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New York Tuner Fits Ford Maverick With Twin-Turbo V8 for SEMA
Tucci Hot Rods has begun work on a V8-powered Ford Maverick, replacing the compact pickup's four-cylinder engine with a 5.0-litre Coyote unit and promising twin turbochargers ahead of its debut at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this November.
By George Kensington · 4 min read
A New York tuning specialist is building the Ford Maverick that the company has never offered — a compact pickup powered by a twin-turbocharged V8. Tucci Hot Rods has begun work on the project, which will be unveiled at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this November.
The Maverick is Ford's smallest and cheapest truck, currently sold with either a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder producing 250 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque, or a 2.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid with a combined 191 hp. Ford does not quote a total torque figure for the hybrid, stating only that its electric motor delivers up to 236 lb-ft. Those outputs suit many buyers, but not performance enthusiasts — a gap the New York shop intends to close.
Images of the build show the project in its early stages, but Tucci Hot Rods has already fitted a 5.0-litre Coyote V8 into the engine bay in place of the original 2.0-litre four-cylinder. The swap was not a simple operation. The company says it had to cut out part of the transmission tunnel and firewall to position the V8 correctly, and fabricate custom engine mounts to secure it. Paired with the V8 is ZF's 8HP70 eight-speed automatic transmission.
While a standard Coyote V8, which can produce as much as 500 hp, would already transform the Maverick, Tucci Hot Rods is promising more. The shop plans to add two turbochargers to the 5.0-litre unit, a combination expected to deliver substantially higher horsepower and torque figures than any factory Maverick.
The upgrades are unlikely to stop at the engine. Further work is expected to include upgraded braking and suspension components, interior tweaks, a new exhaust system and additional cooling to cope with the increased output. The project is not Tucci's first encounter with the Maverick: in 2021 the company unveiled a widebody version of the truck at SEMA, and it appears to be using that same vehicle as the basis for its latest build.
The project arrives at a moment when Ford has leaned heavily into big, powerful pickups and off-roaders under the leadership of chief executive Jim Farley. Models such as the Bronco Raptor and the F-150 Raptor R, the latter aimed squarely at the Ram TRX, have expanded the company's performance lineup. The Maverick, by contrast, has remained a value-focused entry point rather than a muscle truck.
Ford itself is not expected to build or sell a V8-powered Maverick. The custom truck therefore stands as a demonstration of what the platform could support rather than a preview of a production model, though it may add to the argument for a high-performance version from the manufacturer.
Tucci Hot Rods has form with unconventional builds. The shop previously constructed a Ford Bronco fitted with snow tracks, and its SEMA projects have drawn attention for pushing production vehicles well beyond their factory specifications. The completed Maverick will be shown in Las Vegas in November, when final power and torque figures are expected to be confirmed.
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