• Overland Challenge - Overview
• Overland Challenge - Team
• Overland Challenge - Map
• Overland Challenge - Itinerary
• Diary - Richard Creasey
• Photos - Richard Blanshard
• Poems - Jeni Ballagh
• Ford Maverick Specifications
• Ford Mondeo Specifications

Long-Wheelbase Ford Maverick

Ford's first European-build, four-wheel-drive, off-road vehicle was chosen to support the teams taking part in the arduous London to New York Overland Challenged because of its combination of excellent cross performance plus safety and comfort levels more frequently associated with cars.

Powered by a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder engine running on unleaded petrol and meeting 1993 European Community emission level legislation, the five-door Mavericks are fitted with five-speed manual transmission with either two-wheel or four-wheel drive selected through a transfer box with high and low ratios available in four-wheel-drive mode.

They boast excellent levels of comfort with easy-to-read instruments set in a neatly styled dashboard facia. In addition, the third row of seats fold flat to provide additional load capacity.

As with all other Ford vehicles, much attention was paid to safety issues when it came to the design of the Maverick. All models feature front and rear head restraints, height-adjustable front seat belts and belt buckles mounted on the seats and side intrusion beams fitted to all doors.

The Maverick is the ideal vehicle to cope with rough terrain which will be encountered on the Overland Challenge. Its double wishbone, torsion-bar-sprung front suspension and five-link, coil-sprung rear arrangement should easily absorb the rutted roads of Siberia, which the manually selected four-wheel drive system, which features automatically locking front hubs and a limited slip differential, will ensure good traction in the most slippery of conditions.

In common with the Mondeos taking part in the Overland Challenge, specification changes to the Mavericks have been kept to a minimum. It was not necessary to increase the vehicle ride height since the suspension is already able to cope with rough surfaces, but extra specifications for this even include underbody shielding to protect the engine and driveline, supplementary jacking points, a 3Kw auxiliary interior heater, a pair of extra batteries with Anderson quick-connect plugs to facilitate jump starts of other vehicles in extremely cold conditions, a bumper mounted electric winch and a custom-made, heard-duty roof rack for carrying spares, wheels, tyres and a high-lift jack.

Ford News Release: December 2 1993