What is it?
2003 Mercury Marauder
What's special about it?
Rejoice, Impala SS fans. Mercury has stepped up to the plate and given you something new to buy when your tired, old B-body Chevy surpasses the 100,000-mile mark. Due to go on sale sometime in the summer of 2002, the 2003 Mercury Marauder will delight owners and fans of traditional American rear-drive, V8-powered musclecars.
To give you a picture of what we're talking about, imagine cleaner Grand Marquis front styling mated to a Crown Vic rear end and dipped in a vat of Impala SS attitude. Detailed specifications and pricing are not yet available, but Mercury says the Marauder will be powered by a 4.6-liter DOHC V8 making more than 300 horsepower and 300 foot-pounds of torque (think Mustang Cobra, and you get the idea). Power flows through a four-speed automatic transmission with a high stall speed torque converter and 3.55 rear axle with limited-slip differential.
True dual exhausts are chrome plated aft of the rear wheels. A performance-tuned suspension keeps the 18-inch five-spoke chrome wheels, which are shod with high-performance, all-season rubber (sized P235/50ZR18 in front and P245/55ZR18 in back), glued to the ground.
Inside, enthusiast drivers will appreciate the 140-mph speedometer, 7,000-rpm tachometer and full instrumentation including temperature, oil and voltage gauges. A floor shifter juts out of the center console for a sporty feel, while the five seating positions are upholstered in leather with the winged god Mercury's head embossed in the seatbacks. "Marauder" is embroidered into the floor mats to remind the driver this is a special car.
Outside, a monochromatic black exterior with dark tinted headlamp and taillight bezels as well as deeply recessed and integrated front driving lights supply the appropriate dosage of bad-ass attitude, and just to make sure people waiting behind this car at a stoplight don't confuse it with Grandma's Crown Vic, "Marauder" is embossed in the rear fascia.
Why should you care?
We can't figure out why it took Ford Motor Company six years to realize that the elements of the 1994-1996 Chevy Impala SS which garnered widespread enthusiast support could be applied to one of its full-size, rear-drive sedans. Even more of a head-scratcher is why the Impala SS formula was applied to the favorite of Florida retirees, the Grand Marquis. Whatever; this hot-rodded Merc gives Impala SS owners something to buy now that their mid-'90s models are getting along in age, because the current Impala is nothing more than a shadow of its former self. — Christian Wardlaw
2003 Mercury Marauder
What's special about it?
Rejoice, Impala SS fans. Mercury has stepped up to the plate and given you something new to buy when your tired, old B-body Chevy surpasses the 100,000-mile mark. Due to go on sale sometime in the summer of 2002, the 2003 Mercury Marauder will delight owners and fans of traditional American rear-drive, V8-powered musclecars.
To give you a picture of what we're talking about, imagine cleaner Grand Marquis front styling mated to a Crown Vic rear end and dipped in a vat of Impala SS attitude. Detailed specifications and pricing are not yet available, but Mercury says the Marauder will be powered by a 4.6-liter DOHC V8 making more than 300 horsepower and 300 foot-pounds of torque (think Mustang Cobra, and you get the idea). Power flows through a four-speed automatic transmission with a high stall speed torque converter and 3.55 rear axle with limited-slip differential.
True dual exhausts are chrome plated aft of the rear wheels. A performance-tuned suspension keeps the 18-inch five-spoke chrome wheels, which are shod with high-performance, all-season rubber (sized P235/50ZR18 in front and P245/55ZR18 in back), glued to the ground.
Inside, enthusiast drivers will appreciate the 140-mph speedometer, 7,000-rpm tachometer and full instrumentation including temperature, oil and voltage gauges. A floor shifter juts out of the center console for a sporty feel, while the five seating positions are upholstered in leather with the winged god Mercury's head embossed in the seatbacks. "Marauder" is embroidered into the floor mats to remind the driver this is a special car.
Outside, a monochromatic black exterior with dark tinted headlamp and taillight bezels as well as deeply recessed and integrated front driving lights supply the appropriate dosage of bad-ass attitude, and just to make sure people waiting behind this car at a stoplight don't confuse it with Grandma's Crown Vic, "Marauder" is embossed in the rear fascia.
Why should you care?
We can't figure out why it took Ford Motor Company six years to realize that the elements of the 1994-1996 Chevy Impala SS which garnered widespread enthusiast support could be applied to one of its full-size, rear-drive sedans. Even more of a head-scratcher is why the Impala SS formula was applied to the favorite of Florida retirees, the Grand Marquis. Whatever; this hot-rodded Merc gives Impala SS owners something to buy now that their mid-'90s models are getting along in age, because the current Impala is nothing more than a shadow of its former self. — Christian Wardlaw
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