How many left

[Bondfreak13]

I find hard to believe that there are only 2700 MMs left. Yes, we lost quite a few over the years, but not over 8500 cars. By the same math there should be less than 500 SS impalas left from the 90s. And I see those things everyday.

As for fake Marauders, there is one thing I love about these cars, Ford Vin coded them. The 03s are slightly easier to fake to the untrained eye, body code is the same as a GM LS, but the 8th digit in the Vin is the car's engine. 4.6 DOHC. "V". All other panthers have a "W" for the 4.6 SOHC. In 04 the Marauder got its own vin code. But still, 8th digit is your friend. No "V" no Marauder. Also the 4.6 4v is kinda pricey to try to fake a Merc. The LT1 is dime a dozen, the 4.6 DOHC came in only 6 cars. SVT Mustang, Mark 8, Continental, Aviator, and the Marauder

[Bluerauder]

I find hard to believe that there are only 2700 MMs left. Yes, we lost quite a few over the years, but not over 8500 cars. By the same math there should be less than 500 SS impalas left from the 90s. And I see those things everyday.

Not true !! There were 69,768 Impala SS built from 1994-1996. That is 6.3 times as many as the Marauder in '03-'04. Using the same math and logic and accounting for the additional years of attrition, there would still be 7,051 Impala SS on the road or still 2.5 Impalas from the '94-'96 timeframe for every one Marauder remaining in 2017.

[Joe Walsh]

Speaking of Chevy Impala SS attrition....

About a mile from my house, yesterday evening.....
I just saw a very clean black '95-96 Impala SS that had gotten hit and then went head on onto a telephone pole on Ridge road near Arundel Mills Mall.
Telephone pole was splintered in half and the entire front of the SS was trashed.
Rest of the Impala looked OK and I think that the big sedan saved the occupants any major injuries.
Truly a shame.
The MD tag read '632 SS'.



I'm wondering if it had a 632 BBC under the hood....
as that is a common monster Chevy motor CID.

[robertmee]

The LT1 is dime a dozen, the 4.6 DOHC came in only 6 cars. SVT Mustang, Mark 8, Continental, Aviator, and the Marauder

You're missing about 8 more models that the DOHC 4.6 came in, but most notably the Mach 1. Although, you said 6 and listed 5 so maybe you forgot to type that one. The other's are exotics, such as the Panoz Roadster.

[xochil.hedtcke]

Welcome...got my son hooked these cars he brought his first one home this summer. Needs work but hes happy to call it his.

Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk

[Bondfreak13]

Yeah I was going to mention the Panoz and the Zonda. Don't know why I forgot about the Mach 1. But add these 3 and you have 8.

[Bluerauder]

Speaking of Chevy Impala SS attrition....

About a mile from my house, yesterday evening.....
I just saw a very clean black '95-96 Impala SS that had gotten hit and then went head on onto a telephone pole on Ridge road near Arundel Mills Mall.
Telephone pole was splintered in half and the entire front of the SS was trashed.

Thanks for the update, Joe. 7,050 Impala SS remain from the 1994-1996 era.

[BigCars4Ever]

From Bluerauder in a previous post...
Here's the VIN decoder that came with my certificate from the Ford Performance Group (FPG)

2MEHM75V03X000000

2ME = Ford Motor Company of Canada (i.e. 2=Canada, M= Mercury). If the 3rd digit is "H" it was an incomplete vehicle from the factory (i.e. it was shipped out for the moonroof install [2004's only])

H= Active Safety belts (all positions), Driver and Passenger air bags plus passenger side air bags, curtains, or canopies.

M75 = Grand Marquis (MM shared this designation in 2003), M79 = Mercury Marauder (separate MM designation added in 2004)

V= 4.6L 302 HP DOHC V-8 Mercury Marauder only

0 (i.e. 9th digit is a check digit 0-9)

3 = Model Year (3 is 2003, 4 is 2004)

X = St. Thomas Assembly Plant

000000 = Sequence Code

So.... only 2004's are real Marauders. All you 03's are clones

I find hard to believe that there are only 2700 MMs left. Yes, we lost quite a few over the years, but not over 8500 cars. By the same math there should be less than 500 SS impalas left from the 90s. And I see those things everyday.

As for fake Marauders, there is one thing I love about these cars, Ford Vin coded them. The 03s are slightly easier to fake to the untrained eye, body code is the same as a GM LS, but the 8th digit in the Vin is the car's engine. 4.6 DOHC. "V". All other panthers have a "W" for the 4.6 SOHC. In 04 the Marauder got its own vin code. But still, 8th digit is your friend. No "V" no Marauder. Also the 4.6 4v is kinda pricey to try to fake a Merc. The LT1 is dime a dozen, the 4.6 DOHC came in only 6 cars. SVT Mustang, Mark 8, Continental, Aviator, and the Marauder

[VMARAUDER]

So I see Marauders in Florida from time to time and I’m sure most are not members and I blow my horn to get their attention...they don’t even look up
They have the car and that’s all they care about.
I make it to Davie FL now and then to get my Marauder Fix

[BigNick]

I bought mine from an elderly fella from the Palm Bay, Florida area this past October.
35,500 miles
DTR
#3035 of #3214
#942 of #980
Light Flint.
Non-heated seats.
W/trunk mounted cd-changer.
Moon roof.
All original.
Very well taken care of.
Current hibernating for the winter.

[VMARAUDER]

So what part of Florida do you live?
The Sunshine State Marauders try to meet almost every week on fridays
I’m a 2 hr drive from Davie so I try at least once a month

[Mr. Man]

I bought mine from an elderly fella from the Palm Bay, Florida area this past October.
35,500 miles
DTR
#3035 of #3214
#942 of #980
Light Flint.
Non-heated seats.
W/trunk mounted cd-changer.
Moon roof.
All original.
Very well taken care of.
Current hibernating for the winter.

Post this info in the spreadsheet thread so it can be included.

[BigNick]

I live in central Wisc. I came across this car by chance. Met him at a local gas station here in wisc. He moved here from Palm Bay, FL. He had a small "for sale" sign in the rear window. The car was mine within a week.

[Bondfreak13]

I live in central Wisc. I came across this car by chance. Met him at a local gas station here in wisc. He moved here from Palm Bay, FL. He had a small "for sale" sign in the rear window. The car was mine within a week.

Small World. Before I joined the Navy And got Stationed In SoCal I lived In Palm Bay for 24 years.

Heck My 03 Merc is still there.

[FW_Linc/Merc]

I took the excel list of Marauders sold 10-25 which had VIN numbers listed and focused on just the autos made in the first 2 months of production. I then took the VIN number and ran that thru VINCheck (could only do 5 a day for free). That site confirms that if the car had an insurance related claim if the car was totaled. It DOES not account for cars that have been parted out and scrapped. chart.jpg

It is interesting that the number has slowed down. If I take the first two months of loss percentage and apply that to the total number of Marauders, about 1511 are lost. Summary after 22 years there are more left than projected. The next 10 years I do expect the number lost to go up as I have seen more cars being parted out and many more that are being used up. I think it is reasonable to assume that more than half will survive to see their 50th.