Motor Trend newsletter lists MM as a Merc "miss"

[jerrym3]

I don't have a dog in this fight (two of my present cars were not big sellers and have been discontinued, retro TBird and Lincoln LS), but I just received a Motor Trend newsletter via email that included an article on Mercury and their hits and misses.

Marauder was listed as a miss...................

[MrBluGruv]

If you factor in that it was a 15 second car in stock trim, and almost ONLY that, it could be considered a miss I guess. I doubt these people have ever had the pleasure of driving one if they really think it's a miss though.

[Egon Spengler]

Technically it was a miss! They wanted to make 18,000, but the demand wasn't there, so they lowered their expectations to 12,000 and only wound up making the 11,052... I'd call that a miss.

It is fast for a four door, but could have been faster, could have had better get up and go, and could have had a better price tag on her.

[djv5150]

The miss was marketing the vehicle, they failed to do so, they missed by not putting together a marketing campaign. I new about the car when it was a concept due to close relationship I have with my local LM Dealer. I only saw the TV commercial 1 time during the 3 years the car was for sale new.
just my 2 cents

[Egon Spengler]

The miss was marketing the vehicle, they failed to do so, they missed by not putting together a marketing campaign. I new about the car when it was a concept due to close relationship I have with my local LM Dealer. I only saw the TV commercial 1 time during the 3 years the car was for sale new.
just my 2 cents
This is true as well. Did push 'em as hard as they could have. Like all the articles say, Ford was pushing Ford. Kind of neglecting the other brands. They seem to push Lincoln a little harder than Mercury causing Mercury to go kerplop down the toilet

[vkirkend]

And the ones they made stayed on the dealer lots a long time. it is a miss if you gauge interest in the vehicle, abeit they did no advertising.

[Bluerauder]

Marauder was listed as a miss...................

I have been enjoying the H3LL out of my MISS for 6 and 1/2 years. What the heck does Motor Trend even know about these cars. :P Screw 'em. :eek:

[knine]

I have been enjoying the H3LL out of my BLUE MISS for 6 and 1/2 years. What the heck does Motor Trend even know about these cars. :P Screw 'em. :eek:
Fixed it for ya' :D

[musclemerc]

I like the new sig Knine.

[knine]

I like the new sig Knine.
Which part, the top line, bottom line or both? He posted that comment and I quoted it in less than 10 minutes. He then saw the quote almost immediately :lol:

[musclemerc]

The top part... It seems the empty wagon always makes the most noise huh?

[GAMike]

Lets face it............ Eleanor Ford will not ever be known in automotive circles as a marketeer extrordenaire...........

Straight from Steve Babcock's lips to alot of attentive ears at the Woodward Dream Cruise in 2007............

"At the time it was the best Ford product to ever hit the street"

"The Marauder was built to be an honest 200,000 mile probelm free car"

"The Marauder program made money for Ford...It was not in the red"

"We wanted to supercharge it, but could not accomplish that at the price point."

"Passing power was felt to be more important than off the line performance"

"4.10 gears would have brought the Marauder in at a lower EPA number (according to their testing criteria) than was specified at the programs outset....... An Eleanor Ford Prerequisite (Go figure).

So yea.... Lots of missed opportunity there...... If you remember 2002 was when Lexus really was hitting it out the park by marketing parts of their vehicles and why that part was worth the premiums Lexus was charging.

Mercury could have done the same thing to distinguish the Marauder from other Panthers (because there was a heck of alot of under the skin differences as we all now know) but we again are talking about the vision of a trust fund baby who nobody ever said "No" too in her life............

The Marauder program as Steve put it, was shelved not because it was a commercial failure, but because one of Eleanor's pet yes men, had a project he was behind that needed funding........... (Picture them standing in a hallway at Ford's Dearborn HQ talking) when another cronie interjects "Well thats about as much as the Marauder program costs" "why don't we just eliminate that?"

In my humble opinion it is this kind of callous off the kuff decision making that brought Detroit down.... Let hope they have learned their lesson, and lets hope Ford send Eleanor into retirement along with Mercury.

That was just one of her decisions, and i'm guessing that it affected at least 100 jobs in the Mercury division. Kind of a prelude to the divsional demise of Mercury today......

Anyone that tells you that Mercury Marauders were a miss, needs to define "Miss"........ P&L says win for Ford, quality was better through the entire run of vehicles than any Ford previous. Ride and handling for a big car was damn good, midrange power was at least as good as an Impala SS............ Looks are as distinctive today as they were then........

My only real gripes about the platform
-Brakes needed to be better out of the shoot
-Driver ergonomics could have been more contemporary
-Driver/front seats needed a little more bolster

None of em show stoppers, all I am sure would have been improved had they let the project run its full course (4-6 years if I remember correctly):burnout:

[johnnyrauder]

some of the best moives are considered miss...
and they end up being huge cult films,and very entertaining.
and is'nt that what the mm turned out to be a "cult" car if you will. and with a little tweeking it can be quite entertaining..

[Bluerauder]

"The Marauder program made money for Ford...It was not in the red"
At the awards breakfast following Marauderville III in Detroit, I recall Steve Babcock saying that at the $35,000 MSRP FORD was making about $10,000 on every Marauder sold. It was intended to offset losses in some of the other lines.

[Merc-O-matic]

At the awards breakfast following Marauderville III in Detroit, I recall Steve Babcock saying that at the $35,000 MSRP FORD was making about $10,000 on every Marauder sold. It was intended to offset losses in some of the other lines.

That "sticker" was the killer $35,000 MSRP.
With a MSRP of $29,995 it could have been a whole different ball game!

Gotta Love It!:mad2:

[jerrym3]

Just thinking out loud here in black and white.

Maybe Ford should have put the Marauder package in the Crown Vic and brought back the Galaxie or LTD name.

Mercury hasn't been Ford's performance brand for many years, and, like it or not, it's thought of as an older person's car. (Guys my age remember the Merc's performance days, but many young and middle aged buyers do not.)

Also, pushing the musclecar status without being a true musclecar may not have been the right move. Calling the car Ford's performance "Grand Touring Sedan" might have been a better approach.

In reality, out of the showroom, isn't that what it was?

[GAMike]

That "sticker" was the killer $35,000 MSRP.
With a MSRP of $29,995 it could have been a whole different ball game!

Gotta Love It!:mad2:

If the vehicle had been marketed properly, I don't think this would have been an issue at actual MSRP in 03-04 jmho......... They did nothing to create demand for this vehicle other than 2-3 commercials, a few ,mag reviews and a infomercial type video for "Test Drive".

Not a whole hell of alot for a $35k price point....... To be fair the car was not mean't to be a 50,000 unit a yr vehicle...... If I was to meet Steve again, I would want to ask him what the production target was- from his perspecitve, not Eleanor's......... If someone else knows this answer, please post up. Blue? You seem to be a wealth of knowledge about these stats. Anything you can recall???

[Vortex]

Ive always considered "Motor Trend" a bit of a miss myself; in 1978 they named the Dodge Omni their "Car of the Year", in 1983 it was the AMC/Renault Alliance.

[Bluerauder]

Not a whole hell of alot for a $35k price point....... To be fair the car was not mean't to be a 50,000 unit a yr vehicle...... If I was to meet Steve again, I would want to ask him what the production target was- from his perspecitve, not Eleanor's......... If someone else knows this answer, please post up. Blue? You seem to be a wealth of knowledge about these stats. Anything you can recall???

I recall Steve Babcock saying that the MM was only to be a limited production run of two years (same August 2005 MV II breakfast). It was never intended or envisioned to bust a production level of 15,000 over two years. I suspect that the 2004 production was planned for about 7,500 but was trimmed to about half of that because 2003s were still sitting on dealer lots and Mercury/Ford was offering deep discounts to move them. That's how I got mine in late 2003 for well under that $35K sticker.


Maybe Ford should have put the Marauder package in the Crown Vic and brought back the Galaxie or LTD name?

Didn't the "Marauder" concept start out as the Ford Blackhawk idea (Crown Vic based) back in 1999. That's when I started following the development. I believe there was a short article in Motor Trend -- only a paragraph or two in one of the sections about that timeframe.

[cruzer]

That was the price quoted to me by a regional Mercury rep in 1999 for a fully equipped Marauder. Also, the Marauder concept started in 1995 , I believe. If it was a 2 year car, why did they spend a a lot of money on a Convertible concept car ( the girus at Ford said no-one would pay $45,000 for a supercharged convert ????)--It was my understanding that there were to be 3 Marauders--ours, the Convertible and an all-out , supercharged 2-door, to be introduced at 2 year intervals. We were dropped in favor of the Lincoln LS and Jag new V-8--Elaine ????. All I can say is, I'm d---- glad they made the few they did--I'll drive mine til they take away my driver's license or there are no parts to keep it running. A lot of mistakes were made, but, as my Granpa used to say, "you don't know what happened unless you were standing there listening when the actions were taken) Let's just enjoy our Marauders as long as we can. Maury

[MMBLUE]

I have been enjoying the H3LL out of my MISS for 6 and 1/2 years. What the heck does Motor Trend even know about these cars. :P Screw 'em. :eek:

:agree::2thumbs::up: I'm with you been driving MM's for six years myself.

[Marauderman]

Yeah that sticker shock of $35 got me too......so bad that I was bickering back and forth with my LM dealer cause down the road a bit was a perfectly new CV Sport for about 7-8 K less and only 60 HP less....so I kept telling them---hey --you gotta come down some on that price with only 60 more HP and there is one for that much less down a block or two-----finally-they came out with a 2K discount and finally got mine for that under invoice----about 6K under sticker------but it took me almost 5 months to do it.......Whew!!

[Paul T. Casey]

You also have to remember the source here. Rags like Motor Femme and Car and Drivel have never been big fans of anything Ford. The Marauder, albeit under-powered and over-priced in some opinions, did help relaunch the non ponycar performance niche. Soon after the Marauder came out, Chrysler, with the hemi Charger, and GM with the V-8 Impala and the GTO were back in the V8 mid to full size game.

[Egon Spengler]

The top part... It seems the empty wagon always makes the most noise huh?
Why not LET IT GO? I've moved on why can't you? :beer:

[musclemerc]

I have... But that has nothing to do with the foolishness in your posts. You Sir have not posted any info that can help a single member here fix, troubleshoot, or diagnose anything, just alot of foolishness. Your wagon is empty and it shows.

[Egon Spengler]

I have... But that has nothing to do with the foolishness in your posts. You Sir have not posted any info that can help a single member here fix, troubleshoot, or diagnose anything, just alot of foolishness. Your wagon is empty and it shows.
THANK YOU!!:beer:

[knine]

Why not LET IT GO? I've moved on why can't you? :beer:


I have... But that has nothing to do with the foolishness in your posts. You Sir have not posted any info that can help a single member here fix, troubleshoot, or diagnose anything, just alot of foolishness. Your wagon is empty and it shows.
Alright you two. Just having some fun here. If you can't get along and play nice in the sandbox, I'll call in the big cat..........and you know what cats do in the sandbox.

[Shermanator]

Cruzer and Bluerauder are "right-on". Enjoy every mile, or 1/4 if you will, one at a time while you can. Hit or miss is subjective. Please yourself and show off THE CAR.

[prchrman]

Motor Trend, who cares. I miss my MM every time I drive my Tracker.

[Egon Spengler]

Alright you two. Just having some fun here. If you can't get along and play nice in the sandbox, I'll call in the big cat..........and you know what cats do in the sandbox.
Lets get the thread back on track huh?

You got something to say, do it through PM to knine... MOVING ON!!!

[dakslim]

All I can say is, my "miss" still turns heads and that's all I care about!;)

[knine]

My "miss" has been in the garage for the past 2 weeks. Rain all the time here and she's clean as can be. I'm saving her for as long as I can. Pro'ally take her out today though.

[Egon Spengler]

My "miss" has been in the garage for the past 2 weeks. Rain all the time here and she's clean as can be. I'm saving her for as long as I can. Pro'ally take her out today though.
We have had rain here as well. The car is filthy, but the bike is spotless and I haven't rode it in almost a week. Rain rain go away... and STAY THERE!

I have enjoyed my miss for the past 3-1/2 years, but she hasn't enjoyed my beat missions! haha

[Granite]

The miss was marketing the vehicle, they failed to do so, they missed by not putting together a marketing campaign. I new about the car when it was a concept due to close relationship I have with my local LM Dealer. I only saw the TV commercial 1 time during the 3 years the car was for sale new.
just my 2 cents


This is true, i never saw the TV commercial, the only way anyone that i knew heard about the vehicle was because through word of mouth, rumors, or the occasional brief sighting. We know there have been breif sightings of our car in tv series (stargate, alias) but there have been no major production movies featuring the car :alone:, that would have been the kind of marketing that would have skyrocketed sales imo

[knine]

I was excited when I first saw the plans. Then I saw the price and lost interest until I was cruising on the internet one day about 5 years later. Found a really nice low mileage DTR, was set to buy it, stumbled onto the fact that they made a select, precious few in my favorite color, then started a search. My baby came all the way from Ca to IL. Found this site, met Zack and the Chicagoland bunch and the rest is history.

[DEFYANT]

In whole, the MM was a miss. WE made it a hit.

Instead of a Mach 1 drive train, they should have plugged in the Cobra S/C 4.6 and made the standard transmission an option.

[jerrym3]

How much advertising should Ford have done for a vehicle with an 18,000 sales target?

It had a special showing at the Merc dealers in my area, it was featured in every car magazine, prominently displayed at the NY auto show (along with the convertible), and it was tested on the TV auto shows.

I thought that they were going to have a sales problem when I saw the car parked right outside the doorway at a big dealership in Wayne, NJ, and hardly anyone was paying attention. Most were walking by and looking at regular GMs and Towncars.

On the dowside, I went to one autoshow where the car was locked, and the paint was missmatched. Yet, little kids were sitting in the back of Lexus vehicles.

IMHO, being a Mercury, the price, and the so-so car reviews did the car in.

Too bad. I didn't buy one, but I liked the car.

[FastMerc]

I dont care who says what from where ever they print from!Those who dont get it MISSED out as far as Im concerned! There were alot of people at Carlise and I dont mean those of us from the club,spectators from the show were amased to see so many and were more than impressed with how these cars came from the factory.But BAD credit due Ford for no market attack for this car.But they are pushing the hell out of that V6 Mustang!No matter where I go with this car it turns heads,SO THERE YOU GO!

[PurdueRifleman]

My "miss" turns heads every time I take her out and usually gets comments when I'm stopped somewhere in my small town.

[CooLManZilla]

The car is a conundrum.
Most people have no idea what it is or confuse it with a crown vic or grand marquis.
but people who appreciate cars with style enjoy the vehicle and will tell you so.
My 14 year old cousin and his friends are fascinated with the car and want to know everything about it... go figure

[steve fox]

we have all modified our cars a bit or even a lot. That is what makes these cars worthwhile. Perhaps Ford would have offered a MM with 400Hp, Silverado brakes and suction seating if it had stayed in production. But for quite a bit less than an AMG Mercedes, we can drive a car like it and have a true limited edition production car as well. Thank you Eleanor!

[a_d_a_m]

My 'miss' got 25+mpg on the trip to STAP, turns heads, gets thumbs up, and drives like a dream.

Not bad for a car about to turn 100k.

Screw the MT newsletter.

[FreddieH]

The miss was for the people who wanted one but missed out on getting one. Sounds like jealousy to me.

[ctrlraven]

In whole, the MM was a miss. WE made it a hit.

Instead of a Mach 1 drive train, they should have plugged in the Cobra S/C 4.6 and made the standard transmission an option.
I think just the motor alone in the car would of made it a hit, I would of been fine with an automatic in it.

[88LTDCV351]

They should have advertised no doubt. The car, even as it is (without the Cobra motor, etc.), would have sold better because its still a great car in its realized stock form (especially before the Charger came out).

I only knew about it because I just so happened to read an article (I posted it on another thread) about the Marauder when it came out that made me want one and follow it and eventually get one. If it wasn't for that, I may never have even knew the car existed either. Before then I also had not heard of the plans to soup up a vic, or the Marauder concept, etc. before this. And I never saw a magazine article or tv ad. I have had a number of people ask me about the car or ask if I'm selling over the last number of years. Everyone seems to think its a great car. A lot of the comments shows that the word just didn't get out ("what kind of car is that?" "What kind of Mercury is that?" "Is that a ex-cop car", etc.). If that isn't enough evidence that the advertising was lacking for the majority of the general populace in U.S., then I don't know what is.

[Cordoba1]

I've had two.... I loved them both.... But they really did miss the mark on the quality of the materials. At the advertised price points, the dash and door panels are embarassingly hard and cheap looking -- even by the standars of 2003-4 vehicles. It also didn't help matters that there are 3 million panthers that don't look *that* much different.

I also don't buy that advertising would have helped much. The "take" rate on higher performance versions of the same vehicle is really low. Consider that the majority of people in the market for a large, v8 powered Ford or Mercury ultimately went with a Grand Marquis or VIC.

[Peter]

Yeah that sticker shock of $35 got me too......so bad that I was bickering back and forth with my LM dealer cause down the road a bit was a perfectly new CV Sport for about 7-8 K less and only 60 HP less....so I kept telling them---hey --you gotta come down some on that price with only 60 more HP and there is one for that much less down a block or two-----finally-they came out with a 2K discount and finally got mine for that under invoice----about 6K under sticker------but it took me almost 5 months to do it.......Whew!!
If you thought the MSRP in the USA was bad, here is the window sticker of my Marauder:eek:

http://www.motorcitymarauders.com/gallery/files/1/6/8/marauderwindowsticker.jpg

[Big Black Beast]

In whole, the MM was a miss. WE made it a hit.

Instead of a Mach 1 drive train, they should have plugged in the Cobra S/C 4.6 and made the standard transmission an option.

That would have been really awesome. Still, I'm not sure it would have been a really big seller at the time. I think timing was part of the problem too. It came out right in the peak of the SUV craze. Thank God that's over with...