Auto Young Likewise. Those or a GNX and towards the end of high school a 300c; and now that I take the first true step into adulthood cars like these would be the best way to have fun while being able to haul the wife kid and dog
Auto Young I've always wanted this since I knew it existed. Multiple issues though: A. I'm too young for that much power and B. Cant afford it. I intend to get a P71 and drive that as a daily for around 5 years or so, and after college (if they're still around) try for a DOHC engine swap.
Get the Grand Marquis if you can find them. Marauder is hard to find, but the GMQ can give you the same power with a bit less sporty punch. I feel like I'm driving a sleeper with my Marquis. I plan on putting dual exhaust and a larger air intake on mine to boost the power though.
I have a 80 yr old customer that bought 1 of these new.. The salesman said, " Oh no sir, you don't want this 1, how about an LS? " He replied "Hell no! This is as close as I can get to my '70.." I have serviced and driven this car multiple times. It is LOUD and obnoxious to say the least. And I love it! It's a cop car on steroids.
@@Watcher3223 Just noticed a LS yesterday. Body panels look like they were shifted slightly, oxidation around badges. Not the car it could have been. Like a mid 90s Acura. Tarnished, but entirely capable.
Not the fastest car but you gotta remember it's a full size sedan with a Mach 1 motor. Sure you won't beat Mustangs or anything but losing by a couple yards ain't bad when you got 4doors of comfort. I'm happy with my 2003 Marauder.
CTJacob and 2 years later even worse. CVTs and direct fuel injection make many CUVs perform as well as this but no character and i wonder at comfort and reliability
Imagine this came out with the 03 cobras 4.6 supercharged v8 390hp, I still remember when the cobra came out and ran mid 12s and was the fastest mustang in production. Now I own the 03 marauder and 03 cobra :)
Jon Davis does an exceptional job with these reviews. The intro at 1:05 is presented very clearly in a quick and informative manner. Backing a kick ass intro that makes anyone want to watch the rest of the review.
I've had the pleasure of driving a few of these working at a Lincoln/Mercury dealer and this is still one of my favorites! Sure, sure, it's not "fast" per say, I've driven much quicker cars, but those cars were typically smaller too, but for it's class this car is damn quick. And the exhaust note still resonates in my memory today. If I've got a chunk of change to blow on a car I'd probably still buy one.
MAN_ON_WHEELZ go for it, I saw one recently (about a year ago) in long Island NY with about 8k miles and in pristine condition going for 8k, and that was at a dealership....they also had no idea what it was, figured it was "just" a panther body grand marq....I know, cuz I was working there. never sold it, wound up being auctioned for 4500....whoever eventually got that car got away with murder haha
Garrett Smith WHAAAAAAT?!?! I look online around here and the car is worth at least $15,000 for a steal! How do you not know what this thing is?!?! JUST LISTEN TO THE EXHAUST!!! lol God I miss driving these cars.
+iBeer420noscope You sure about that? Cause just assuring any upgrades you add won't damage the drivetrain alone may run you a grip. If you do manage to get a CV to go faster you'll likely have spent the same or more than you would simply buying a Marauder.
Awesome car!! I remember eyeing these back in '03 at the dealership, while taking my '88 Grand Marquis in for service. My '88 was a great running car. The 302 had nice power, would light the tires up off of the line, nothing fast at higher speeds but cruised nicely. Ride was velvety smooth, a true luxury cruiser.
I got a retired Crown Vic Police Interceptor a couple of weeks ago, it's probably gonna be the closest thing i'll ever get to one of these Marauders, and I love it already. Love these old Panther platform boats, as well as their B body rivals from GM.
do the crown vic police cars have a better transmission than the caprice LTZ or impala SS, i keep seeing they cant handle the power of the LT1 and break easily.
@@jinglemyberries866 Honestly? I wouldn't know because I've never had an Impala SS or Caprice (would honestly love to have a Caprice 9C1). But I can say the Police Interceptor's transmission is pretty sturdy, even coming with its own intercooler.
0-60 is not always representative of real world performance. Where this big Merc shines is in passing power when, say, you are behind a yozo in a pick up doing 50 and you need to get around him. This car just blasts past cars when passing. This is typical for heavy but powerful cars. Their 0-30 is ho hum, but 30 - 60 is a flash.
I feel like what really held this car back performance wise was the 4 speed Auto and 3.55 gears. I think if it had an extra gear and 3.73s or 4.10s it would be a lot quicker
Awesome car. With a set of 4.10's, a looser converter and a good tune these were bad ass cars!!!!! I had a 97 that I swapped to dual exhaust, 3.73's, a Jmod and a good tune and it was as quick as a 5 speed mustang GT of the same vintage.
I always loved these. Saw an old lady driving one a few months back. Wonder if she thought she was just getting a standard Grand Marquis? Then again, there's an old lady that works out at my gym that drives a Mustang Laguna Seca , and she really drives it. She doesn't drive like an old lady.
I remember being at the local ford dealership as a kid when my dad was looking at a yellow mustang GT convertible 5 speed, and I was running through the cars and smacked my head off the mirror of a marauder. I still want one! But a P71 will do too.
DrewLSsix yeah, but ford is still stuck on the front wheel drive kick... i HATE front wheel drive... horrible under steer, chews through tie rods and ball joints, the cv axles dont last long, they handle like shit... had a 96 continental, what a fucking nightmare under that hood... cramped... could barely get the oil filter out when changing the oil... and it was almost impossible to get the radiator out to swap it... it had to come out the bottom...
That sounds like any RWD modern tbh, a f'kin pain in the arse, and all manufacturers are designing cars so that home servicing is near impossible, so you are tied to them for even a basic service. FWD cars are vastly superior when it comes to handling, and are much safer in the wet, because RWD cars constantly want to wag the tail, no weight over the driven wheels causes oversteer, even a Capri 1.6 will go sideways in the rain, and that has bog all power. American car companies haven't yet cracked how to make a decent FWD car, American cars are lets face it designed to go in a straight line, when it comes to the twisties, oh dear. I've had loads of FWD cars that have been a doddle to work on, a full service in 45 mins(plugs, points,cap and rotor arm, plug leads,oil, filters and coolant change), that was because the cars were deliberately designed for ease of maintenance, now if you don't have a laptop or canbus tool, you are pretty much screwed
craigybus1 vastly superior in adverse conditions maybe.... during regular daily driving quite unlikely. Emergency maneuvering, stopping distance, lateral grip ,maximum acceleration , HANDLING..... ALL GO TO REAR DRIVE VEHICLES OVER FRONT WHEEL DRIVE. always exceptions but none would compete with best rear wheel drive cars.. especially before 2014 or so. Ever notice how many grandma's drive the marquis and crown Vic. Outside of the snow belt/rust belt front wheel drive is totally irrelevant and inside of it we prefer all wheel drive or rear wheel drive if you can drive.... even in the snow. Nothing worse than understeering into oncoming traffic because your hand brake ,or even worse parking brake is broken.... front wheel drive.. = toy car. Not that any motor vehicle should be viewed as a toy.. just saying.
I drove a 1988 Mercury Grand Maquis up in the mountains of PA for three years. all you have to do is put some sand bags in the back and 2 Copper Weather master Studded winter tires.
Love these. I remember when the FL Hwy Patrol purchased some to use as unmarked cruisers. I know they had some silver ones. I think, like the Impala SS, Marauders only came in black the first year, but then added a couple more colors by the next year.
I was very excited about this car in 2003 so I took one for a test drive. I just wasn’t satisfied with the performance but the looks were killer. I ended up waiting a year and getting the “new” Pontiac GTO.
I actually liked the 04-06 GTO because it was essentially a Corvette disguised as a Pontiac Grand Am or something like that. They were real sleepers. Plus it probably cost half as much as a Vette and actually had a back seat so it really could be used as a family car. A guy I know had one but he rolled it
Florida Highway Patrol had 18 brand new Marauders in different colors donated to them back in '04, and they used them for unmarked patrol duties throughout the state. I used to see them occasionally with someone stopped on I-4 or I-95 around Daytona.
My 05 Volvo S80 Premier with an T6, twin cam, twin turbo in-line 6. My Volvo weighs 3900 pounds and this luxury car runs 0-60 in 5.1 seconds consistently! 1/4 mile is 14.9 seconds at 104 mph all day long!
Owned one, loved it! Sold it because the black paint was a pain to keep clean, poor quality paint to begin with, looked good though when clean and polished. Took up all the space in my one car garage.
It sounds so good ! I would love to borrow one just for about 2 hours. The first hour to drive it , and the second hour to sit behind a bridge overpass on the New Jersey Turnpike with 3 quarters of the car visible and watch everyone braking and wondering ! ! ! Yes ! ! ! ! ! !
It's no Grand National, but definitely a cool car for its time. I think Mercury was testing the market with this car, but they didn't go far enough with horsepower or styling. There were a LOT of things they could have done to get this car out the door, but I'm inclined to believe the people on the development team were getting push back from management to keep the cost down.
+Push Back I concur. These cars needed an engine with a lot of torque. It would have been doable. In fact I was going to buy one back then. It sounded great, but needed more engine. It should have had one.
a 5.4 dohc would have been nice...or the dohc v10 they prototyped a few years earlier! they should have done the 2 door they mocked up also, it was a convertible but a 2 door hardtop would have been awesome.
A hidden gem among modern sedans, it’s too bad nobody saw this review, it basically explains why it’s the most bad ass sedan ever made yet almost no one bought it and it faded into history very quickly, ironically most of them ended up as police cars because they had the money to buy them, in fact the US military had a lot of them
@@FL50ssp Negative. The impala ss is only faster 0-60 and sometimes at quarter-mile times. It also has a more cushy/softer ride than the Marauder, however the Marauder handles way better and pulls harder on the highway. I own both a 1995 and a 2003. Both stock
I never did understand why the 5.4 liter never made it into this model. The Marauder wasn't even as fast as a mid-90s Impala and the Impala had a old-school pushrod motor. Dropping a Coyote moter in the bay might may things interesting, though.
Lol This is the 32v 4.6, even the cop cars were stuck with 16v 4.6's. If my vic had this set up I would be happy. You think this is underpowered try 2.73 open diff, "239hp".
Favorite vehicle of the Panther Platform! 4.6L Modular DOHC (Dual Overshaft Cam Engine IIRC), V8, 302hp, had the brakes and suspension of the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, and had a lot more good stuff.
I know people bitch about this car, but if I was looking for a 4 door sedan in 03 this is what I would have wanted. A few more bolt on mods could have made it a real highway beast, and as it came from the factory it was pretty cool.
supercharger, injectors and map put it in the 515-535hp range. my neighbor had one and built it in stages. he was trying to be faster than my dakota rt. lol. what he didnt know was, i pulled my motor and stroked it to 414. hahaha. wh had a blast in that car though. was one hell of a cruiser.
Saw one a few days ago cruising through a Walmart parking lot in Coos Bay, Oregon. Sixty-something grey haired lady behind the wheel...And that car sounded G O O D, people !
It only cost $5,000 more than the Grand Marquis which sold for $30,000 and a Lincoln Town Car that same year so for $45,000 new. So 35,000 for a tricked-out mean looking car with more horsepower and torque really wasn't a bad deal
Launches like a pussycat 🤣 That was great John! LOL, What an awesome sports sedan! I currently own a 2008 Ford Crown Vic LS. It has the SOHC 4.6 and it's a joy to drive. The Power increases of the Marauder puts these panther platform cars over the top!
Old post I know...but I notice that MotorWeek didnt tell us all that the oil gage is a 'dummy gage'...it is preset to only show 1 pressure....not the actual oil pressure as it goes up or down, it just defaults to a preset 'ok' number...thats a lot of help!
They did. My 07 crown Vic Lx Sport has the same stance similar wheels floor shift leather etc no gauges by the shifter. Gotta see it to appreciate it. Lower HP of course.
I had just bought a black Crown Vic when they rolled this out. Grrrr! It was a great car for clearing out the malingering nimrods in the left lane but terrible in the snow.
The heads on these engines are fantastic. Could be the best mass produced American V8 street heads ever. Only closed chamber 351 Cleveland heads or Chevy LS6 heads come close.
See? That's what I mean. Why would you want to want to put your little wee wee into another guy's mouth? Why would you even joke about it? Say, does your mother know you're on the computer again?
I remember when I whipped one of these with my Shelby GLHS. The guy was so pissed when I told him it was a 4cyl fwd car! Once a boat always a boat. Give me the Grand National any day!
A Shelby GLHS is a little shitbox with no room in it whatsoever. Good car if you're a midget but I'd take that Marauder any day of the week even if it is a bit slower. It's 100x better looking and better built than any 80's shitbox. Those Turbo Buicks were pretty bad ass though. Only car I would ever buy from the 80's
I was excited to buy one of these when new, but after all the tests came out I decide it was just too slow. Not enough torque. It needed a supercharger or a 5.4.
This car is wonderful and hilarious. MotorWeek, if you ever reviewed the Pontiac Bonneville GXP, Grand Prix GXP, or W-body Impala SS (with the 303 V8)... any chance we can get those as Retro Reviews too? There was a wonderful resurgence of capable yet half-assed Detroit muscle in the mid-2000s, and I (and surely others) have a soft spot for those cars.
These were not meant to be speedsters, they were meant to be big, loud and badass. SO STOP POSTING MY CAMRY CAN GO 0-60 in 6 seconds. NOT A GOOD COMPARISION. 4000 lb cars were not meant to be super fast
kita- s4 weighs 3800 1bs while the mercury weighs 4200 lbs, has all wheel drive, is supercharged, is a much newer car with a dual clutch transmission and costs double what the mercury costs. also, motor week always posts ridiculously slow 0-60 times....do some research online and you'll see the marauders do 60 in the 5s. you are an imbecile....
@@dudndadn12212 - you forgot to mention the turbo. All you import people always talk about my 4 cylinder this , my 6 cylinder that but conveniently forget to mention the turbocharger.