The first Marauder was born in 1963 and was in production till 1965. This two and four-door hardtop muscle car by Ford featured an entire lineup of the new sports models. Ford fitted this personal luxury car with an FE-series V8 engine, which was later known as the "Marauder" engine itself. In 1966, when Mercury switched to high-performance vehicles, Ford replaced the Marauder with the repackaged S-55. Sadly, Mercury got discontinued 11 years ago, leaving behind the iconic Marauder generation.

In 1969 Mercury returned with their bold and full-size luxury car "Marauder" again. The Marauder was then based on the 121-inch wheelbase chassis used by full-size Ford vehicles geared with a 6.4-Liter Ford FE V8 engine and paired with a manual 3-speed transmission in the standard model, and a 360 HP 7.0-Liter engine with a 3-speed FMX automatic in the Marauder X-100 model. Again, the demand for high-speed full-size cars was fading in 1970, and Mercury had to discontinue their Marauder series.

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The 2003 Marauder

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After 33 years, in 2003, Mercury revived its old Marauder, which is arguably the best Panther platform car out there. The Mercury Marauder 2003 was the hottest new variant of the Mercury Grand Marquis. At the back of the Marauder was a rugged, cop-looking SVT-tuned version of the 4.6-Liter Ford V8. This power-packed version of the Grand Marquis four-door sedan offers upgraded suspension, chassis, and engine parts. The Marauder was first shown at the 1998 SEMA show as a concept car where Mercury stuffed it with a 4.6-Liter supercharged V8 engine generating 335 HP and 355 lb-ft of torque. The car debuted in 2003 with some tweaks like added black paint, installed blacked-out grille, fog lamps, and bigger wheels. This was also the first time that Mercury offered a full-size vehicle without any Ford contribution to it.

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Marauder Performance

2003 Mercury Marauder parked outside
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This version of the car is powered with a 302 HP 4.6-Liter DOHC V8 paired with a four-speed automatic transmission, which was further used for the Mustang Mach 1 and Lincoln Aviator, instead of a supercharged V8 engine from the concept vehicle, which was presented in SEMA. The 4,280-pound Marauder performed a 0 to 60mph sprint in about 7 seconds with a top speed of 117 mph. The Marauder was relatively underperforming because of the low-end torque and the heavy body, but this didn't stop the Marauder from going with ease in any road or weather condition, which this car is highly recognized for.

With the variable-assist rack-and-pinion steering, it is simply amazing that the Marauder can roam around free of vibrations and kickbacks.

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The Styling Of The Marauder

2003-Mercury-Marauder
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Sharing the Panther platform, visually the Marauder could be distinguished from the normal Grand Marquis by its twin fog lamps, the Mercury logo on the wheels, aluminum interior trim, speedometer, and voltmeter gauges. The long hood lives up to the muscle car theme of the Marauder. You might recognize the Marauder as its twin brother, Crown Vic was America's most famous police car. If you buy a Marauder, you might have to deal with people assuming that you are an undercover cop. Ford was preparing 18,000 Marauders annually but was only able to sell about 11,052 units in its two years lifespan because of weaker demand in the market. Most Marauders were sold in the classic black color. Out of 11,052 Marauders sold, only 328 were Dark Pearl Blue and 1,414 Silver Birch.

All in all, Mercury deserves credit for trying to revive the muscle car, even if it was unsuccessful. It improved the interior design, introduced a supercharged engine into production, reduced the price, changed the body design, and got the car to become competitive with the hot-selling pocket rocket, the Acura RSX. Yet, the Marauder is not a car one would describe as agile. Still, despite having drawbacks, the Marauder is destined to become a future classic due to its rarity, strong personality, and it ticks off the American V8 desire.

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