newspaper article-burns me up

[pappyjack]

In our newspaper was an article about the 300C getting auto show honors in Detroit-ok-that's fine I'm sure it is a nice car-but this has got my goat-at the end it said"Chrysler has single-handedly reinvented the large, V-8 powered American sedan"--road & track-as a Marauder owner for a year and proud of it -that burns my fanny-what do you all think? -- pi**** in Carolina

[dwasson]

The reason they can say that is that nobody bought the Marauders.

[Wires]

In our newspaper was an article about the 300C getting auto show honors in Detroit-ok-that's fine I'm sure it is a nice car-but this has got my goat-at the end it said"Chrysler has single-handedly reinvented the large, V-8 powered American sedan"--road & track-as a Marauder owner for a year and proud of it -that burns my fanny-what do you all think? -- pi**** in Carolina
I owned a 1996 Dodge Intrepid, traded it for a 1997 Concorde (same car, 96 had an engine problem) and test drove a 98 Intrepid. (new style)

The fit and finish on these cars was TERRIBLE! The cars I owned creaked and rattled and made all kinds of strange noises. Body gaps were uneven, interior panel gaps were uneven -all visible to the naked eye! The 98 I drove was no better than the cars I owned.

I can't help but wonder if these new Chryslers are any better.

Funny, how CHrysler gets all this credit for "reinventing the v8, RWD sedan" when they were the FIRST to stop making RWD v8 cars back in the 80's.

LeBaron anyone?

[BUCKWHEAT]

In our newspaper was an article about the 300C getting auto show honors in Detroit-ok-that's fine I'm sure it is a nice car-but this has got my goat-at the end it said"Chrysler has single-handedly reinvented the large, V-8 powered American sedan"--road & track-as a Marauder owner for a year and proud of it -that burns my fanny-what do you all think? -- pi**** in Carolina

You won't be so wigged if you note that the newspaper gets lots of ad revenue from the auto industry...and D-Chrysler is close to the top of the page. In new cars, it's all about today, and our beloved MM's are (unfortunately) yesterday's news. If you think of "reinvented" in the "it-really-looks- ugly" sense, then, yes, The 300C has achieved that pinnace.

John

[valkyrie]

In our newspaper was an article about the 300C getting auto show honors in Detroit-ok-that's fine I'm sure it is a nice car-but this has got my goat-at the end it said"Chrysler has single-handedly reinvented the large, V-8 powered American sedan"--road & track-as a Marauder owner for a year and proud of it -that burns my fanny-what do you all think? -- pi**** in Carolina


My view more than likely won't be a popular one but here it goes anyway.

Whether we like the end result or not Chrysler is taking the lead with the RWD V8 cars. They came out with the 300C, the Magna with the 6.1 is coming out and they are following with with the Charger. We may think they are ugly, not what the Marauder is or whatever but, who is competing in this market? Ford? Not. They put a different body on the Mustang push it out to the market and they will call it for the day.

I am proud of my Marauder as well. I have spend much time, money and headaches for this car. But there has been no followup. Mercury was unwilling to go the full mile and they haven't done anything since then.

Now let the bashing begin. I will be sitting down waiting for it. :help:

[seans]

No bashing needed. You are 100% correct. It will be another couple of years before Ford comes up with anything new to compare to our beloved Marauders. :(

[Wires]

No bashing from me. The Panther platform got a slight re-design for 2003 only due to the change in government regulations - engineers used the opportunity to add rack and pinion steering and the stiffer frame that they would not have had otherwise. As you said, Ford hasn't put anything into this style of car.

Re-skin the Mustang, trot out the same Panther platform, and cancel the Marauder instead of improving it.

GM is moving in the same direction - killing the Caprice (Hope I didn't just type a profanity around here.) and then the Camaro. Bringing the Holden over and calling it a Grand Prix is a step in the right direction, but a far cry from the affordable, RWD V8 cars that the Camaros and Caprices (Impalla, there I go cussing again.) were.

[STLThunder]

I've owned a couple of Chysler products and had the same experience of poor fit and finish. They always felt sort of tinny to me too. Friends that have owned Chrysler Jeeps have also had mechanical problems with them.

As for the Pontiac GTO, I haven't seen one on the road yet. I do see lots of Chrysler 300's and Magnum's though. I wonder if they'll hold up in the long run?

[Bluerauder]

-at the end it said"Chrysler has single-handedly reinvented the large, V-8 powered American sedan"--road & track
And Al Gore invented the internet all by himself as well. Don't believe everything that you read ... except maybe here on the MM.Net :D or maybe not even here either. :dunno:

One thing is for sure though, Chrysler is sure picking up and running with the V8 RWD ball now that Ford Motor Company has fumbled it away. :D

[Joe Walsh]

Originally I was upset that Mercury sold so few Marauders.....But now I'm soooo glad. I see 300Cs EVERYWHERE! Let Chrysler sell all they want...they will be like Hondas: frickin' common as SH_T and no one pays any attention to them.

[chicago_cop]

I owned a 1996 Dodge Intrepid, traded it for a 1997 Concorde (same car, 96 had an engine problem) and test drove a 98 Intrepid. (new style)

The fit and finish on these cars was TERRIBLE! The cars I owned creaked and rattled and made all kinds of strange noises. Body gaps were uneven, interior panel gaps were uneven -all visible to the naked eye! The 98 I drove was no better than the cars I owned.

I can't help but wonder if these new Chryslers are any better.

Funny, how CHrysler gets all this credit for "reinventing the v8, RWD sedan" when they were the FIRST to stop making RWD v8 cars back in the 80's.

LeBaron anyone?

Only Time will tell. But these cars are made somewhat by Damlier. The Tranny is Benz 5 speed. They advertize as well. No One can convince me the 300C is any better. *I'll take my MM over any Chrysler in looks any day.

[Vortex]

Hey the 300C is an okay car if you dont mind the looks and the GTO is a fine car (can buy an 04 for 23k now I hear) but Ill still keep my MM. It may not be quite as fast but Im sure it handles better than the 300, looks cooler than the GTO and is about 100 percent more practical than either. Besides, the looks on our MMs will improve with age (like the Impalas), only we're members of a more exclusive club. Im quite happy with my car.

[ELKO1]

Ford should have done better. Poor marketing and too high a price tag were too blame for the MM. For 35K, they should have been 5.4 DOHC/Eaton supercharged, think they would have sold then? Since they Brought back Marauder, there should have been a Galaxie as well....yea Ford and Mercury limited edition Full-size cars...just like the old days. I am not happy with Ford, I find their lack of vision frustrating at times, they did this to themselves, and now Dodge will make their claims to the re-birth of the RWD V8 sedan. I still love my Rauder though and thanks to Ford........it's rare!

[Bigdogjim]

No bashing from me either!

I agree. Ford droped the ball:mad:

We'll just have to see what comes out next that gets us back in the showrooms:confused:

[jerrym3]

You folks aren't going to like this, but in a recent car mag doing small write-ups on 50 automobile execs, there was a comment after one of the Ford execs that "Ford missed the musclecar boom", or something to that effect.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger!

[MarauderMark]

I think you should goto that newspaper in your MM march right into that place and find the editor and tell him that the Black car outside has 2 tons of expolsives inside and unless he writes a better artical on the MM and gets it out to the public that this place will never write any articals about 300C's again.just imagine the pubilcity you'll get and the car will be on t.v. as long as you can last..Way to represent.. :up: j/k :lol:

[MYSTA KANG]

Ford should have done a better job. But lets be honest..... what American Car company can compete with the SRT Group? They have taken the game over and raising the bar. Regardless of what people may say the bottom line is this. SRT is the ultimate package to get right now. Ford and Chevy should have completed thier homework and went out like the SRT guys done and talked to the public. They didnt, and they lost!

[MENINBLK]

The reason they can say that is that nobody bought the Marauders.

How can you say that ?
Didn't YOU buy a Marauder ?

The Marauder was a LIMITED PRODUCTION model.
We keep saying it in this site again and again.
It was NOT a mainstream production package like the GM LS or the CV Sport.
That is what keeps the Marauder special and different.

I see 300Cs all over like ants...no ROACHES...
The drivers of the 300Cs still look at my Marauder with their mouths OPEN...

[carfixer]

...The Marauder was a LIMITED PRODUCTION model.
...

I believe if Ford sold this car well, their limit would have been the sky. They shot for 18,000 first year. If they sold them out with a wait list, they would have built as many as the market would take with no limit, IMO. The only limited production car from Ford is the GT, they could easily sell 10 times what they're producing.

The way I see it, the 300C is gonna force Ford to react with a RWD high performance sedan. I just hope they put a Mercury badge on it.

[Silver_04]

Almost every manufacturer has a performance division right now. SVT is on the back of milk cartons with a large "Missing" label. Ford has plenty of cars to play with but they aren't doing anything and I was very bothered to see ZERO production based hot rods from Ford at the Detroit auto show. Anyone notice there was no concept for a Mustang Cobra...very odd IMO. Where's a performance version of the LS, how come the T-bird doesn't get hot-rodded? Ford will become Honda's truck division if it keeps this nonsense up.

Caddy is getting some really neat V series cars and GM is sprinkling V8's all over the place, albeit a lot of the cars are still FWD. Ze folks at Chrysler have the right performance formula but I stay away because of the lack of quality. Maybe we can credit the people at Chrysler marketing for making people want to buy 300's and Magnums. If Ford sold more than 11k Marauders over two model years do you really think the car would have disappeared with no definite plans for the future? I mean c'mon everytime I took my MM in for service it was a Grand Marquis in the computer because that is what the VIN came up as and was handled by wrenches who had no idea how to work on the car. Yeah, that's a caring attitude from Ford for a limited production performance vehicle. Really makes me want to come back for more.

[jerrym3]

IMHO, Ford didn't hotrod the LS or the TBird (I own one of each) because they didn't want to step on Jaguar's toes.

The Jag S engine and trans would probably have fit in the TB or LS. Don't know about the Jag S R powertrain.

So what do they do for the TBird's 50th anniversary?

They offer a special color.

While quickly browsing one of the latest car mags, I think I saw an article stating that the future LS will be equipped with a Yamaha V8 with over 300 HP. But, it will be based on the Ford 500 platform.

Towncar going FWD also, but I haven't really read the full article.

[RF Overlord]

Here's another angle...

Everyone who's commented so far has said "300C this" and "300C that"...

What many people I've spoken to don't realise, is that the platform is actually just called the 300...

There's a plain vanilla 300, a 300 Touring, a 300 Limited, then there's the 300C (and they all look alike). The "C" is the only one with the Hemi...the 300 Touring and Limited get a 3.5L V6, and the plain 300 only gets the little 2.7L V6 "sludge monster" motor...(!)

I'd be interested in a breakdown of how many of each model have been sold...

Yes it's ugly, but at least DCX is building a RWD car with some muscle that DOESN'T look like a ricer (hear that, Pontiac?)

[Bradley G]

Ford crippled the Marauders sucess by not promoteing the car at launch(they rarely get that right)And by restricting the power for fuel mileage.They played it safe and did bare minimum!I understand the 5.4 Liter would not fit in the panther platform, but at the price Ford had to sell them for, they could have delivered the goods up fronT !IMHO
If the Stock Marauder was a beast from the git go How many do you think they would have sold? and REBATES? :laugh: Maybe I should'nt laugh too hard I may not have been able to get one:o
Bradley G

[Dark_Knight7096]

Towncar going FWD also, but I haven't really read the full article.
NNNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :soap: Me and the rest of the :pimp: s in america will be very angry if they change the Towncar.

[Silver_04]

Towncar going FWD also, but I haven't really read the full article.

*Thwak, thwak, thwak*...sound of head hitting the computer desk. I give up on hearing good news from Ford.

[MENINBLK]

Towncar going FWD also, but I haven't really read the full article.

This can't be true.

With everyone bringing out RWD cars now, if the Town Car goes FWD, then so will the Mercury GM and Ford CV.

[GreekGod]

My understanding is it wasn't Mercury or Ford that KILLED the Marauder, it was Elena Ford and US regulations that "did in" the Marauder. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
My view more than likely won't be a popular one but here it goes anyway.

Whether we like the end result or not Chrysler is taking the lead with the RWD V8 cars. They came out with the 300C, the Magna with the 6.1 is coming out and they are following with with the Charger. We may think they are ugly, not what the Marauder is or whatever but, who is competing in this market? Ford? Not. They put a different body on the Mustang push it out to the market and they will call it for the day.

I am proud of my Marauder as well. I have spend much time, money and headaches for this car. But there has been no followup. Mercury was unwilling to go the full mile and they haven't done anything since then.

Now let the bashing begin. I will be sitting down waiting for it. :help:

[teamrope]

They always felt sort of tinny to me too.

And all this time I though it was just me. I even felt a lack of elbow room behind the wheel of their 1 ton P/U!

[MENINBLK]

My understanding is it wasn't Mercury or Ford that KILLED the Marauder, it was Elena Ford and US regulations that "did in" the Marauder. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

If it was US regulations, then what is Chrysler's excuse for the 2006 300 ??

[dwasson]

How can you say that ?
Didn't YOU buy a Marauder ?



Yeah but I'm nobody.

[prchrman]

I believe that the 94 -96 SSs were the beginning of a good thing in America. Europe had 4 door sport packages but besides law enforcement vehicles I can not for the life of me think of one hot 4 door before the SS... Maybe a Linc with suicide doors of the mid sixties but not really...there were 4 doors with big motors but they just did not fit the same bill as the SS...in the 50s and 60s no self respecting hot rodder would be caught in a 4 door...there were a few but very few outside of cop cars...Lets give credit to where credit is due... the SS the MM and now the 300C...GM set the mark with the SS and it is still a very nice ride indeed...The SS and MM are IMHO more Americanized than the 300C...but it is still a swift steed with room for the family and fairly good looks...If it were possible to have one of each, brand new at the same price I would have to test drive the SS and MM to decide which to buy...I would not even test the 300C because it just does not measure up on the cat walk in my opinion...For someone to say that the 300C is redefining the sport sedan is just ludicrius...it has already been done...twice...willie

[mrjones]

[QUOTE=MYSTA KANG]Ford should have done a better job. But lets be honest..... what American Car company can compete with the SRT Group?

Ford could easily compete with the 300C if they wanted to, by using our suspension, and the new 5.4L 3valve truck engine. 300hp/365lb/ft tq on 87 octane? That would do the trick. Still not as much hp, but at least it would be competitive.

Aesthetics is much more subjective. I'm not that fond of the 300C, but I really do like the Magnum. I find my MM much more appealling, and going by the looks that I receive from other motorists still, there's certainly something about it that catches the public's eye.

[awsmvic]

My view more than likely won't be a popular one but here it goes anyway.

Whether we like the end result or not Chrysler is taking the lead with the RWD V8 cars. They came out with the 300C, the Magna with the 6.1 is coming out and they are following with with the Charger. We may think they are ugly, not what the Marauder is or whatever but, who is competing in this market? Ford? Not. They put a different body on the Mustang push it out to the market and they will call it for the day.

I am proud of my Marauder as well. I have spend much time, money and headaches for this car. But there has been no followup. Mercury was unwilling to go the full mile and they haven't done anything since then.

Now let the bashing begin. I will be sitting down waiting for it. :help:
I for one will reluctantly agree with you. Fords "marketing" program-especially of it's "performance" line-is and has been for years, pathetic. I realize the SVT vehicles are very limited production vehicles, but it's all about getting the word out to the general public. How many SVT ads do you recall seeing for the SVT Contour and even the Lightning, for that matter? Chrysler has managed to penetrate the general public with their rwd vehicle line because they've spent much more $$$ on advertising. But IMHO, a Chrysler product will always be...a Chrysler product, which says pretty much everything. I am just thankful I was able to get a new Marauder right at the end of the 2004 model year. They will have to "pry it from my cold, dead hands".

Steve
2004 Silver Frost Marauder (2000 miles)
2004 Black Crown Vic LX "Sport" (7000 miles)

[jerrym3]

Ford didn't do a big sales push on the Marauder to the general public via TV ads, but, let's keep in mind that this was not a high volume car to begin with. So, right or wrong,they decided to put their ad bucks on the real cashcows: the SUV models.

But, if you were the type of person/driver that the Marauder appealed to, you most likely either read one or more of the monthly car magazines, or attended at least one major autushow. So, the Marauder wasn't a big secret, at least not initially.

The two things that killed the car out of the chute were:

1) Setting a high bar by claiming it was a musclecar right out of the box (burnout ads, Ford's claims, etc). When the initial performance reviews were less than glowing, the problems started. (I was shocked when John Davis/Motorweek said the car was "a ****ycat off the line".)

2) Dealer greed, or MSRP mark up, was another killer.

I first saw a Marauder in the metal at a dealership during the Marauder's whirlwind tour to certain high volume dealers. I was a little surprised that, even though the car was parked right in front of the main entrance to the dealership, everybody just seemed to walk by it.

I'm also pretty sure that I saw early ads for the Lincoln LS which leaned towards performance (an aerial shot of an LS going along a dirt road with a dustcloud behind the car?).

When did you see the last LS ad, unless it was a quick shot of the car in a showroom during the "rebate incentive" burst of ads.

Now, whenever there's a magazine article about performance sedans, Ford has no entry, even though they still sell the LS, and the car's no slouch..

Sad.

[Shaft333]

The success of the 300 and the Magnum is signifigant. If the sales volume holds - the folks at Ford will have to follow up with their answer.

GM will be slower still. The Impala will get a V8 but it will still be wrong wheel drive.