Funny story from the car wash

[Eric91Z]

So, a couple days ago the weather was almost balmy around here and the roads were drying up a little. I had a little time between class and heading back to work and the car was a mess. I wanted to hand wash, but no towels with me, so I took it through the local "tunnel" type car wash. Watched it all the way through and paranoid the whole time. Anyway, I am standing in the waiting area at the end where the cars come out and the dry them off. A guy is sitting there watching the car as it rolls out of the blow dryers. Then pull it forward to one of the doors.

At this point, the guy can see the Bob White decals in the rear bumper spelling out MARAUDER. He then looks around and asks if that is my car. I say "Yes".

He then says: "What is that? I have never heard of a Marooder."

Yes, he pronounces it with a "ooooh", like in "move" sound. I then of course have to correct him, politely, that it is MarAUder. He then asks what motor it has and I have to explain that. Other than a local cruise in spot and a car show, this is the first time I have actually had someone out in public ask me about the car.

Just thought it was funny. I mean, while it is the name of a car, the word Marauder has been used for other things in the English language and should not be that difficult to pronounce...:rolleyes:

[Hotrauder]

My car wash story was this past Monday. The day of my first heart attack..almost. I bought my wife a new 06 VW Passat. It has a cute starting proceedure in that the entire key fob is inserted into the dash activating the starter. Well at the exit end of the tunnel the guy jumps into the car to drive it away and can't figure out how to start it. The Ford F350 P/U behind her new little Passat is rapidly closing the gap at what looked like 200MPH and the guy is looking at the key fob and finding no key and the steering column and finding no key hole... He should have been looking at me watching the TRUCK about to crush Penny's baby and getting ready to get out his cell phone and call 911!!. Fortunately one of the little wiper gals ran over and hit the stop button. The truck was about 8 inches from disaster. When it stopped I remembered to breath again just in time to avoid falling my face. I think I will hire the kid next door from now on. Dennis:cool:

[merc6]

that would have sucked especialy if they had signs saying wash at your own risk. I had similar stories with the reading of the rear bumper going WTF? Those are the only times I enjoy it when people have no clue what it is :)

[Mad1]

I had parked the marauder off the on the shoulder of a itty-bitty country road outside of Nashville helping my step-son put a tire back on his 84 Celebrity. (Yeck! All 5 lug nuts came off while he was on his way home and the tire came off at speed. There's probably a story to be told about that, but on with the marauder annecdote.)

Here we are crouched on the side of the road working on putting in new studs on the Celebrity and a car blows past ... then stops and reverses back towards us. A guy gets out and wants to talk about the Marauder and how much he love the rims.

That stuff never ceases to amaze me.

Mad1
Jeremy

P.S. I did work for a while at a high-end car wash ... the stories I could tell you. There was the time some idiot forgot that the keys in his pocket would set off the metal detector that starts the car wash conveyor and nearly got himself crushed by a truck he was prepping. Or the time a foot "slipped" off the brake and onto the gas sending a brand new car through the closed garage door (I think some joker/moron armorall'd the pedals). Or there was the moment of sheer terror as I tried to cram my 6-foot frame down into a Jaguar and work the clutch without the use of my legs ... before an Econoline van rolled off the conveyor and into the idling jag.

[Leadfoot281]

I've had dozens of people come up to me and ask me about my Marauder. I have a nice chunk of Minnesota that draws hunters from everywhere. One of them from South Carolina tells me that we're just friendlier up here so that may explain all the inquirees on my car.:o

And yes, I've had to explain to several people how to pronounce Marauder. Marooder, lol, I've heard that too!

The best was at a truck stop when a guy came over and asked "Is that a Marauder?" Yeah, I said. "Does it run as good as it looks?". I said "You bet it does!"

The lady at the credit union ,where I financed it, asked me "Is Marauder a big truck or something?".

I even had a guy maybe 30 or so and his 8 or 9 year old son walk over to the car and look at the wheels. He said he thought the wheels were actually covers, but his son said that they were rims. He didn't believe his kid so they crossed the street, and actually touched my wheels!

Everywhere I go is a parade. Everytime I stop, it's a car show!

[cruzer]

Ginny and I were having breakfast at one of the local restaurants.Three men in their forties were seated in the booth behind her and she signalled me to listen closely to what they were saying--It went something like this " look at that blinged out black Grand Marquis--some punk kid must have inherited his granpa's car and is trying to impress the girls--even stuck "Marauder" on the bumper to make it look sinister---32valve, DOHC--who's he kidding--kids must think we're stupid". Ginny was smiling and she knew what was coming--" Pardon me Gentlemen, I couldn't help but hear you discussing my car--for your information, that is a 2003 Mercury Marauder-Limited Edition--bought it off the showroom floor just as she sits--wheels, chrome tail pipes and blackedd-out trim. The engine is a 2001 Ford Cobra engine, modified by Jack Rousch of NASCAR to produce over 300 HP--it will do a 1/4 mile in well under 15 seconds at a speed of over 96 mph---now if you would care to step outside , I'll show you a real muscle car built for discriminating drivers--and by the way, I'm 77 years old". Needless to say, when I popped the hood, I had them--ended up with some very embarrassed , but Marauder admiring men. I really enjoyed being called a Punk Kid again :)

[MENINBLK]

I get oogled all the time by people that don't know what a MarOOder is...

When they ask me, "Is it FAST ?"
I tell them, "It's faster than a speeding ticket !". LOL

[ckadiddle]

At the car wash, the Lexi, Caddies, Corvettes, BMWs, Hummers don't get a second look from the car wash dudes. When the Marauder comes off then end of the line, it ALWAYS gets an extra rev or two before they move it out for the finishing touches.