I’m a big fan of many, many things in this strange and complicated and sloppy world of ours, and two of those things are Things That Make Small Pickup Trucks Even Better and News That Is Many Months Late. Well, today is a good day because I have something that meets both of those criteria: a Ford patent application from May that describes something that would make Ford’s small unibody Maverick pickup significantly better, I think: a midgate.
It’s interesting – at least to me – to note that one month before this patent was filed I did a big review of the Maverick where the whole point of the review was that I liked the truck, but I sure would like it more if it had a midgate.
You know what I mean by midgate, right? It’d be a panel that opened from the bed and allowed cargo to extend into the cab, a bit. Like this:
This would fundamentally transform this already-useful unibody pickup into something incredibly useful, and I’m all for that. Let’s look at what this patent application is proposing, and I should note it was actually filed way back in October of 2022, but just published in May of this year. So I’m not trying to imply Ford got any ideas from me, because they didn’t:
The midgate design ford is showing here is a pretty simple, straightforward design, essentially just a rectangular opening accessed by folding down the rear seatback forward, into the cab, and folding a rear panel backward, into the bed. It’s very much like what Subaru did with the Baja:
You can see the seatback and panel folding setup in this diagram here:
It’s also worth noting that the thick, plug-like midgate hatch is designed to be level with the in-bed wheel wells, so you can lay, say, a flat sheet of plywood over the midgate hatch and wheel wells and form a “floor” with storage room below.
It’s not specifically mentioned that this design is for the Maverick in the patent, but as it is currently Ford’s only unibody truck and it sure looks like the Maverick in those illustrations, I think we can safely say this is intended for that truck.
The hatch’s latching system does look nice and secure, though in my head I want those handles to be flipped 180°? Is that just me? Seems like it’d be easier to pull down if they were flipped.
Of course, there are the usual midgate issues relating to the weather, since if you have the midgate open, the cold and wet of the outside world can now get into the cab, but since, I suspect, a midgate tends to be used for short, occasional trips where you need to carry something unusually long, I bet this is not a huge issue. This is the sort of thing you use to get a bunch of long 2x4s from the lumberyard to your yard, not something you’re using on a long roadtrip, unless your roadtrip snack of choice is a 6′ party sub.
I hope this patent actually gets turned into something real, instead of meeting the fate of most automotive patents, which function more like a dream journal for carmakers, just ideas, written down, never to see the light of day.
A midgate of any sort would be transformative for the Maverick, and I would love to see it happen!
Make a deal with them.
If they build it, you will buy it.
Oh nice a midgate or, as I like to call it, a child fence.
I was thinking, child pass-through.
I just want a split-folding rear bench in my Maverick. With a car seat installed (quite a pain to do in the Maverick), access to the under-seat cubbies is not what I’d call “convenient”.
I’d just prefer a single cab with a long bed.
Reminded of something in a British vintage car magazine in the 90s (long before they were online so I’m having a hard time with search engines for links) where they interviewed an English carpenter/woodworker who was still daily-driving his NSU Ro80 sedan which he used for his work because the rear seat back could be folded down for access to the trunk and since the front passenger seat could also fold flat he could transport long pieces of wood up to something like 3.5 meters long and still close the trunk lid. Who needs a truck when the 1968 COTY will do??
Anyone get quoted by the AP today? Just wondering…
Seems like a fairly easy thing to do, and would add even more utility. I find it strange they can patent it since other car makes have done it before and already do, maybe just their latch design is the thing? But even that seems like a standard camper top type of latch design so not sure that’s even something.
If the mid gate were removable, and a camper shell with a crawl through was available that would be cool.
I assume the rear seats can be removed
It would be a nice Swiss Army knife of a vehicle. Oh, wait, those are Unimogs.
The Avalanche had a midgate WELL before Ford did….try and tell me another manufacturer who did, but Ford would be copying them by this design, unless they are making some design changes…
The Silverado EV has it right now too.
These are concepts (and the execution of the midgate is different), but if you really want to know… the Nissan SUT (1999) and Ford Equator (2000) both beat the Avalanche (2002).
I love my Maverick. It’s such a useful multitool of a car.
I would want this for 2 reasons.
Nice. Would be nicer if you could get the glass out of the way too like GM’s mid-gate.
Even nicer if they did a 2 door with a longer bed, won’t happen, cause trucks are cars now
I was just thinking the same thing. If it had that I would be interested, but as is it’s too limited in its usefulness.
You can’t get the glass out of the way? What use is that? Never mind.
Getting the glass out of the way is easy. Getting it back in is the hard part.
Worst puzzle ever.