Here’s the pickup for the Ford Maverick before you assume you’ll see it

Someone who refused to be named sent us a photo of Ford’s new Maverick van along with the explanation that “an acquaintance of an acquaintance who works there took the photo.” Either an extra level of security to prevent them from being fired, or maybe Ford themselves are leaking the photo in a guerrilla marketing campaign, we may never know. In any case, it is intended to be a Ford assembly line at the Hermosillo plant in Sonora, Mexico, with a solitaire still camouflaged compact van rolling towards its freedom and the road. The photo too found its way to the mavericktruckclub.com forum.

This truck will be based on the same platform as the Bronco Sport, which has already proven to be a pretty decent machine. The Maverick will get an exclusive grille for trucks and a unique style treatment for the front, although obviously without any doors open, it’s hard to know what the latest truck will look like. Clearly there’s a bit of Bronco Sport design mixed in with a bit of the larger Ranger truck design. Sounds neat, I guess.

It will be interesting to see how Ford can market and sell a van based on front-wheel drive. It’s probably the right size for most truck owners, but you won’t be able to ignore the large numbers of towing and traction that seem to be important in the truck market today. Some of the Autoblog spy photos they appear to show Maverick collection mules circulating with a rotating beam rear axle and no rear differential. An entry-level FWD pickup of low specs might be interesting, but I guess most will be specified with all-wheel drive and a stronger rear suspension for added utility.

This is probably the first van that attracts me in twenty years or so. Fuel savings are much more likely to be achieved in half, as it will run much more comfortably than a truck with a ladder structure. and it will be easier to get up and load things into bed without the massive height. The trucks are too big, after all.