The Ford truck that combines performance, style and value in one package

The Ford Maverick Lobo channels the energy of classic street trucks while remaining practical for everyday life. The Maverick is a small truck known for its efficiency and versatility, but the Lobo goes in a whole new direction. It boasts a lowered profile that improves handling without losing the core small-truck appeal. It invites you to enjoy the road in a way that feels both nostalgic and modern.

Style that attracts attention

The Lobo still looks like a Maverickbut with a good dose of street truck style. There are 19-inch black turbofan-style wheels that are unlike what you’ll find on other trucks, and not just other Mavericks. It’s a love it or hate it design element that I love because it’s different and a bit daring. There are LED projector headlights with signature accent lighting to keep things looking cool at night and a striking black painted grille with striking street truck styling.

Inside, there are ActiveX seating surfaces with Grabber Blue and Electric Lime stitching that are exactly as bright as those names sound. Small details like the Lobo logo embossed on the seats make the inside look as much like a street truck as the outside.

That lowered the ride height

Can you even call something a street truck without lowering the ride height? No, that’s absolutely not possible, so the Lobo sits lower than the rest of the Maverick series. The front is 0.5 inches lower, while the rear is 1.12 inches lower than other Mavericks. This reduces the overall vehicle height to 67.7 inches, down from 68.5 inches on the base all-wheel drive model.

Minimum ground clearance also drops to 7.4 inches, down from 8.3 inches. If you drive off-road, this is not your truck. Ford has the Maverick Tremor with 9.1 inches of ground clearance, if that’s your vibe. In the Lobo, just enjoy how fantastic that squat profile looks and the fact that it improves stability. It is a style that has substance.

Powertrain delivers responsive performance

Under the hood, the 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine produces 250 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque, which is the same as other gas versions of the Maverick. While there is no power increase for the Lobo, there is a performance tuning to match the street truck style.

Performance-tuned steering delivers sharper handling, while Torque Vectoring with dual-clutch rear-wheel drive improves cornering and stability. It also gets larger brakes and twin-piston front calipers from the Focus ST sold in Europe. This isn’t just your standard Maverick with an appearance package.

The fun of Lobo mode

Unique to this trim is Lobo mode, a special driving mode designed to further optimize performance. It improves cornering behavior and improves grip and stability to reduce understeer. It’s not something you want to play with on the road, but rather something you want to experience on a closed course.

Think of it as a track mode for your truck. This allows you to take full advantage of the technology that Ford has put into the Lobo. You can feel it in the way it drives on the highway, and you can hear it in the growl of the engine, but you just have to get this thing on the track to fully appreciate what the engineers have accomplished.

A price that is just right

The Lobo sits in the middle of the Maverick range with a starting price of $35,930, so it’s not an outrageously priced truck. The base Maverick XL costs $28,145, while the top Tremor costs $40,645.

So yes, you can go cheaper, but for the fun the Lobo offers, it’s a bargain. There’s really no other truck that comes close, not in terms of pure performance, but in tribute to the street truck style of yesteryear. It doesn’t hit the performance so hard that the gas bill will bankrupt you, and it doesn’t become uncomfortable on the highway either. It’s a truck that offers the best of both worlds, allowing you to enjoy something different, with distinctive style and the ability to tackle the track if the mood takes you.

No direct rivals in sight

Few options in this segment match the vibe of the Lobo factory street truck. The Hyundai Santa Cruz shares a Unibody design and similarly sized, starting around $27,000, but lacks the lowered ride or special performance mode. Midsize trucks like the Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma offer more power and capability, but without the signature street truck style or the more affordable price. Ford stands alone in supplying the full configuration, eliminating the need for modifications and filling a gap for enthusiasts looking for something ready to use straight from the dealer.

This isn’t a truck that just anyone wants to own. We’re really talking about a small niche of people who want a small truck that’s affordable, with street truck style and performance capability. The fact that Ford even built it is quite astonishing, as it isn’t exactly likely to be sold in large quantities. That doesn’t make it any less fun and in some ways even cooler. We hope this is the start of a trend and not a one-off trend that fades away.