Y'all turned me into a Panther addict...

Brief recap, I was looking for a beat P71 to take on the Saints 2 Sinners rally. Another member here started talking about Crown Vic Sports and I found one local and offered to scope it out for him. It was a bit rough around the edges for him but nicer than a P71 for similar coin so I bought it instead.

I spent the winter and a few $$ to get it mechanically sound for the trip to Vegas and a few days before the trip my DD got hit, I got a free rental car from the insurance co, so I took that instead. The plan was always to sell the car after the rally so I did, and a nice enthusiast is flying up from New Orleans to get her next week.

But then I realized, I've been driving this car more often than my DD, I enjoy it more for the kind of commute I have and generally I like having a semi-sporty luxo barge in the fleet. But the CV Sport was too rough around the edges and it would have cost more money than it was worth to get it to the standard I wanted. And by now I knew what I wanted so let's cut to the chase and introduce the next driver/project in the fleet.

My wife is still asking why I bought the same car....she doesn't quite understand. Yes its a 2003 Mercury Marauder. 2 owner car with the last owner having owned it for 10 years. I cyberstalked all his forum posts on the marauder forums for the last 10 years and when something went wrong the question was not "what's the cheap way to fix this" it was always "who's the best guy to fix this" He took good care of the car, some mild mods

SCT Xcal 2 Programmer w/3 tunes by Rinehart Performance

4.10 rear gear set (original 3.55 gears included)

K&N Cold Air Kit

Stainless Works cat back exhaust system w/stainless tip

You could eat off the underside of this car.

I have to fly down to FL to drive her home later this month then the fun will begin. I specifically did not want another project in the fold so she is ready to go as is and there wont, at first, be any major modifications. But there will be some tinkering and making her mine so I'll try to update here with that as it happens.

I have definitely been sold on the panther platform for big cruisers that feel a bit more nimble than they should. Barring any life changes the Marauder should be in the stable for a long time.

I generally avoid most of the P71 chatter around here because I get to see up close how they're treated in the hands of cops, but I am looking forward to hearing more about this car.

Bonus points for Silver. Nice car.

Woody wrote: Bonus points for Silver. Nice car.

I was actually trying to find one of the red (maroon) ones but nothing I looked at did the job. The blue's are rare as hens teeth and the black, well I wouldn't mind but I already have one black car and silver on the platform really kinda grew on me.

You got me looking...

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4483014744.html

Congrats

I never knew they came in any color but black! Nice car, keep us posted please

Woody wrote: You got me looking... http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/4483014744.html

Was one of the many I looked at, good price for the miles but the majorly screwed up paint turned me off of it.

nepa03focus wrote: I never knew they came in any color but black! Nice car, keep us posted please

2003 was Black, silver and blue 2004 was black, silver and red. The majority are black of course.

Nice!

A few other photos...it's gonna be a long 2 weeks until I can go pick it up.

Yeah, it's kinda clean.

So what's the project part going to be?

Will wrote: So what's the project part going to be?

Mild stuff to start, some cosmetic upgrades and a few other things....but I have a terrible habit of not leaving well enough alone so ya never know where it will lead.

Damn, not what I was hoping for.

Jerry wrote: Damn, not what I was hoping for.

Your image isnt working but guessing from the file name. I was already a Steel Panther fan. I've seen them live a few times now in Vegas :)

Awesome. Hope you don't mind me living vicariously through you!

Richard Nixon wrote: Awesome. Hope you don't mind me living vicariously through you!

I wasn't polite enough to ask, I've been doing that for quite a while now!

Damn I'm jealous. I've wanted a Marauder for a long time, only in Maroon.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Damn I'm jealous. I've wanted a Marauder for a long time, only in Maroon.

I did like the Maroon, I drove one out in PA and almost came to a deal on it but it needed a few things and the seller was unwilling to budge on price.

this or another 80's 2 door marquis are pretty much my dream daily drivers, id prefer it in black but that is a very clean car.

Do those come stock with an X-pipe? I'll bet that thing sounds wicked!

The_Jed wrote: Do those come stock with an X-pipe? I'll bet that thing sounds wicked!

Not sure what they come with stock, but that is not a stock exhaust. It is a stainless works cat back system. This is what it would sound like with a full SW system

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z950Yxpaxg

But my car doesn't have the SW longtube headers (yet)

Sounds good. Wanting!

Lately I've been seriously considering a Panther. They can do everything my LSC can do only better.

Congrats! Where in FL is it? Would love to schedule a meet up while you're here.

Will wrote: So what's the project part going to be?

5.8L GT500 swap?