The new Ford Maverick Lupo looks to revive the sports truck

• We’ve spied the Ford Maverick wearing unusual 19-inch wheels, suggesting a new sporty model.
• While we 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 Q3 2023 results that new Maverick nameplate extensions are coming – so get ready.

A new type of Ford Maverick is on the way. This is straight from the horse’s mouth. The workhorse in question is Ford, which last month revealed in its quarterly earnings report that new variants of its popular compact pickup truck are in the works. We now have a feeling 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 noting that this is all currently just speculation, however, Ford’s confirmation comes on the heels of a recent filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Back on August 14, 2023, the Blue Oval branded “Maverick Lobo”.

Pair that with new spy photos of a Maverick prototype wearing partial camouflage. The most striking thing about this concept is that it rides on 19-inch wheels with 225/65R19 Goodyear Wrangler Territory HT all-season tires. Granted, this rubber isn’t exactly the race-grade Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tires available on the Mustang Dark Horse, but the rims are larger than anything currently available on a production Maverick.

Camouflage covers the entire fore and hind limbs, the former likely concealing a more aggressive face. If the grille or lower air inlets are larger, it could mean a more powerful engine under the hood. Of course, the Maverick’s current 250-horsepower turbo-four is no slouch. We tested an all-wheel-drive model that reached 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 race to 60 is faster than many Mustangs throughout history.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Ford bringing the Lobo nameplate to the US market, as we wrote a couple of months ago about the company’s reported plans to build a high-performance F-150. We’re not sure what that means for the brand’s sporty ST moniker, except that perhaps it will be reserved for SUVs like the midsize Explorer. However, we’re excited about the potential return of Ford’s sporty truck, whatever its name.

Senior editor

Eric Stafford’s addiction to cars began before he could walk, and has fueled his passion for writing news, reviews, and more for Car and driver Since 2016. His ambition while growing up was to become a millionaire with a car collection similar to Jay Leno’s. Apparently getting rich is harder than social media influencers make it out to be, so he eschewed financial success altogether to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, years of spending money mainly on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and driver I hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28 manual, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.