The Marauder was a full-size luxury automobile that also passed itself off as a muscle car. Mercury’s choice of names is interesting as the word means “a person engaged in banditry or a related activity”. Two generations of the car would appear in the 1960s (1963-65 and again in 1969-70) before making a return in 2003. This ’69 edition has been in hiding in a storage unit for an undetermined amount of time and looks like it might be good under all the dust and dirt. Located in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, this Mercury is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $10,700. Thanks for the tip, T.J.!
When revived in 1969, the Marauder was a fastback version of the Mercury Marquis. It was re-conceived to be a stopgap between the Cougar pony car and the Continental Mark III, so the Marauder was a personal luxury car with a performance twist. That concept only lasted for two years when Mercury decided that there wasn’t a further market for the car. The truth would be in the numbers as just 9,000 copies like the seller’s car were built for 1969, plus another 5-6,000 X-100 Marauders, which were even more gussied up.
Although we can’t see the whole car where it’s parked, this 1969 Marauder could very well have good bones. Previously a Florida car, it’s been in a storage unit in Pennsylvania for some time, having accumulated 96,000 miles before it went dark. We’re told there is no visible rust and what may be yellow paint might shine up nicely once the car is detailed. The interior may very well be nice, too, except for a rip in the driver’s seat.
Under the hood resides a 390 cubic inch V8 which was standard equipment when new (a 429 was optional). It’s logically paired with an automatic transmission. We don’t know when the Merc last ran or what it will take to get it going again. Hagerty says that $20,000 is top dollar for one of these cars, with $11,000 in good condition. For a non-running vehicle, the seller may be a bit optimistic.
Another big cruiser which never used to catch my eye, now I find them interesting and attractive. In this case it sure would be nice to see it pulled out, cleaned up, and properly photographed. As Russ suggests, it might not be half bad.
Continuing the theme, the X-100’s were really cool.
I had a Maroon X-100 with white leather interior, 429 and it was one of my favorite cars ever. Wish I had it today. It was a combo of POWER and LUXURY.
Had one too- a ’69. Light blue. Had a lot of power and handled like a brick. Very luxurious. Great car for the right person.
We had a lady who used to drive an X100 ro the
store I used to work at.I thought it was a cool car,but
when I saw her years later,she told me that she thought
it was a pig to drive.
one man’s pig is another man’s fillet. ;)
I’m not finding that seat pattern on any other Marauders.
And what’s up with the two shifters?
Yeah, isn’t that strange. What is going on there, I wonder.
In college, I had this car’s Ford counterpart, a 1969 Ford XL GT coupe. I bought it for the engine as the car was quite banged up, but ended up driving it for about a year. It was a nice big semi-luxurious cruiser. Eventually I pulled the engine for my T-Bird, and the XL went off to the junkyard. Too bad, as I think it was a pretty rare car and would be nice to have now.
His and Hers shifters? LOL
Aloha!
Another lazy FB marketplace ad.
Where in the ad does it say it doesn’t run?
My lust for this would only increase if it were red with the blackout rear window surround and the Magstar wheels! The shifter weirdness needs clarification. GLWTS!! :-)
You are correct Moparman. Red with the matte black rear window surround and deck lid along with the magstar wheels is my favorite combo on these. Buckets and console are a must as well.
The X-100 was not “gussied up”, it was muscled up! Had the 429 with a 4 barrel and dual exhaust @ 360 bhp. Standard Marauder had the 2 barrel, no fender skirts and single exhaust @ 320 bhp.
When I was a kid, walking to school (back when kids did that lol) there was a brand new X100 parked in a driveway that I passed everyday. I always slowed down to take in that menacing red and matte black beast as I walked past it
When these came out I thought Mercury was finally getting out from under the shadow of Ford.
After all 250 million was spent to increase the connection between Lincoln and Mercury for 1969 [the same amount spent on Edsel but in late ’60s money], even going so far as to badge Marquis and Marauder, as being from “Lincoln-Mercury” division and only the Monterey being referred to as a Mercury.
Then came 1973 and the badge engineering started all over again. For the next forty years by the time Mercury died I could not have cared less.
250 million squandered only to give up and spend decades marketing any old Ford with wall to wall tail lights and a water fall grille as a Mercury [and the same process with Lincoln for the past 20 years].
Ironic that my first automotive love was the 66 Montclair my parents bought brand new. Palisades turquoise. Quiet as a church on the road.
First car I ever waxed at 10 years old.
I still miss it and just completed a re-issued AMT ’66 Mercury 2 door hardtop model. The second one I’ve done. The first one I assembled over fifty years ago.
To not care when Mercury died shows how desperately bad Ford managed the brand.
Still a beautiful car.
I left home to go to school in CA in a 69 Colony Park station wagon with the largest engine and the faux woodgrain sides.
Wow! You must have been seriously disappointed with GM and their five brands that were essentially the same car.
Great comment Larry. Very disappointed! GM was so bad that in the end you did not know what 350 they stuck in them! And as for the mopar cars a body b body and many different “brands”
I Wonder about the engine in this car. Check out the air cleaner , that sure isn’t a standard FORD PIECE. With a better pic it would be tough to figure a 390 or 429.
A 390 and a 429 look completely different. How could the air cleaner make any difference? This is, clearly, an FE (Ford Edsel)-series engine, and likely a 390.
That console is just sitting there it does not look installed. they probably picked it up twenty years ago and never got around to it.
Looking at the facetrash photos, the car has been repainted, but the data plate is unreadable, so don’t know the original color. For Marauder and Galaxie XL fans, don’t believe anyone ever reproduced parts for the console’s horseshoe shifter (and they’re all broken), but I recently found the ’70 Skylark used something similar. I’m not affiliated with this vendor, only one of many, frustrated old Ford owners looking for parts. No knowledge if these parts will work, but might be worth a try.
https://www.thepartsplaceinc.com/part/1970/skylark-gs-regal-gn/console-shifter-related-parts
Moparman: You buy the car, I’ve got the Magstars (with center caps) when you’re ready.
William R Hall: Those definitely aren’t 385 series valve covers.
There aren’t two shifters…that’s a factory correct “horseshoe” shifter. The seat pattern of the standard Marauder differed from the pleated design of the X100.
The X100 would have also come standard with the 3-spoke rim-blow steering wheel and the heavy-duty suspension. The VIN tag confirms this is a 390, not the N-code 429.
The mystery is the shifter you see on the column. To my eye, the console and the U-shifter sit too far forward, so I suspect they are not connected to anything, as previously suggested. None of these came with column AND floor shifters.
You’re right, now I see the column shifter…plain as day! How did I miss that?
Yep, it was obviously a bench or split-bench seat originally.