provided 125 PS (123 hp), 24 more than the 1993 model year. At the same time, the 2.4-liter inline-four gasoline engine lost six ponies, and, as a result, the 1996 Ford Maverick provided 118 PS (116 hp) instead of 124 PS (122 hp), as it’s the non-refreshed version.