Marauder - the center of attention

[Mark McQuaide]

I've been getting a lot of looks, thumbs-up, etc., but this morning's ride was something else. On US 202 near Valley Forge, 3 lanes wide, I was tooling up the center lane at 60-70 mph, when a guy in an Explorer roars up on my right, opens his window, and starts yelling.

So I turn off the music, open the pass. window, and he's yelling over the wind roar,

"WHAT IS THAT?"

"MARAUDER!"

"WHAT YEAR?"

"03!"

Then his lane suddenly comes to an end, and he has to jam his brakes and get behind me before he gets killed. OK, that was interesting. Wait, here he comes again, back on my right:

"WHAT IS THAT? IS IT A LINCOLN?"

"MERCURY!"

"THAT'S A NICE CAR!"

He was exiting at this point, so we exchanged thumbs-up and I treated him to a 4-2 downshift and took off.

You know, if Mercury would actually advertise this car, I'm convinced they could sell a lot of them. There are a lot of folks out there who appreciate classic American iron - look at the popularity of Harleys, Navigators, Escalades, etc. I think the 'Rauder fits into this class of vehicle and buyer.

[Bigdogjim]

Mark: Well put I have had people that know cars tell me they saw me in my new "Lincoln" the other day? Still have to laugh.
Big Dog

[jefferson-mo]

My sister-in-law tells me the other day........."hey my neighbor saw you the other day in your car"

so I sez........."was I haulin' A$$?"


so she sez......"yeah"




yeah that was me..........:burnout:

[Matt Johnson]

Just yesterday I had two people ask me about the car while it was parked on the street while i was running some errands...

First stop, a guy was very interested and not as ignorant as most. Said to me, pointing to the car, "So is that basically the Mercury version of the Police Interceptor with a little more luxury?" I was in a hurry so I responded with a polite "More or less." He asked me cost, etc. Was very interested. Obviously here's another customer that Mercury would have for this car if they put the word out.

Second stop was a guy on the street who knew what the car was because his dad owned a Ford dealership and he was driving a "Crown Vic LX Sport with the 'SVT Cobra Engine in it'"? (could that be true?) Whatever he was driving, he was obviously impressed with MM's styling, and seemed to be slightly envious...however when asked about stock horsepower, seemed pleased that he was driving something else...

[vaderv]

Yep the Marauder is a star of carwashes, gas stations, schools, streets and so on. This must be what it feels like to own a Lamborghini or some other "exotic". Cool aint it? ; )

[CRUZTAKER]

I got the ......."that's the blackest car I have ever seen" today at the gas station.

I am not even finished with the stealth look yet!

[JohnnyB]

get a lot of looks too.... mostly from drivers of FOMOCO cars

[beast]

Yes, similar responses in San Antonio, Texas. A few thought I was undercover DEA or DPS.

If they'd just keep those finger, hand,face prints off the glass!

[BlackHole]

Like Norwalk today the most looked at of all the steetable ones.

[merc406]

Same thing happens with our 63.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Mark McQuaide

You know, if Mercury would actually advertise this car, I'm convinced they could sell a lot of them.


You know, I had the same experiences with my WS6 back in 1998, with the new restyled front end and Ram Air package. Every day I was stopped by someone wanting to know what it was, sometimes twice a day. Same story... if they'd have advertised it (they had 2 really cool commercials briefly appear on US TV), it would have sold much better (and might still be in production).

But then you've gotta ask yourselves: did they REALLY want this thing to sell? I got this real crackpot idea about how GM really didn't want to sell too many of these V8 coupes... my theory was that they didn't sell enough real econo cars to offset the CAFE hit they'd take on the V8s. I mean, I know a dozen or so fellow F-enthusiasts who, like myself, were aiming to get a new one in 1998 or 1999 when the LS1s were still hot off the presses, and they'd get every kind of runaround possible. Some guys waited 9 months for their order, got fed up, and went to Mustangs or other sport coupes instead. No amount of advertising would correct this situation... the excuses were "shortages of 6 speeds", "quotas", etc. Heck, the damned plant was idle 2/3 of the time, regardless of this "demand".

And all this because the Sunfires and Cavaliers just couldn't bring in the good fuel consumption numbers (I rented a Sunfire once that came close to reaching my WS6 fuel consumption levels with some aggressive driving!!).

So we gotta ask ourselves the following: does Mercury really WANT this car to sell? Are they okay with taking the CAFE hit? Are they selling enough fuel efficient cars to make up for the potential V8 sales? Can the Focus deliver the MPG numbers necessary? We no longer have the Festivas and barebones Escorts to keep up the CAFE numbers...

Just something to keep in mind...

[jgc61sr2002]

At first glance most people think the MM is a Lincoln. John:D

[LincMercLover]

You make a good point 3TA. If Ford would jump on a hybrid car like Honda has, then I doubt there would be any worries for Mercury to really boost the Marauders sales with some advertising!