Mercury Marauder
The Mercury Marauder is an automobile nameplate that was used by three distinct full-size cars produced by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from the most powerful engines available to the Mercury line, the Marauder was marketed as the highest-performance version of the full-size product range.
During its first production run, the Mercury Marauder was a trim option on standard Mercury coupes; the equivalent of the Ford Galaxie 500 and 500/XL, the Marauder was given a "fastback" rear roofline. For 1966, the Marauder was replaced by the similar Mercury S-55; remaining the counterpart of the 500XL, the S-55 transitioned the Marauder from a trim option to a distinct model.
For its second production run, the Mercury Marauder returned for 1969 as a fastback version of the Mercury Marquis. Designed to bridge the gap between the Mercury Cougar and Continental Mark III, the Mercury Marauder was repackaged as a personal luxury car. After the 1970 model year, the Mercury Marauder was discontinued.
For the 2003 model year, the Mercury Marauder nameplate was revived as a high-performance variant of the full-size Grand Marquis. After lower than expected sales, the Marauder was discontinued at the end of the 2004 model year. As it was the final nameplate introduced on the Panther platform architecture, the Mercury Marauder remains the final rear-wheel drive sedan introduced by Ford Motor Company in North America.
Origin of name
The Marauder name made its first appearance in 1958 as Ford introduced a new family of V8 engines for its Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln brands. Exclusive to Mercury was a V8 engine. Dubbed Marauder, it produced with an optional 4-barrel carburetor. In that tune, the engine was available in the Montclair and Colony Park. Shared with Lincoln, a V8 was available as an option. Exclusive to Mercury, a Super Marauder triple two-barrel carburetor became the first mass-produced engine sold in the United States with an advertised output; the option was available on all Mercury vehicles.For 1959, the Super Marauder option was discontinued; the 430 remained, although retuned with slightly lower engine output. For 1960, 383 Marauders became optional in all Mercury vehicles, including the Monterey, Park Lane, and Commuter.
For the 1961 model year, the 383 and 430 big-block engines were phased out of the Mercury division, as the product cycle of Edsel-based vehicles ended and Ford sought to bring Mercury closer to the Ford brand. In response, Mercury shifted the use of the Marauder name on smaller Ford FE V8 engines.
First generation (1963–1965)
The Mercury Marauder nameplate made its debut as a trim package of each of the four Mercury full-size series, including the Monterey, Montclair, S-55, and Park Lane in the Spring of 1963. For the first time for a mid-year introduction, the Marauder was introduced as a "1963½" model. All 1963½ Marauders were two-door hardtops.In sharp contrast to the distinctive reverse-slant "Breezeway" roofline option, the Marauder hardtop coupe was styled with a sloping notchback rear roofline; matching the same roofline that was introduced at the same time on the contemporary Galaxies. This roofline was optimized to make the large sedan more competitive for stock car racing. Along with the "sportier" roofline, the Marauder trim package included bucket seats and central console, similar to its Ford counterpart.
For 1964, the availability of Mercury Marauder expanded to four-door hardtops; along with two-doors, four-door hardtops also included a fastback roofline. The blocky "Breezeway" models continued as before.
Shared with the rest of the Mercury sedan line, the Mercury Marauder was powered by Ford "FE-Series" V8 engines, shared with the big Fords and the Thunderbird. A 390 cubic-inch Marauder V8 was standard, with a 427 cubic-inch Super Marauder V8 replacing a 406 V8 in 1964. Along with 3-speed and 4-speed manual transmissions, a 3-speed "Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic" automatic transmission was offered.
For 1965, Mercury advertising emphasized the car's luxury and close relationship with Lincoln. This meant deemphasizing performance and sporty styling. This followed a general trend toward more luxury with the introduction of the Ford Galaxie 500 LTD, Chevrolet Impala Caprice, and Plymouth Fury VIP. Nevertheless Mercury continued to offer the Marauder option in all three series for both the hardtop coupe and hardtop sedan; however it wasn't heavily advertised. Marauders got a tiny emblem on the "C" pillar to distinguish them from other models. All full size Mercury hardtop coupes got the same "slantback" roofline as in the big Ford, which was basically a more sharply-angled version of the 1964 Marauder roofline. Four-door hardtops got a new formal "limousine" styled notchback roofline that was shared with Ford's Galaxie hardtop sedans. Mercury continued to advertise the big-block FE-series V8s as "Marauder" engines.
For the 1966 model year, as Mercury shifted away from full-size performance vehicles, the Marauder was replaced by a repackaged S-55; the move also consolidated the options of three model lines into a distinct nameplate.
Second generation (1969–1970)
For the 1969 model year, Mercury returned the Marauder nameplate to its product line. In addition to replacing the S-55, the Marauder was repackaged as a personal luxury car, effectively giving Mercury a competitor against the General Motors E-Body coupes. Sharing the roofline of the Ford XL and Ford Galaxie 500 SportsRoof, the Marauder shared its front sheetmetal and its interior trim with the Mercury Marquis. The Marauder was based on the 121-inch wheelbase chassis used by full-size Ford vehicles.Similar to other 1960s vehicles with fastback rooflines, its rear window was "tunneled", with large rear C-pillars. In the rear quarter panels, non-functional louvered side air intakes were added as a styling element.
By the end of the 1960s, demand for high-performance full-size cars had largely disappeared. In total, Mercury would sell about 15,000 examples for 1969, and barely a third of that for 1970; in comparison to the Marauder, Mercury would sell nearly 173,000 Cougars at the same time. Within the Lincoln-Mercury Division, the far more expensive Continental Mark III outsold the Marauder more than two-to-one from 1969 to 1970.
Powertrain
Standard versions of the Marauder were equipped with the Ford FE engine and a manual 3-speed transmission. The Marauder X-100 was only equipped with the Ford 385 engine| engine with a 3-speed FMX automatic as an option. The only transmission available with the 429 was the 3-speed Ford C6 automatic.Mercury Marauder X-100
To offer a higher-performance version of the Marauder, Mercury introduced the Marauder X-100. While nearly all features of the X-100 were cosmetic, the Marauder X-100 offered a choice of twin comfort lounge seats, bench seat or bucket seats with a floor console housing a U-shaped automatic transmission shift handle. The X-100 also featured Kelsey-Hayes road wheels along with rear fender skirts.Revival (2003–2004)
For 2003, Mercury revived the Marauder nameplate after a 33-year hiatus, becoming a performance-oriented version of the Grand Marquis four-door sedan. Offering upgraded chassis, suspension, and powertrain components over its Grand Marquis counterpart, the Marauder was similar in concept to both its 1960s namesake.For the first time since 1960, Mercury offered a full-size vehicle without a Ford counterpart. The 2003 Marauder launched a near-complete replacement of the Mercury model line; while the Grand Marquis and Mountaineer SUV remained in production, from 2004 to 2006, the division introduced the Monterey minivan, Mariner SUV, Montego sedan and Milan sedans ; the latter two replaced the Sable.
After the end of the 2004 model year, the Marauder was discontinued with no direct Mercury or Ford replacement. Initially predicted for sales of 18,000 vehicles per year, the revived Marauder sold slowly, with only 11,052 sold over its two-year production. In a key marketing success, the Marauder attracted younger buyers into Lincoln-Mercury showrooms; the average age of its buyer was 18 years younger than that of the Grand Marquis.
Development
At the 2002 Chicago Auto Show, Ford introduced the Mercury Marauder as a concept car. Serving as a preview of the production vehicle, the concept car was a two-door convertible with a five-passenger interior. Starting life as a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria LX, the concept car was powered by a supercharged 4.6L V8.The first full-sized convertible produced by Ford since the 1972 Ford LTD convertible and the first full-sized two-door sedan since 1987, the Marauder convertible was strictly intended as a concept car, although development into a production vehicle was under consideration, related to consumer demand.
Chassis
The 2003–2004 Marauder utilized the Panther platform. Along with sharing heavier-duty brake and suspension components with the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, the Marauder adopted many of the chassis upgrades introduced as part of the 2003 update of the Panther platform; rack-and-pinion steering replaced the long-running recirculating ball design previously used by the Grand Marquis.In place of the supercharged V8 from the concept vehicle, the 2003 Marauder was fitted with a 302 hp 4.6L DOHC V8; paired with a 4-speed 4R70W automatic, the engine was shared with the Mustang Mach 1 and Lincoln Aviator. The Marauder shared its limited-slip differential with the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, along with its aluminum driveshaft.
Body
In line with mid-1990s Chevrolet Impala SS, the 2003 Marauder was given a monochromatic appearance, with a wide majority of cars sold in black. In contrast to the Grand Marquis, the only chrome on the Marauder is its window trim, wheels, and Mercury emblems on the grille and trunklid.On the exterior, the Marauder shares most of its trim with the Grand Marquis; much of the rear and side trim is shared with the Crown Victoria LX Sport. Both bumpers are unique to the Marauder; the rear features the model name embossed on the bumper and is modified further to accommodate the larger Megs chrome tailpipe tips. The front bumper was redesigned with a central air intake added to improve engine ventilation; round Cibié fog lamps were added below the headlights. The headlight and corner light lenses had their non-reflective surfaces blacked out and the grille was painted black with a body-color surround. The taillight and reverse light lenses were dark-tinted to the minimum of DOT standards. Unique to the Marauder, the 18-inch five-spoke wheels have center caps with a revival of a 1960s Mercury emblem.
The interior of the Marauder resembled the configuration of the 2002 concept convertible, adopting a five-seat layout with a center console-mounted transmission shifter. Leather seating was standard, with satin aluminum trim replacing wood trim. Unique to the Marauder, the instrument panel was redesigned, with aluminum-finish gauges, a 140-mph speedometer; unique among Panther platform vehicles, the Marauder was fitted with a tachometer, requiring the relocation of the voltmeter and oil pressure gauges.