Lobo is Spanish for wolf, but the 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo is more like a puppy dog. It wants to play everywhere.

At an autocross course in California, I toggled LOBO mode and drifted the puppy — er, pickup — through pylons. At an offroad area in Charlevoix, Michigan, I slung gravel across dirty trails. Taking Michigan turns on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, I wagged its tail.

Say hello to Lobo. A new classic is born.

Maverick, of course, is already a huge success as Ford’s entry-level vehicle (not just entry pickup). It sold over 157,000 units in just its third year in the market in 2024 and is on pace to beat that in ‘25 despite a 20% price increase. It’s already won two Detroit News Vehicle of the Year Awards and Americans can’t get enough of them.

Ford knows how to broaden a product’s demographic, and it already offers a 38-mpg Maverick hybrid (2021 News Vehicle of the Year) and dirt-kicking, all-terrain tire Tremor model (2022 winner). Now comes Lobo, a howl-at-the-moon treat.

From the West Coast to Western Michigan to a week at the Dream Cruise, this puppy is man’s best friend. Fun, utilitarian and high-tech, it has few equals. It’s the performance pickup you never saw coming, But then, Ford has experience at — not just trucks — but hot-hatch hellions as well.

Remember the Focus ST and RS? They left the U.S. market in 2018, but their DNA lives on in, of all things, a truck. Lobo is a hot hatch in pickup clothing.

Armed with a similar 250-horsepower, turbo-4 engine found in the ol’ Focus ST, Lobo also adopts the driftin’, misbehavin’, torque-slingin’ twin rear clutch packs from Focus RS. Press the starter button and you’ll want to hang on to the leash of this puppy!

ROOWWRRRRR! growled the 4-banger as I put my size 15 into it. With sport shocks, lowered suspension and a steering wheel that feels rooted to the ground, Lobo has legitimate street cred. Call it Lo’ boy. Over the roller-coaster twists and turns of M-32 east of Gaylord, the truck jumped from turn to turn with surprising agility. Yeah, it’s still an SUV-based pickup and the pup skitters around on its four paws more than the Focus twins ever did. But everything is responsive, including the engine growl which gets lower in SPORT and LOBO modes.

That playfulness is even more pronounced on an autocross where you can take advantage of all-wheel drive and let the front wheels pull you out of lurid slides in LOBO mode (which moves torque between the rear wheels for maximum drifting).

First rule of performance pickups: buy a tonneau cover ($600-$1,280) for the rear bed. Because you’ll wind up slinging dirt into the 4.5-foot box and ruining whatever you’ve stored back there — which, in the wee Maverick, is a lot given its small back seat (more on that later).

Maverick doesn’t have to drift to get attention. Check out those Turbofan wheels.

Cruising Woodward, my white tester got lots of looks.

“I thought that was the Lobo,” said Rob, a Mustang owner, in Royal Oak. “Love those wheels.”

Black, painted 19-inch Turbofan wheels are standard. A classic supercar wheel that has adorned such cyborgs as the Porsche 959 and Ford GT Mk IV, the black Turbofans are a bold statement on Lobo. Ford gives you the build option of black aluminum spoke wheels, but Turbofans signal it’s not your average pup.

That attitude extends inside with monogrammed seats and blue accents on the climate controls, console and door handles.

The latter highlights the thoughtful ergonomic features. Door handles are shortened to allow vertical space in the doors for tall bottles — perfect for Saturday’s 90-degree Dream Cruise scorcher.

The roomy console includes a wireless charging pad. The Ford relies on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for navigation duties that can drain your phone. On my four-hour trip north, the phone stayed charged while navigating me through summer construction detours. Atop the giant 13.2-inch infotainment screen is a cubby — handy for suntan lotion bottles, sunglasses and other road-trip accessories.

Speaking of the screen, the $35K Maverick offers state-of-the art graphics that debuted on the $100K Lincoln Navigator not long ago. Colorful graphics introduce the variety of DRIVE modes — LOBO, SPORT, SLIPPERY, ECO, STANDARD, TOW — and a 360-degree camera is standard as well.

The compact size and 360-degree camera were a big help with Cruise coverage when I often had to fit in tight, off-Woodward parking spots and garages. Try that in your full-size F-150 pickup.

Yet the pup is also useful when it comes to fetching sticks — er, large cargo — thanks to its 2,000-pound towing capacity. Lobo is outfitted with Ford’s clever Pro Trailer Backup Assist knob and rear camera so you can maneuver a trailer.

All this, and Ford is just scratching the surface of Lobo potential.

The color palette is bland: White, Black, Gray, Velocity Blue. Seriously? Focus ST colors included Race Red, Tangerine Scream, Performance Blue, Kona Blue, Triple Yellow and Hot Pepper Red. That’s more like it.

Until those colors become available, make mine Velocity Blue to match interior trim.

And be sure you get the tonneau cover because if you take a road trip, there isn’t much room behind the front seats. At 6’5”, I had to take my legs off to sit behind myself. And, with heavy rains in the Charlevoix forecast — my son and I had to stuff all our gear into the back seat: two suitcases, tennis bag, cooler and other bags.

Were it a family trip for four, the bed would have been a cargo must.

After a day of hooliganism across Metro Detroit, I pulled into the driveway of friend Kevin. “I heard you coming,” he smiled. “That’s the new Lobo? Love it. Love the wheels.”

“I was doing some doughnuts up in Pontiac,” I said.

“Got video?” he asked.

2025 Ford Maverick Lobo

Vehicle type: Front engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact pickup

Price: $37,625, including $1,695 destination fee ($42,345 as tested)

Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder

Power: 250 horsepower, 277 pound-feet torque

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.1 seconds (Motor Trend); towing capacity, 2,000 pounds

Weight: 3,814 pounds

Fuel economy: EPA est. 21 mpg city/30 highway/24 combined

Report card

Highs: Hot hatch in pickup clothing; fun + utility

Lows: Small back seat; more Skittle colors, please

Overall: 4 stars

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