I think the root-cause for my disdain of four-door sedans is that they all remind me of that piece of crap, dorky as hell Mercury Comet I had when I was in high school. That car was so bad that I usually tell people my Chrysler Cordoba was my first car; to me it just sounds cooler. Anyway, I can make exceptions to any self-imposed rule and this, coincidentally also a Mercury, big four-door is one sedan I might be able to live with.
Well, perhaps not this one per se but a 2003-2004 Mercury Marauder might be found in my "Jay Leno" fantasy garage if for no other reason that they're just so unique. And what's not to like about a four-door hot-rod? Well, you'd be surprised; takers were few and far between for not only these cars but for any make or model in the "sporty full-size" genre.
Not sure what's going on with this one for sale up in Detroit with an asking price of $2,000. Let's simply luxuirate in the car's badass-ness and the utter state of disary the poor thing appears to be in.
Poster of the ad on Facebook Marketplace says, despite just 97,000 on the thing, the engine needs a timing chain and the rear axle needs to be replaced. That's interesiting. Oh, and it needs rear shocks. Aside from that, it's all there! Some assembly required.
The Ford Motor Company's now long gone dazed-and-confused Mercury division had three interations of something they called "Marauder". They were all full-size automobiles with sporting pretensions; that oxymoronic enough for you?
The first Marauder's were a trim package available on all full-size Merc's in either two or four-door guise. That would include 1963 1/2 - 1965 Mercury Montclair's, Park Lane's and Monterey's. All 1963 1/2 Marauder's, regardless of which model they were, were two-door's.
Mercury eshwed the unique "Breezeway" rear window design found on mid-'60's Mercury Park Lane's and Monterey's on the Maruader for the rear window and roof design design from the Ford Galaxie; purportedly it was to make the car's more competitive on the race track. Marauder's came available with 390 or 427 cubic-inch V-8's and 4-speed manual transmissions; the 427 engine could be had with two-four-barrel carburetor's. Bucket seats and a floor-mounted shifter (on the two-door models) completed the "Let's Go" mission statement. Aside from that a Marauder was all standard-issue Mercury or Ford with nary a sway bar or poly urenthane bushing to be found.
The second Marauder cropped up in 1969 and 1970 as a "sporty" two-door Mercury Marquis although marketed as a seperate model on a unique "snug" 121-inch long wheelbase. Again, the Marauder "package" was a trim option that, aside from an optional massive V-8, didn't actually provide buyers any real performance gains or improvements above and beyond what "lesser" Marquis' could do.
The X-100 package was a luxury trim option on top of the Marauder option. You either "got" what these cars were supposed to be, and, frankly, that's rather murky at best, or you simply didn't. If you've never heard of a Marauder let alone a Maruder X-100 you're not alone; Ford, sorry, Mercury sold but a handful of them. General Motors tried multiple times throught the 1960's to market a full-size peformance/luxury car and didn't fair any better.
That brings us to 2003 and Mercury's wonderfully inexplicable daliance with the "Marauder" name plate once again. This partially dissasmbled mess is a 2004.
Who knows why they even bothered with these things - same could be said for Chevrolet and their 1994-1996 Impala SS - but I was sort-of kind-of glad they did. Although, frankly, I think the Impala SS just worked better aestheically overall.
There was really no hiding the fact that these were Grand Dad's Marquis' with some black out, sinister baubles and bits. DOHC V-8 too! Requires premium, though. Boo.
What actually made these cars special was their handling package that made the Marquis and it's sister-ship Ford Crown Victoria really the best they could be.
Our Marauder here shares its frame with Ford's new for 2003 underpinnings with all "Panther's" and was quite the upgrade from the previous 1979-vintage jiggle wagon. The new stiffer frame along with Tokio nitrogen, monotube shocks, firmer anti-roll-bar bushings, less rubbery body-to-frame bushings, rear load-leveling air springs and front springs from the Crown Victoria police cruiser made for a very nice handling (big) car.
If the Marauder fell down on itself anywhere it was with it's engine. Using the Ford Mustang Cobra's DOHC V-8, what with it being stuffed in such a heavy car, the transmission and rear axle ratio's were set to maximize fuel-economy; which was a shame. 0-60 in around 7.2-seconds even back then wasn't exactly sporty. "Snappy", pehaps but far from the numbers of a high performance machine. Cobra V-8 requires premium gas too. Boo.
But what the devil is going on here with this thing? The ad doesn't say why it's in pieces - I could ask but it's funner to speculate. All Maraders were black and the roof here is still black; doors, front fenders are white. Sum-zink tells me...she's been in...an accident?! The ad doesn't mention anything about such.
So much going on here. Not to mention it's splayed out over the sidewalk. Bet the neighbors love that.
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