Stop making Marauders?

[stevengerard]

Someone must have changed the rules, compared to today's cars the stock MM note is quite tame even under throttle.

I'm betting with 6, 7 and even 10 speed transmissions you can accelerate just quick enough to meet the requirements while staying in the sweet spot of the trans for a low Db level. They did not have to floor the car or got to WOT.

[Joe Walsh]

I think the Marauder just needed advertising. As is, it was still a good car and was a good baseline. Probably even should have had the dohc 302 horsepower become the main panther engine to keep the old dog Crown Vic and Grand Marquis more keep up with the times.. But then for the Marauder, there should have been an X-100 or options to add supercharger, etc. for the die hard enthusiast.

Yep....I can only recall seeing exactly ONE Marauder commercial during 2002 - 2004!
(The one in the parking garage, where the Marauder rumbles in and parks.... and the cars beside it move over to give the Marauder more room.)
Mercury spent absolutely NO $$$ on advertising the Marauder.

There was the Elena Ford commercial showing all the Mercury vehicles driving down a city street with the Mariner out front and the Marauder hidden wayyyyy in the back!.....


2004 or 2005 X100 option with a S/C would have been so cool!

[stevengerard]

How many of you guys went to a dealer and they ask you what you were talking about? I want to many a Mercury dealer and not only didn't they have the car they didn't know what it was. I'm guessing some just played it that way to try to get me to buy a different car. Not only poor advertising but horrible sales training.

[Joe Walsh]

How many of you guys went to a dealer and they ask you what you were talking about? I want to many a Mercury dealer and not only didn't they have the car they didn't know what it was. I'm guessing some just played it that way to try to get me to buy a different car. Not only poor advertising but horrible sales training.

Luckily, both Mercury dealers that I visited knew exactly what a Marauder was.
The dealer in Tysons Corner Va. gave me a test 'ride' (not drive) with another interested customer in the summer of '02 in their only Marauder.
I bought mine from Safford LM in December of '02 when they had 7 Black Marauders lined up on the lot! (and a $3,000 end of year rebate)
They wanted to move them as there was little demand.
Sad...but true.



I wonder where those other 6 Marauders ended up....as I carefully looked over ALL of them and got the 'pick of the litter'.

[stevengerard]

yeah I had a choice of SB, SB or DTR they had one of each and had a 5k discount. Someone else looking really wanted to the SB so I said take it. I came back a few days later at night and the black looked better at night so I went with that. I still think the DBP and DTR look awesome in the daylight on a sunny day, But liked the black all around and it was the newest of all the cars on the lot. Made in March I bought it April 4th.

[the fat bastid]

the Marauder just needed advertising

I remember Steve saying something along the lines of "We thought of it like an SVT vehicle which are not advertised either." then added they either didn't have/get the advertising budget they wanted and it would sell itself hopefully (like other SVTs). (memory fuzzy)

[Bondfreak13]

I was in high school when this car came out. I visited my local Mercury dealer (The now defunct Osman Lincoln Mercury) and they had 25 cars on order with none on the show room floor. I was like "Dang, these things are popular."

[Svashtar]

Yeah. Now that it was 35k it was directly vs bmw 3s, etc. A fight it couldn't win. Mine sat on the lot of 8 months and I got it for 27,500 brand new. That felt right to me.

Mine sat on the lot 21 months! It was an ‘03 delivered around the beginning of November 2002 and it was the first week in August of ‘04 when I picked it up.

They had it listed as a GM, and the sales manager had put 300 miles on it using it for a daily driver. They had no idea what to do with it. It also had a couple of scratches and paint issues they fixed. I got it for $24k base. Out the door with all taxes and fees, $27,100 cash. About the only good deal I ever managed in my life, as I generally suck at negotiating.

As much as I loved it I don’t think I would have paid the $34,900 they were asking. As soon as I bought it outright the “not a problem!” sales guy vanished, and it was like pulling teeth to get them to fix anything he had committed to on behalf of the dealership.

FYI, I heard somewhere that the plan at Ford was to sell 19,000 units per year for at least 3 years, then come out with a manual transmission convertible model. That would have been awesome.

(Don’t know if that’s BS or not, but I read it here somewhere so it must be true. )


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[RF Overlord]

then come out with a manual transmission convertible model.

Dude, just stop it. I would have given my left one for a ragtop with a stick.

[puptent]

Ford's MOD motor was not popular with the automotive press. The car got poor reviews from a few too many jurnos. The MM was the answer to a question that not many people were asking. Really, a 4,000 lb performance car that wasn't put together in Germany? Can you say SHO Taurus?
But then, I was a Rambler guy, so of course, the car appealed to me. Tried to buy one at the '03/'04 model change, but my credit union balked at the $35K sticker price for what was essentially a Grand Marquis. Car disappeared from Kumpf's lot in Denver... So I made my own, eventually bought an '07 MGM corporate car and started adding goodies. It turned into a great road trip car, but no Marauder.
After two years of disappointing sales, and I think, a failed run at the police high speed vehicle market, Ford just pulled the plug. Even with the premium sticker price, I doubt FOMoCo made any money on the MM brand. Every Crown Vic and MGM rear bumper cover comes dual exhaust ready, which I take as a clue.
The good news, is that FoMoCo built an instant cult/classic car that was bound to attract a loyal following. My MM may never again see the $35K sticker price, but then, it should never be worth less than what I paid for it. The Marauder brand has always been associated with limited edition, small run cars. I like that.

[Bluerauder]

After two years of disappointing sales, and I think, a failed run at the police high speed vehicle market, Ford just pulled the plug. Even with the premium sticker price, I doubt FOMoCo made any money on the MM brand.

According to Steve Babcock at Marauderville III (MV3) in Detroit, MI, FoMoCo was making $10K on each Marauder sold at the $35K MSRP sticker price. They still made $2,500 on my Blue MM when I snagged it for $27,500 brand new with 54 miles on it after being transferred to VA from a dealer in Pennsylvania.

The Marauder was always planned as a limited production run. So, I doubt whether more than 15-16,000 were ever planned. Production quit at 11,052 when the 2004 model year numbers were cut in half from the 2003 run.

[sspmustang]

Wrong execution of the right idea.

I would also put the '03-'04 Mach 1 (of which I own one) under the same heading.

[Mr. Man]

Ford's MOD motor was not popular with the automotive press. The car got poor reviews from a few too many jurnos. The MM was the answer to a question that not many people were asking. Really, a 4,000 lb performance car that wasn't put together in Germany? Can you say SHO Taurus?
But then, I was a Rambler guy, so of course, the car appealed to me. Tried to buy one at the '03/'04 model change, but my credit union balked at the $35K sticker price for what was essentially a Grand Marquis. Car disappeared from Kumpf's lot in Denver... So I made my own, eventually bought an '07 MGM corporate car and started adding goodies. It turned into a great road trip car, but no Marauder.
After two years of disappointing sales, and I think, a failed run at the police high speed vehicle market, Ford just pulled the plug. Even with the premium sticker price, I doubt FOMoCo made any money on the MM brand. Every Crown Vic and MGM rear bumper cover comes dual exhaust ready, which I take as a clue.
The good news, is that FoMoCo built an instant cult/classic car that was bound to attract a loyal following. My MM may never again see the $35K sticker price, but then, it should never be worth less than what I paid for it. The Marauder brand has always been associated with limited edition, small run cars. I like that.

The Marauder made plenty of money for Ford. If I recall Steve Babcock said there was something like 33 million in development and close to a 100 million in gross. I could be off on the numbers slightly, but the car did make money.

As for a failed police vehicle market the Marauder was never intended for police fleet use. Some sheriffs departments bought their own for the same money as anyone else. This came about because police departments were suing Ford over Crown Vics that would explode in a rear end collisions. Florida Highway Patrol had some but they were donated privately.

[puptent]

I am amazed that Ford made money on the MM. I know the Panther platform, in general, was a cash cow... big yellow taxis, cop cars, etc. The salesman at Kumpf was blowin' smoke, I guess. Proof of concept, chase down a Camaro. Still, I loved the car from day one. Actually tried to work over a plain white wrapper Crown Vic first, gave up and concentrated on my Mopars, a Dart Swinger, a convertible Dart, and a '68 Matador, all gone but the Swinger, to buy the silver '07 MGM. A nice project, but not what I really wanted.At this point in time, I'm glad that Ford ended up with a limited edition car, whether intentional or not.

[stevengerard]

Wrong execution of the right idea.

I would also put the '03-'04 Mach 1 (of which I own one) under the same heading.

agree on both, really wanted a Mach 1, still love 'em but it wasn't the car I was expecting either. Now the new GT350!