This Mercury comes from my personal collection and could be very nice driver for someone. I actually found it on the lot of a local charity dealership. Normally people only donate cars that are worn out and not worth fixing, but this Mercury is a different story. It was purchased new by a lady and kept until she started getting too old to drive. It has only covered 86k miles and is in excellent condition. It was even ordered with the handling package, dual exhaust, and 3.27 rear axle ratio. Sounds like grandma was a bit of a hot rodder!
Don’t get me wrong, this Mercury is more classy cruiser than hot rod. It does quite well on the highway on ramp though and it’s so quiet inside that you can barely tell that you are breaking the speed limit. I have wanted a Crown Vic Police Interceptor for a while now, but I’ve never found one with low mileage so this seemed like the next best thing. These cars may have a modern looking bubble body, but the underpinnings are old school. Body on frame, rear wheel drive, and a V8. Sounds like a good recipe to me!
Anyway, back to the story of this particular car. When I asked the dealer about the previous owner, he showed me the title and sure enough, it was purchased by a woman brand new in 1998. She used Ford credit for her financing and obviously loved the car very much. There are many service stamps in the maintenance booklet and everything has been kept very clean. All the systems function as they should. Even the automatic climate control still works great. The air conditioning blows cold and the big bench seat is comfy.
We had big dreams of souping this thing up and taking it out to the drag strip, but personally I think it would used as a commuter or highway cruiser. Keep up on the maintenance and you could easily triple the mileage without any major issues. These are well-built cars and this particular one is in great shape. Josh took a ton of photos that you can view in the gallery here so you can get an idea of how nice this car really is. It really needs to go to someone who appreciates traditional full-size Americans. The car is located in Boise, Idaho and you can place your bid or post your questions below.
Bid On This Auction
Jeff bid $2,600.00 2017-09-10 13:02:49
Petra bid $2,500.00 2017-09-10 12:59:51- Jeff bid $2,400.00 2017-09-07 09:50:30
Chuck bid $2,300.00 2017-09-06 15:45:17- Jeff bid $2,200.00 2017-09-05 17:31:53
Edward bid $2,000.00 2017-09-05 17:30:40
Evan bid $1,898.00 2017-09-05 17:00:09
Your “personal collection” wow. Pass the grey poupon and I’ll see you at club house to discuss our car collections. 🤘
It’s a very small collection, so French’s will have to do… Actually, that gives me an idea! If the winner of the auction wants to come pick up the car in person, they can grab a hot dog with Josh and I and get a personal tour of the “collection” we currently have in the storage unit. Sound good?
Why didn’t you post my other comments? They didn’t violate any of your rules? I’m confused and put off.
What other comments? I don’t think we have deleted anything.
In 1998 I was a young man with a wife and two small kids. Wanting to put my wife into something nicer than the beaters we were driving, I painted a house under the table for a down payment and we bought a 2 year old Sable from Gary Worth in Portland. Two days later the transmission went out of it, and the dealership, being one of the better ones picked it up and repaired it, free of charge (no warranty.) They arrived with this cars exact twin on a flatbed and told her to drive it until they got her car fixed. Three marvelously comfortable weeks later, I was unable to convince her to see if we could make a deal and keep the Marquis, she said it made us look like an old couple! I always regretted I couldn’t talk her into it. Someone will be very happy with this.
Those early Taurus/Sables had an aluminum plate in the trans that would eventually flex and allow the trans to go into 2 gears at once which of course would cause it to destroy itself. The fix was a steel plate replacement in the rebuild.
Panther love! ❤❤
My mil had a similar one though a couple of years older till she passed and the wife got it. Great driving car, had a lot of pep to it, rode well and a joy to drive. Only problem was some gal with no insurance ran into the side of it.
I admit, I miss that car, even as a passenger it was something to ride in.
how could you bid -its already 700 to high
Where do you live Lee? We look at cars all over the country everyday and don’t find too many low mileage cars this nice for $1,500. Maybe we need to move to your neck of the woods!
I always wanted a crown vic and 1 day I had the luxury to rent the last generation grand marques. I was healed after driving it a couple hours; it felt like a wet mop on the road especially after it started raining later during the trip. I was healed instantly.
You’re in luck Dairymen! In ’98 the Mercury was fitted with Precision Trac, which was just a fancy way of saying Watt’s Linkage and relocated shocks. It was supposed to help with wallow and cross winds. Perhaps the car you drove was lacking it and/or the handling package?
I like my 2003 Grand Marquis LS
‘Tis a pity, it doesn’t have the “de Sade” option! LOL! :-)
“it’s a joke, son! Ah say, it’s a joke!! :-) Very nice Panther!
I really want one of these. Especially desirable with the handling package and duals.
I only wish it had the honeycomb wheels.
These were my first choice as a rental car –
25+MPG on the highway,decent handling,decent power,
& you weren’t worn out on a long drive.
If I were to buy one,I’d go for the Murauder version,
but this could do.
I just bought one with 85,000 miles and everything works on it am looking for another one for a dinosaur it handles great get a good price
I loved my ’92 Grand Marquis. routinely pulled down over 20 MPG. I’m currently looking for another Panther as a third car to be primarily used for road trips and a backup in case one of the two primary vehicles go down.
The 2003s got a better front suspension with rack and pinion steering so that’s what I am specifically looking for – in that era, the Crown Vics are typically beat to hell, the Grand Marquis’ are the nicest kept with lowest miles but are also the most expensive. The Town Cars seem to be the best bang for the buck for me anyway, many of them are ex-livery cars with high mileage buy most are well maintained. I just haven’t found the right one yet.
That said, this is a nice car for the money. GLWS!
End of July I purchased a 1997 Ford Crown Victoria with the P71 police package. I LOVE this car. 65,000 original miles, 2 owner car. The last owner purchased the car at auction from the city it was used in 2000. It was a supervisor car and was always babied and garaged even by the 2nd owner. It even has had the intake manifold replaced. This car is fast and fun to drive.
I’ve owned 4 Grand Marquis the last one was a 1997 which I drove until 2012. Well over 120 thousand miles. No, NO major repairs. Brakes, tires, plugs and coils at about 100 thousand. It was easy on both brakes and tires. 17 in city traffic, a reliable 25 on the highway. (once did Chicago to San Diego in the summer with a black car, averaging well over the speed limit, with stops in Grand Junction, and Vegas, (111 degrees in Vegas) left the car with my son for a few weeks in California, He drove it home from Camp Pendelton following the same route. Average mpg for the entire trip- 25. I’d have a new one now but Ford instead of modernizing them replaced the Panther platform with the new Taurus, Cramped, ugly and as much as a Town car was 7 years ago.
I used to run a repair shop in Wash D.C. Limo companies in that town are big business!!! We had many as clients. Almost all of them ran the Lincoln Town Cars which has basically the same power train package as these do. I’m not talking suspension but power train. Those things were indestructible! Not only mechanically, but also the interior and “accessory components” (A/C, radio, clocks, little things like that)!!!!!!! I’ve seen these with 200,00/300,00 hard city driven miles, still kicking down the road!!! From the looks at the current bidding, somebody is going to get a sweet dependable ride, for CHEAP!!!! Wish I had room in the garage!!! Be a great cross country car!
My wife had 1 of these a few years back. Great car. We sold it to our next door neighbors. They got many more years out of it. Last I saw it they had been in a fender bender. I did have to replace the plastic intake manifold. I guess we missed out on the recall. The replacement was an aftermarket with the recall issues fixed. Great commuter and road trip car.
My father kept cars 2-3 years then traded for a new car and lamented the Mercury Grand Marquis was the one he should have hung onto.
It’s the same platform as the police units under the Ford nameplate that some are more than ten years old and still in use so hot rodding is a definite possibility.
How long if you win the bid do you have before your card is charged?I know I could have it in there Monday morning.Hopefully I can get a answer in time to bid
Only the buyer premium is charged to the high bidder’s card. Payment can be done by wire transfer on Monday. Thanks for your interest!
Hey Jesse,
I just received the listing. What gives? I would have bid on this gem if I had seen the auction when it started. Maybe the next time? Anyway, this are excellent cars. I did buy my son a P71 recently and what a blast to drive and comfort is unsurpassed. Keep up the great finds…..
I was lucky enough to win the auction for this car and I am a happy camper. People said I was crazy for bidding on a car in Boise when I live in Ohio, but I felt like Jesse had given an honest evaluation of the car and the pics were pretty extensive. I figured it would be a nice trip to fly out west and and drive the old Merc back. I bought it sight unseen. Jesse and his son Josh met me at the airport when I landed in Boise and we went and grabbed a bite to eat and got to know each other a little better. They were very nice to me and we got along famously in a short period of time. After we ate they took me to see their office but what I really was interested in was their shop. They showed me the infamous imperial that damaged the MGA they were working on. Enough to make your stomach turn. Josh showed me the Fiat he was working on and we talked cars for quite a while. Josh and Jesse are true car guys as am I. We had that much in common. Then it was time to hit the road for the long trip home. I left Boise about 5 PM that day and made it almost to Salt Lake City before I stopped. I drove that car almost 2000 miles back to Ohio without any problems. I did that on faith and taking Jesse at his word. It paid off. Had a great trip home. Sorry if this is a bit long winded but I think it is a cool story and I thought it would be nice to share it.