The 1977 Ford Maverick has 3 recalls, the most serious affecting manual steering models, where the steering gear can seize and eventually cause a complete loss of steering control.
On vehicles with manual steering, internal balls in the steering gear can fracture and cause the wheel to hang up momentarily during turns; continued driving worsens the problem until steering control is lost entirely. The driver's front door latch assembly may also be defective, allowing the door to swing open while the vehicle is moving. There is also a separate issue on vehicles with 200, 250, and 302 cubic inch engines paired with an automatic transmission, where an incorrect speedometer gear causes the speedometer and odometer to read lower than the vehicle's actual speed and mileage.