Secondly, the Marauder received a heavy-duty rear axle, vented rear discs, and self-leveling rear air suspension from the contemporary Town Car limo, Hagerty reports. So, that means stiffer bushings and springs, bigger brakes, and a thicker front stabilizer bar. In addition to the chassis upgrades all Panther platform cars received in 2003, the Mercury Marauder got some model-specific tweaks.įirstly, it has the same suspension and brake upgrades as the police-spec Crown Victoria.
Mercury marauder manual#
RELATED: Cars & Bids Bargain of the Week: 2004 Pontiac GTO Manual It may look like a blacked-out Crown Vic, but the Marauder is significantly sportier But it’s faster than the contemporary Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis-and not just in a straight line. Also, it’s limited to 117 mph, while the Chevy sedan maxes out at 140 mph.
Plus, Ford updated the Panther platform in 2003 with a stronger chassis, bigger anti-roll bars, beefier suspension components, and rack-and-pinion steering.Īlthough it’s more powerful than the Impala SS, the Mercury Marauder has slower 0-60 mph and ¼-mile times, Hagerty says. Furthermore, it’s hooked up to an aluminum driveshaft, beefed-up automatic transmission, shorter-ratio final drive, and limited-slip differential. However, it does have the same aluminum DOHC V8 Ford put in the 2003 Mustang Mach 1. Unfortunately, the production-spec 2003 Mercury Marauder doesn’t have a supercharged V8 like the 1998 concept. And thanks to lots of positive reception, it got approved for production. So, he pulled the Marauder nameplate from the history books, partnered up with Roush Industries, and made a concept for the 1998 SEMA show. But being the Crown Victoria project manager meant Babcock was also the manager of the related Mercury Grand Marquis. However, Ford management seemingly wasn’t interested. Naturally, he wanted a Crown Vic that could compete, Hagerty explains. And GM proved it again less than a decade later with the 1994-1996 Chevrolet Impala SS and its Corvette-derived V8.įord Crown Victoria project manager Steve Babcock saw that Impala, and he saw that it was good. Shaking off the Malaise Era doldrums, it proved that high-powered, RWD muscle cars weren’t dead, just resting.
But the few that mastered the sleeper art now often enjoy significantly more appreciation than they did when they were new. Subtlety is a language most muscle cars can’t speak, which arguably suits most buyers just fine.
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