Stock car racing fans may remember the Mercury racing team of the mid-1960s and the Marauders they drove. Perhaps you remember Parnelli Jones? Those Marauders were Ford Galaxie 500/XLs. The Marauder reborn in 1969 was a little different. If you take a Galaxie 500XL and add a new grill (or add lock washers, as my dad used to say), it becomes a Mercury Marquis. Now, take a two-door Marquis and make the wheelbase 3 inches shorter and take 5 inches off the length and you have a Maradur. Stuff a 360 horsepower 429 under that long hood and you have an X-100. You also get fender skirts, bucket seats with a center console, three-spoke steering wheel, and those cool aluminum wheels with the X-100 package. This dusty example is listed here on eBay in Brook, Indiana with a Buy it Now price of $7,500 or best offer.
There is very little information provided and only a few pictures. The seller does say it has a 427 with only 4,000 on the rebuild. There is said to be very little rust and it needs a new vinyl top. This doesn’t appear to actually be an X-100. The seller says it has a split bench seat and a column shift instead of buckets, floor shift, and a console. In this picture, you can see the rust on the quarter panel and the sad condition of the vinyl roof. There is likely rust under the vinyl, of course.
There’s rust on this side too. The bottom corner of the door is rusted as well as the quarter panel. The trunk deck is not painted black so there’s another indication it is not an X-100. There are no interior or engine pictures provided so it’s impossible to even guess what condition this car is really in. I don’t understand people who try to sell cars and can’t make more of an effort. It seems that anyone who posts an ad like this wouldn’t have taken care of their car. The asking price seems really high. For less than $10,000 you can buy a running and driving example of an actual X-100. I hope someone can buy this sad Marauder for a reasonable price and restore it. It could be a nice, unique and fun ride.
I love this site, proves the cars we grew up with are still out there and available. This big old Merc should scratch the itch for some one. Friend of mine says he suffers from “iron deficiency” every time he brings in another collector tractor. Not long ago I posted a picture of my 70 Maurauder . I know my most recent find is a little removed from todays subject, but its in the family and I just have to share it.
73 Montego GT as found on farm.
Ready for the ride home. Engine is froze,normal Kansas rust, needs brake work ,otherwise complete. 351 Cleveland, AT, console,floor shift, buckets.Price was very reasonable. Felt sad for the guy,it was his school car,he is trying to clean up the homestead and it had to go. Guy also has-had? 68 Ranchero for sale, check Next-Tech classifieds.
It’s a cool car. I really like the body style.
If he’s asking that much money he needs to spend more time on the ad by including better pictures and a well thought out description as well as ducumeting his claim that the engine is a 429CJ. The way it the car is presented the seller comes of as delusional.
Steve R
More likely a Thunderjet, not a CJ.
I love the color.
I’m 20 and I know some car’s but not like most of y’all know about them. I want to know all about these old car’s. I know what they look like but some other stuff but I’m up for car history lessons. nd I love this car and I got an 1987 Bronco
It is a shame the prices have increased so much that you probably will not experience a lot of these cool cars.
When I was 20, these cars were give aways.
I am actually shocked this seller is asking so much.
To give an example, I bought a 1969 Ford XL Fastback with a 429 2 barrel. In case you don’t know, the XL was the top of the line model that came in the Fastback or a Convertible roof.
The seller was asking $450.00 for the car but it had a hole in one of the pistons.
As I was looking at the car the seller says “how about $300.00”. I hadn’t said anything.
I agreed.
I sent it to get the engine rebuilt for $1200.00. I also had the insert of the seat changed as it had a little tear.
I was into an almost perfect car for about $1600.00. It was white with a white interior. It drove great and I loved it.
Covered headlights are the best.
Today you couldn’t touch a car like that for anywhere near that price. It is a shame.
When you were 20, there were probably tons of these cars still on the road. This car is now almost 50 years old and there aren’t nearly as many left. Collectable.
Want a $450 car today? Buy most any domestic car made after 1995. Tons of them. Some are even cool.
Hang out with the ‘old guys’ in your area and you might be surprised what they can find you, as far as cool old vehicle at a price you can afford. That’s how I got must of my interesting cars and bikes, as well as spare parts, when I was 20.
This has an added bonus of having people around you who can pass on their first-hand knowledge…
I second KSwheatfarmer’s comments about the fun of visiting BF. Thanks, guys, for letting me be a part of the dialogue.
@ Alex, it’s very encouraging to hear of your enthusiasm and interest in the hobby. Excellent choice with your ’87 Bronco… those older Ford values are on the rise.
The write up says the seller says this car has a 427.
If that is true, it would be a one of one and would be worth a lot of money.
Obviously it is a 429, like all the rest of these were.
That was in the write up, not the ad. The seller always referred to the engine as a 429.
Steve R
Where did the 427 statement come from? Come on guys!!
Did you even bother to read the above story written by David Frank? If you had you would not need to ask the question of where did the 427 statement come from.
As usual almost everybody with a plain jane 429 thinks or claims it is a cobra jet. It’s not.
That’s top dollar for that car in that condition. I don’t have a problem with him asking top dollar, but he could have at least hit it with a pressure washer and pulled it out of the holes the 4 tires have created in the ground from sitting so long.
Remember there is often times a big difference between what a seller wants and what they will take. Never underestimate the power of rolling up with a trailer and a handful of $100 bills.
I’ve never seen one of these that wasn’t a project car…they seem to be perpetual flippers more so than desirable drivers?
There was a rough around the edges, driver quality, 1969 X-100 highlighted on this site last December. It was red with a black roof, buckets and console, with an asking price of $6,700. It put this one to shame.
Steve R
Here’s a better looking one for half the price (no black trunk lid either though):
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/d/1969-mercury-marauder/6569653806.html
Hi Alex! Sounds like a turn-key classic car is what you need right now, so have a
look at the ’85 Chevy Citation posted here
yesterday. It’s a runner-driver that needs very little mechanically or cosmetically. Thought about buying this car for one .
of my neices who is about to get her
license and will need a safe reliable car
to drive to and from work. Sounds like
you need it more though. I can always
put my neice in something just as cheap
($800.00) and just as safe as this Chevy
Is. BTW, watch how sharply you take a
turn with your Bronco, my nephew laid
his over on its side taking a sharp corner.
He wasn’t hurt but the truck was toast!
Good luck and welcome to the hobby.
In what world is an ‘85 chevy citation a “classic”?
I’m pretty sure 1969 had the matte black back deck. I don’t think it was available in 1970.
If it came with a final roof from the factory, the rear panel was body colour. Also there were 4 accent colors available, black, red, real blue and olive green. All would have been in a flat tone
Seller has (0) feedback on eBay. Likely no experience selling either.
If you ordered a x100 with a vinyl roof you did not get the flat black on the rear deck.
I think it’s a X-100. The fake side vents behind the door is the key.( I think) I read, X-100’s could be ordered in many ways, we’re just used to seeing the real fancy ones. In 1970, there were a few cars that were “King of the Road”, and this was one of them. Btw,,,8.8 city/10 highway,,,,and with premium, which this car sorely needs, @ $3.50 /gal. now, you do the math.
Bud Moore and Darel Dieringer did a great job for the early Marauders in NASCAR. You can see the X100 emblems on the front fenders of this car. The base Marauder got a 390. Doesn’t have buckets and console, no skirts, no MagStar wheels, and a vinyl top on these was a crime. Sorry, Miguel, that color makes this the ugliest Marauder I’ve ever seen. KG James, you hit the nail on the head, add “Cobra Jet” to any old 428 or 429, and quadruple the asking price. This was one of Iacocca’s last hurrahs for Ford, the gentleman’s hot rod. Not quite the home run that the Mustang was. Just like boattail Rivieras, I love ’em, just can’t afford a decent one.
Scott, when you grew up in the back of a Meadowlark Yellow 1968 Galaxie 2 door hardtop, the color grows on you especially in these days of black/gray/white cars.
The author to this raises question to the original post with comments that because the deck lid of this Mercury is not painted black, as well comments about the interior, that the car posted being an X100 is questionable.
My father owned a 69 X100 in the same yellow, black deck lid with no vinyl. It was a split bench seat with column shift. I have followed these cars since he bought his new in 1969.
First, assuming this car is not an X100 because the cars deck lid is not black is the first indication that the author hasn’t a clue. Many X100’s were ordered with the rear deck paint delete. Additionally, black was not the only color option available for the rear deck lid.
Second, a split bench seat and column shift does not disqualify the vehicle from being an X100. I have personally seen two X100 with deck lid paint delete, both with split bench seats and column shifts, both here in the state which I reside. I am happy to post photos of both cars.
This is not the first vehicle the author has committed on in which he or she assumes to know a particular vehicle, and yet, knows little about the car or the options of the car during those years in which the vehicle was offered. Be I so blunt, I’d dare to say the author knows the actual production numbers of these extremely rare vehicles for either 1969 or 70 model years.
As if the author is also an expert on assessing issues with rust, I find the despairing comments about this car having other rust issues beyond that which the advertiser has mentioned, offensive. Photos of a vehicle does not determine the depth of issues with rust. Rust is something one must see in person to determine the extent of damage. A rust color stain on a light color vehicle does not automatically qualify the vehicle to have rust issues.
If there was anything of obvious concern on this car, it should be the fact that the Kelsey Hayes wheels are missing, wheels of which were specific to this car alone and are extremely difficult to find.
Taking ten minutes to research a vehicle might find your thread a little more credible in the market you are attempting to be an authoritarian.