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    1 December 2017

    Heard of the Crown Vic? Ford once made a convertible version of the NYC Cab

    By James LisleJames Lisle
    While the Ford Motor Company has shown off many concept cars in the past decade or so, the Marauder Convertible Concept is one of the cooler ones.

    Well maybe not ‘Ford’ itself, but Mercury – Ford's luxury division.

    While explaining the differences between Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln can get pretty confusing – particularly when talking about that late ‘90s-early 2000s era where everything was utter trash – it’s fair to say the Mercury Marauder was one of the cooler cars that spawned from the American business giant.

    Ford's Panther platform allowed a variety of sturdy, low maintenance cars for everyone. (image credit: Wikimedia Commons) Ford's Panther platform allowed a variety of sturdy, low maintenance cars for everyone. (image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

    While the sporty Marauder was came from half a dozen luxury spin-offs, which were all pretty much rebadged Ford Crown Victorias anyway, it was the Mercury Marauder that combined the rugged, all-purposiveness of the body-on-frame ‘Panther’ chassis with leftover bits and bobs from Ford’s high-performance Shelby Cobra. It might've had old school underpinnings, but this V8 was much, much more performance-orientated than the rest.

    • Not sure about the rims. Everything else is epic though. Not sure about the rims. Everything else is epic though.
    • It'd be one hell of a stretch for the tent, but with the roof down it looks like a classic Miami cruiser. It'd be one hell of a stretch for the tent, but with the roof down it looks like a classic Miami cruiser.
    • Check out the digital keypad above the doorhandle. Shame how Smart Keys killed that idea. Check out the digital keypad above the doorhandle. Shame how Smart Keys killed that idea.

    Thanks to a slew of go-faster items, the 167kW 4.6-litre Modular V8 now produced a mammoth all-American 225kW. And if you’re thinking “that doesn’t sound like much”, it’s because it’s not. It’s hardly anything really. Particularly when that 225kW is being asked to hustle along an iron pig sitting on the wrong side of 1.8 tonnes.

    Barra swap anyone?

    So, what happens when you want to make a slow and heavy car faster? Well, make it heavier of course.

    • It's very much the same of any other American car from this era; acres of cheap black plastic and no style whatsoever. It's very much the same of any other American car from this era; acres of cheap black plastic and no style whatsoever.
    • While the perforated seats look cool, we doubt the leather is genuine. While the perforated seats look cool, we doubt the leather is genuine.
    • Which is the better engine: a turbocharged Barra or a supercharged Modular? Which is the better engine: a turbocharged Barra or a supercharged Modular?

    Debuting at the Chicago Auto Show in 2002, the Mercury Marauder Convertible Concept may have weighed even more - and featured half the amount of doors - but it also had a power increase from 225kW to 250kW thanks to an inclusion of an Eaton supercharger.

    Not only that, but the transmission had also been upgraded too; now a heavy-duty AR four-speed auto. Amongst a bunch of other changes there was bucket seats, a 'super sporty' black on white instrument cluster and performance gauges down by the gear shifter.

    While the Marauder Convertible philosophy never really took off - particularly seeing as how Mercury collapsed in 2011 - the actual concept car did, popping up on eBay some time ago with offers hovering around $75,000.

    While the ad has since disappeared, it’s not too late to cut the head off a BA Ford Falcon as some kind of povo alternative…

    It might be the same. Maybe?

    What do you think of the Mercury Marauder Convertible Convept? If you lived in the States would you drop $75k on it? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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