Mercury Marauder

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Mercury Marauder
Mercury
Years	1963-1965, 1969-1970
Production	11,052 Made
Class	Full-size Luxury Sport Sedan
Body Style	4-Door Sedan
Length	212.0 in.
Width	84.5 in.
Height	58.3 in.
Wheelbase	114.6 in.
Weight	4195 lbs
Transmission	4-speed Automatic
Engine	4.6L Romeo Modular V8 DOHC
Power	302 hp @ 5750 rpm
Similar	Mercury Grand Marquis Pontiac Bonneville Buick Park Avenue
Platform	Mercury Panther Platform

The Mercury Marauder was introduced in 1963

1963½-1965

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1964 Mercury Marauder

The early Marauder was a V8-engined large automobile. It debuted as a 1963½ model as a two-door "fastback" hardtop version of the full-size Mercury. Marauders were offered from the 1963½ to 1965 model years, then again from 1969 to 1970.

In 1964, the Marauder name was used to designate both two and four door models of the Mercury Monterey, Montclair, and Park Lane using a fastback roofline, rather than the reverse-slant Breezeway roof that had been introduced in 1963.

This Fastback roofline was developed for both the Mercury Marauder and the Ford Galaxie for NASCAR competition, and may have helped with the many 1963/64 Ford Mercury victories.

1969-1970

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1969 Mercury Marauder

In 1969, the Marauder became a distinct model. It competed in the personal luxury market. The base Marauder had a 390 in³ engine, while the Marauder X-100 normally came with a larger 360 hp 429 in³ engine. Typically well appointed versions had bucket seats with the floor console housing the U-shaped automatic transmission shift handle and the sporty Kelsey-Hayes stylized road wheels - complete with rear fender skirts.

The Marauder enjoyed modest success as the touted Turnpike Cruiser aimed at the high performance sporty family car segment. This market proved difficult to establish any decent production numbers with nearly 15,000 cars sold in 1969 and barely a third of that in 1970.

However, the car had its own look with distinctive fake louvered side air intakes in the quarter panels and its tunnel back roofline - painted flat black on the X-100 models. It shared many front end and interior components with the more stately Marquis, but the back end was mostly unique.

The Mercury Marauder Club was the first Internet club solely developed to support the Marauder and had often been consulted and referred to when Mercury was designing the new 2003 model. The club operates for free and offers Marauder owners a place to post questions, comments and register their cars.

"Marauder" was also used as the name of Mercury's 390 and 410 in³ motors in the 1960's.

Photos