Four Speed classics are the cars that many of us dream about. Whether it is a 4 speed wagon, or a 4 speed muscle car, classic manual transmission cars always share a high level of desirability. That holds true with this 1964 Mercury Marauder Park Lane. Packing a V8 and a 4 speed, this relatively solid and clean original is a driver with a wealth of parts included in the sale. With 2 bids and less than two days remaining, this Marauder is currently bid up to $8,250. Take a look at it here on ebay out of Canton, Michigan.
Packing 390 cubes that backs up to a T-10 four speed certainly makes this Mercury a pleasure to drive. Recent plugs and points have been installed, and the seller claims that the 390 runs great, and the car overall is very drivable. The under hood appearance is nice enough, as there is still a great deal of paint present, and the engine bay practically looks untouched.
Shivers may start to run up your spine upon seeing the four speed shift lever mounted so pleasantly in the center console. If that doesn’t excite you, then perhaps the lovely condition of the interior will. As a whole, the interior appears to be in very nice original condition showing only minor signs of aging. This is a bucket seat car, and there is also a cool period correct “SunTack” tachometer to aid in keeping an eye on engine speeds. Despite its beauty, there are a few age spots to point out. The seller is including an extra interior carpet, meaning to me that there may be some excessive wear to the current carpet. Also the driver seat is ripped, but again this will be easily hidden with you in the car rowing gears. Last but not least, the steering wheel looks to have shrunk some from heat, time, or both. Thankfully the wheel isn’t cracked up from sun exposure, and overall is in nice enough condition for a driver.
The sale ad is a bit misleading, as this Mercury shows very nicely in the pictures. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but also some verbal information can be valuable as well. Despite its great looks, the seller claims this Merc “needs a complete restoration.” While the car looks more like a preservation type of driver, the seller also mentions that many extra body panels are included with the car to fix all of the rust. Rust could certainly be a factor for this car, but it would seem the rust is hiding rather well. It is not immediately apparent from the photos that there is any rust on the exterior, other than a small area on the driver side rocker. Granted, I am not saying that rust isn’t a possibility, but this Michigan native looks to have missed many cold harsh winters by living in a garage. On the positive, the seller does throw out the idea of preserving the car and enjoying it as is, seeming like a reasonable outcome for this four speed classic. Would you preserve or restore this Marauder?
I know the e-bays ad states the tranny is a T-10 but I am pretty sure this would have came from the factory with a Ford “toploader” four speed, so either it has been changed or the guy does not know what he is talking about. cool car clean it up a drive it just like it is, maybe restore it later. love the interior!
The Toploader came out in ’64, but not all 4-speed cars got it. Ford was using the T-10 before, so I’m pretty sure they used up all the T-10’s in the lesser performance cars first. This not having a 427 would probably have the T-10. Even K-code ’64 Fairlanes had some T-10’s. I’ve actually seen ’66 Mustang GT’s non K-code cars with T-10’s. Back then, you just never new what you might get.
My ’64 Cyclone has a T-10. I was also told they used the T-10 first and eventually phased them out in favor of the top loader
Black on black with no A/C = cool weather car. Beautiful car.
Hey Brian – great find. Usually I picture the later ’60s Marauders but I like this one. Visually for me if you take away the first picture the car is fabulous. Love the interior, dash, four-speed, console, and rear-quarter view, but that grille is a deal-breaker. Maybe I would learn to love it. Neat car, though, from the days when a few cars were merely hinting at the muscle madness to come. I’d have to drive it as-is for a bit then decide on the resto
Wouldn’t it have come with gold air cleaner and valve covers? I think that blue started in ’66 with the Fords.
Todd,
I think you are right about the Fords, but this Merc. might’ve had red covers & air cleaner. To make YOUR point, I agree about a possible eng. change somewhere in the last 53 years. Do we think this is possible with the all the babying this three pedal set up got on this cruiser? LOL
352 in 64 was blue, 65 was gold.It was a Ford only motor.390 was gold in 64 Ford.
Merc 390 was Red. The first 390’s (61 T-Bird, Sept. 1960)
were silver. Can anyone else chime in?
I believe that the 64 had red. Hope this helps. I owned a 63 1/2 Maurder. It was red.
As much as I am tempted to go for this, the rust issue has me concerned as well as the incorrect valve covers and air cleaner. That could be any FE motor and I sure would want to verify that it is the original 390 before bidding. Very, very cool car but with the unknowns not sure it is worth much more than 8-9K. There could be a ton of money to be invested in the bodywork and it is not unheard of for the frame to have significant rust, though this issue is usually a 65-67 concern, I have seen it on some 63-64 cars. This would be one to get on a hoist to get the real story. Any hey, if the car had just been out for a cruise, why not get some decent shots of the passenger side?
Very interesting car…
My cousin had the twin to this car in 1964. 1964 390 engines did come with gold air cleaners and valve covers—-also top loader 4 speeds.
It’s a an off-bear classic. I love it!
I once owned a Black ’64 Park Lane Marauder, mine had white interior, C6 on the floor, am/fm radio and power windows. It was and still is one of my favorite vehicles, I would have kept it but it was extremely rusty and I had no place to keep it so I sold the Marauder and kept my ’64 Cyclone. (Still own it 49 years later)
Hello Mercury Man,,, Dan Gurney referred to my Father “As a Mercury Man, on the go!” Dad was a L-M Dealer in Western NY during the 60`s & 70`s. I remember these cars brand new! Cyclones, Marauders and Eliminators! Fond memories for sure…
I think the rockers is where the rust is, because the trunk is full of parts and that sure looks like some rockers in that pile of parts! Still, that’s a really cool car. Would love to have it.
sweeeeet……
My dream car when I was 17. When I turned 19 i got my first sbc and the rest is history…Very pretty but it’s still a house boat.
Hey Merc Man,
Great story, glad to hear you still have the Cyclone.
Someone must have upgraded the trans from a Cast Iron Cruise-o-Matic (medium case) before you got it, to a C-6, since the C-6 went into production in ’66.
This is a car I would not be ashamed of sitting in my shop. I’ll take it. LOL
Hey Rocco,
You may be right, it could have been a cruise-o transmission.
A rare option on the ’64 full size Merc’s was factory installed air conditioning, the dash vents were located in “drawers” that were part of the lower dash trim, when closed they were virtually invisible.
These Merc’s also made the neatest Grand National Stock Cars back when NASCAR raced real cars not the “heating ducts”* with wheels they run today.
I love the look of these cars. I know they were big( the trunk was the size of a small apartment), but did they have style.
Definitely worth repairing the cosmetics, a bit of a mechanical refresh, and drive it with a smile on your face ! Very nice car, and the right color to boot .
Great cars…had two, both aqua over aqua, both 390 blocks. One the Park Lane, and the other, a Montclair Breezeway. If anyone is serious about this Merc, check the frame on both sides just ahead of the rear wheels as they had a tendency to crack up to and including 1968. Otherwise, very comfortable Merc’s with pep.
I would love to have this one.
I would increase the rim/tire size up to 15″ though. They tended to be a little “boaty” on the bias ply 14’s.
The Super Marauder engine for 1964 had gold colored valve covers and air cleaner with the Super Marauder decals. These cars had radiators with remote reservoirs as the radiators were designed with tanks on both ends. Unless you are a very careful owner and maintained the little top reservoir full then it was extremely easy to overheat and crack the heads by letting the coolant low. My guess is that engine came out of some other car. It is still a very nice machine being the 25th Anniversary model for Mercury.
Love the old Merc’s I currently have 3. 67 Marquis is a M code factory
410 4 spd a/c ps pb being restored to factory spec.