Ford’s compact Maverick was designed to be an affordable and practical little pickup, which naturally makes stuffing a twin-turbo V8 into one seem like an excellent idea. Tucci Hot Rods is currently doing exactly that for the 2026 SEMA Show.
The New York custom shop has pulled the Maverick’s original turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder and replaced it with Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8. Simply finding room for twice as many cylinders has already required some fairly serious surgery.
Tucci isn’t stopping with the engine swap either. The shop says the finished Maverick will run a pair of turbochargers and is targeting around 800 horsepower, turning Ford’s smallest pickup into something dramatically different from anything available at a dealership.
Tucci Hot Rods has been documenting the build on Instagram ahead of its SEMA debut in November. The latest updates show that the Coyote and its ZF eight-speed automatic transmission are already mounted in the truck.
A Coyote Doesn’t Simply Fit In A Maverick
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The Maverick wasn’t designed around a longitudinally mounted V8, and Tucci quickly discovered just how much fabrication would be necessary. The shop says a significant portion of the transmission tunnel and part of the firewall had to be cut away to position the powertrain correctly.
Behind the Coyote sits a ZF 8HP70 eight-speed automatic. With both components now mounted, the basic layout of this rather unconventional Maverick is taking shape.
That’s a dramatic departure from the factory truck. Ford currently offers the Maverick with a 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder producing 250 horsepower or a 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain with 191 horsepower.
Even a naturally aspirated Coyote would therefore represent a huge performance upgrade. Adding two turbochargers should move this build into an entirely different league.
Twin Turbos Are Coming Next
Tucci’s initial announcement didn’t leave much ambiguity about its plans, describing the project as a twin-turbo, 800-hp Coyote-swapped Maverick headed for SEMA 2026. Hellion Turbo Systems is among the companies involved in the project.
The finished engine setup hasn’t been revealed yet, so plenty of details are still unknown. Tucci’s posts so far have focused primarily on removing the factory drivetrain, fitting the Coyote, and making the structural changes required to accommodate it.
Likewise, the shop hasn’t fully detailed the truck’s suspension, brakes, cooling, or other supporting modifications. With this much additional power going into a Maverick, however, the engine is unlikely to be the only area receiving attention before SEMA.
Tucci Has Done This Maverick Thing Before
This isn’t Tucci Hot Rods’ first encounter with Ford’s compact pickup. The shop previously created a dramatically modified Maverick for the 2021 SEMA Show, complete with a widebody treatment, lowered suspension, and distinctive turbofan-style wheels.
Its latest project seems to be the very same truck, but it takes the concept much further. Going from a 250-hp turbo four-cylinder to a twin-turbo Coyote targeting around 800 hp will completely change the truck’s personality.
There’s still plenty of work that needs to be done before the truck reaches Las Vegas in November, but shoehorning a Coyote V8 and eight-speed transmission into it was probably the hardest part. Clearly, “Will it fit?” was never going to be an acceptable reason to stop.