Ford aimed for efficiency and practicality, thinking demand would flood dealerships. Then reality hit. The Maverick didn’t catch fire the way Ford hoped. The company ended up with thousands of unsold cars piling up.
Ford needed a place to stash those Mavericks. Enter Subtropolis, a massive underground cave system in Kansas City, Missouri. These aren’t your average caves. Subtropolis is a huge man-made network carved from limestone, stretching over 55 million square feet. It’s home to dozens of businesses using the cool, stable climate for storage and all sorts of industrial needs.
Ford leased a whopping 25 acres of this subterranean space to park the unsold Mavericks. The caves stay snug, sitting between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit all year. That made it perfect for keeping cars safe from rust, sun damage, and weather swings. So, instead of filling up lots or scrapyards, Ford tucked the Mavericks away underground.
The cars stayed put for years, waiting for buyers who never seemed to come fast enough. It’s said that some of those Mavericks sat in the cave forever, a bizarre automotive limbo. The story of these hidden hoards quickly turned into a legend. Enthusiasts and car historians still find it wild to imagine whole fleets gathering dust miles beneath the surface.
Today, Subtropolis itself still hums with activity, but the Maverick storage days are long gone. The tale, though, sticks with the automotive world as a reminder. Sometimes even giants like Ford find themselves buried—almost literally—under their own ambitions.
