This ’90s-inspired street-truck foil to the off-road Tremor even comes with its own ‘Lobo’ drift mode and unique 7-speed
- The 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo is lowered, with unique suspension tuning and turbofan rims
- That’s not all: it has a differently fettled all-wheel-drive system with a drift-inspired ‘Lobo Mode’
- The trim works as a counterpart to the lifted Maverick Tremor; deliveries are planned early 2025
Oh, yeah — it’ll also share some parts with the Euro-spec Focus ST hot hatch. Happy days.
Let’s start with the greasy bits, showing up in the form of Maverick’s familiar 2.0L EcoBoost engine, generally known to be good for 238 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. It seems Ford is taking a John Hammond spare-no-expense approach and gifting the Lobo its own seven-speed ‘quick-shift’ automatic transmission, along with an all-wheel-drive system described as packing a twin-clutch rear drive unit with torque vectoring.
Plucking a completely different gearbox out of the toy chest is generally not the mark of a hastily assembled product — nor one cheaply developed.
Also on tap are beefed-up brakes with the same dual-piston front brake calipers used on European-market Focus ST hatchbacks. The team also grabbed the larger radiator and fan from Maverick’s 4K towing package and helped themselves to a transmission oil cooler while they were at it. A so-called Lobo Mode is said to be inspired by “drifting and autocross,” and is only meant for use on closed courses.
Still, useful truck gear remains, such as the Pro Trailer Backup Assist, spray-in bedliner, 400W inverter, and Pro Trailer Hitch Assist. That said, towing is limited to 2,000 pounds for reasons which should be abundantly clear. Maximum payload also drop to 1,045 lbs, the lowest of all Maverick trims.
Its aesthetic apparently demanded a different front-end style, showing up as a waterfall-type grille and colour-keyed trim and a painted rear bumper. “Lobo” badging appears on the fender, while the roof makes like the Rolling Stones and paints it black.
Those 19-inch aluminum turbofan wheels are worth talking about a second time, and we predict they’re going to become a hot item — not just for Maverick owners, but anyone whose rig matches the lug pattern and wheel offset.
Interior trim is set off with Grabber Blue and Electric Lime stitching, to say nothing of the “graffiti-inspired” overprint on the seats. The latter is a great callback to the days when manufacturers would offer upholstery with flecks of colour all throughout the weave, sometimes even in geometric shapes. The ‘90s are officially back, baby.
If yer wondering why Ford is using the “Lobo” name, rest assured it didn’t throw darts at random letters on the wall. Lobo is actually Spanish for “wolf.” In 1997, Blue Oval marketers looked at the slowing of F-150 sales in Mexico and decided to rebadge all F-150 trucks, save the workaday XL, with the Lobo name.
Trademark filings for use of the name in America surfaced late last year, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised regarding the badging on this tribute to retro street trucks, though we will note this is a wasted opportunity where Ford could have stuck its “ST” badge on the thing and said it stood for “Street Truck.” In fact, recall that numerous examples of slammed Mavericks began appearing at shows like SEMA almost immediately after the truck was introduced, so there is a precedent (and appetite) here.
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