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Stored 26 Years: 1970 Mercury Marauder X-100

It would be fun to do a survey of Barn Finds readers to see how old we all are. Not that it matters for what type of vehicle or era of vehicle that a person is interested in, but just to see how many of us were alive when this 1970 Mercury Marauder X-100 was born. This unique luxury muscle car can be found here on eBay in Painesville, Ohio and the bids are at a mere $3,000 and there is no reserve! So like voting,  jump in early and jump in often, you know you’ve always wanted one of these cars!

I’ll start it off: I was alive in 1970. In fact, I was alive when John Kennedy was president. Next! It’s not important and nobody’s age matters at all, just so you love old vehicles, or vehicles, in general. I just always think of that when I see an old car here – how many Barn Finds readers were alive when this thing was made. On this ’70 Merc, I bet that it’s about half and half maybe.

You can see what appears to be some new paint on the front fender and there’s also rust around the rear wheel wells. This is a one-owner car which is amazing after 49 years. Well, technically it’s a two-owner car because the current owner recently bought it from the original owner. Even with visible rust, it has a lot less rust than my recently, dearly-departed 1997 Subaru Outback had when it died of rust a few months ago. This car is 27 years older and it has so much less rust that it’s almost laughable. Well, rust is never a laughing matter but you know what I mean. They have included underside photos and some look great but others show some heavy flaking rust on the frame which is scary. Maybe it isn’t as bad as it appears.

The seller says that it was stored for the last 26 years in a heated garage of the original owner because it needed a new timing chain. They bought it and fixed almost everything but the brakes so it’ll still need brake work but then it should be ready to haul again. And I mean haul, as far as having hauling six passengers in comfort and it’ll also haul on the road with a 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds. The interior looks good other than needed a bit of help with the front vinyl seat. Hagerty is at $7,800 for a #4 fair condition car so the current $3,000 no reserve bid seems like a steal.

Here’s where the haul on the road part comes in, a nice, big, fat beautiful Ford 429 cubic-inch V8 with 360 hp and 470 ft-lb of torque! It moves this 4,300-pound car very nicely. The seller changed the double-roller timing chain and gears, put on a new alternator, a new fuel pump, a new water pump, thermostat, lower hose, and belts. It looks super clean and they’re also including a bunch of NOS body parts for the next owner to fix the rust with factory parts. Have any of you owned a Mercury Marauder X-100?

Comments

  1. Avatar Bakyrdhero

    Not sure I’ve even seen one of these. Nice looking machine though. Mismatched paint on the front clip that I’m sure everyone has noticed. One week old pictures is a plus. For the record I was 13 years old when this car went into storage.

    Like 9
    • Avatar Dirtymax

      I noticed the paint on the front clip right away as well. Btw I was 11 when they put it in storage

      Like 4
      • Avatar Barb McCullough

        No to the repaint. The guy tried using some cheap hand glaze to clean up the car and had no idea what he was doing. It’s the original paint cause I can see the scratch marks from where I wacked it with the snow blower. Anyone know the where abouts of this car? My Mom died right after we sold it and I’d love to buy it back!

        Like 0
    • Avatar Barb McCullough

      My Dad IS the ORIGINAL owner and it looks like the knucklehead who bought it off us tried cleaning up the car by using some cheap hand glaze. All paint is original! I can tell by the paint scratches I put on it getting the snow blower in and out of the garage. Custom trailer hitch is attached to the frame. Solid car. Mom said get rid of it if you are not going to fix it up. It took me three years to find a buyer since NO ONE knows what a Mercury Marauder is. I loved that car. I would love to buy it off the guy who bought it off eBay since my Mom died right after we sold her car.

      Like 1
  2. HoA Howard A Member

    I’m 64 years old, and knows what I likes, dag nabit, and these big Merc’s were the some of the best cars made. I bet a lot of people had single uncles that had cars like this. Gentleman cruisers with power up the ying yang. Got a pretty HD tow hitch there, not that pulling an Airstream would be a problem. I think this was the nicest Mercury ever, as the marque fades into oblivion.

    Like 37
    • Avatar Ramone

      Howard, I have to agree with you that this was one of the greatest Mercurys made. I’ve always liked these, but never knew the X-100 was built without the flat black rear end. This looks so much better without that. A gentleman’s muscle car? Certainly. This one still has the Kelsey-Hayes wheels, so likely has most of the other important bits. Like it.

      Like 14
      • Avatar Angel Cadillac Diva Member

        I was alive in 1970. I was also alive when Kennedy was president. And Eisenhower.
        Never cared much for these IN 1970, but now they have grown on me. I think what is was, if they had skirts they looked really bulbious.plus, back then I was not for d of the matte black paint on the trunk.
        If I had $3001.00 right now I’d buy it.

        Like 3
    • Avatar Mountainwoodie

      Dag nabit………thats old!

      Oh wait a minute…what am I saying……that’s just middle age…..phew.

      As for the car…..a sporty dry cleaning owning businessman would have driven this in 1970 when I was driving a 50 Packard…:)

      Like 6
      • Avatar Stillrunners

        Still a beast in the day…maybe surprised a few at the light.

        Like 3
  3. Avatar Oregon_Guy78

    I’m from the 70’s, 1978 to be exact. The first car I remember my parents owning was a Chevy Citation, V6, with air shocks in the back.

    Like 5
  4. Avatar Steve McDermott

    Here’s my Barn Find! 1969 Mercury Marauder with only 87,000 miles…
    It’s been in a garage since 1981

    Like 68
  5. Avatar Jack M.

    Crotch cooling air conditioning vent looks a bit strange but otherwise nice find.

    Like 7
    • Avatar Ike Onick

      As a really old guy, I say “Bravo” to any man in the 1970’s who was driving a car with a passenger who was in need of Crotch-cooling! Why do you think he bought the car? If by any chance this comment gets published, I believe most of us older gentlemen would have been proud to drive that car.

      Like 24
      • Avatar H5mind

        I rolled off the assembly line 7 years before this big Merc. It wouldn’t be until forty later that I would experience Mercury ownership, in the form of a very large 1958 Sedan.

        Like 8
    • Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

      That’s not a crotch air vent. It was a dealer option called Fecal Aroma Reduction Technology, or FART for short.

      Like 16
      • Avatar Ike Onick

        Gold!! My hat is off sir!!!!

        Like 2
    • Avatar Pete's taint

      Jack M, I was thinking the same about the AC! Lol!!!!

      Like 4
  6. Avatar TimM

    I had a mecury marquis brougham with a 429 in it!! I should have never sold that car!!!

    Like 8
  7. Avatar Oldog4tz

    I’ve owned 2,first generation 1963 ¹/2, 1969 x100 – gonna say this isn’t an x100 – missing, buckets, center console, black matting, fender skirts – just a “plain” Marauder – when I brought them as 3 or 4 year old used cars, they were $500 cars in Cleveland – I’m 73

    Like 12
  8. Avatar macvaugh

    I am a little older than you are, and grew up in rural northwest Montana. Our local deputy sheriff drove one of these for the first few years I was driving a car (back then, in Montana you could get your driver’s license at 14-1/2 with driver’s ed.) His custom was to buy a local woman’s cars after the first few years, and I guess he was given a stipend to pay for his mileage. Because she was selling the near new cars to the deputy, she ordered the biggest engines and heavy duty components, including police package, if available.

    This was the most memorable of the cars Deputy Donaho drove, as it was incredibly fast. Many of the well off kids in my high school has that period’s muscle cars, and the young local physician drove a 500KR Shelby, so he needed a high speed pursuit vehicle if he was to stand a chance among what was driving those roads.

    As you might recall, Montana had no daytime speed limit at the time, so reasonable and proper was what folks drove.

    Like 17
  9. Avatar Patrick W. George

    Go to the mercury marauder sites. They will show that you could get them without the flat black as my 1969 X100 does not have one. And buckets center console was an option, bench was standard.

    Like 9
  10. Avatar Bob_in_TN Member

    In hindsight, this was quite the car. Large, powerful, and stylish, it carried a presence. Imagine a full-size two-door coupe in today’s market — nothing I can think of produced today is even close.

    Another example of a rarely seen model which would make a great cars and coffee participant.

    Like 7
  11. Avatar geezerglide85

    I was 12 when this was made. Never had one of these but I did have a ’67 Monterey 2dr ht, w/ a 390. Beautiful body and a great runner, paid $250 for it 1980. I had to junk it because of a rusty frame. Of the 40 or so cars I’ve owned it was one of my favorites.

    Like 4
  12. Avatar Bill Shields

    Dad had one in the seventies. Dream car.
    Was totalled in an accident shortly before my sixteenth birthday when I would have been eligible to drive it!
    After all those years of waiting I cursed the woman that caused the accident til the day she died!!
    Forty years later I’m still mad over that.

    Like 11
  13. Avatar H5mind

    I rolled off the assembly line 7 years before this big Merc. It wouldn’t be until forty later that I would experience Mercury ownership, in the form of a very large 1958 Sedan.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Rhett

    I was 6 when this car rolled off the line, and I remember quite a few of these running around as used cars .As a kid, it took me a long time to realize that Merc had two completely different front ends on their 69-70 models: the Monterey and the Marquis/Maurauder, a tradition that would last well into the 70’s, confused the hell out of me.
    I always have a had a soft spot for Mercurys, and the X-100 was one of my favorites. Tough looking hidden headlight nose, rumbling 429, cool looking mags and areo fastback styling, it looked like the perfect Prairie Schooner. I always pictured myself in one with like a 2.56 gear tooling across Nebraska at 140 mph.
    This one is an honest presentation – looks good in solid brown as opposed to a less dignified pony car color with the blackout cove. Like it without skirts, but glad theyre included. Oddly equipped (seat, but no windows or tilt?) with a good haul of supporting NOS parts. But the big problem here is the rust: what you see in the pics is the tip of the iceberg. Once youre in, you’re in for the duration and on this car that will be a labor of love. But the right guy wont think twice, and have a very cool and unique car when he’s done.

    Like 9
  15. Avatar KSwheatfarmer

    Agree with all previous comments,the power these early 429’s could produce is truly something to behold.Glad to see cars like these featured from time to time.My 70 X-100 has been on this site before so I won’t post that picture again.It’s had a sympathetic restoration and draws attention when out and about.

    Like 7
  16. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    I saw one of these at a car show in St. Pete a few months back. It was really cool in black, and had quite a presence. I’d never seen one before. I was born in year 3 of the Eisenhower administration.

    Like 1
  17. Avatar don

    I was 8 when this car was new ; my dad had a pale blue 68 Monterey sedan , which he traded in by 1972 and bought a dark green /green cloth int. ’71 Monterey 4 door hardtop . I really liked that car and my dad always said that was his favorite car ; he had Ford products all the way back to a ’30 Model A in high school ! Of course that was the one car he had stolen in 1976 ,after that gas was getting high so he bought a dark brown ’76 2 door Montego MX – I would love to had any of those cars today!

    Like 2
  18. Avatar Dave

    I was 15 when this car was new and dreaming about how hot the cars were gonna be by the time I graduated in 1973…

    Like 5
  19. Avatar Kevin H

    I had a 69 Cyclone with a 351W 4 barrel. Honestly, I had no idea this body style ever existed….Cool !

    Like 1
  20. Avatar FBM

    My mother had one back in the day. When I was able to borrow it all I can remember is that is was a great make-out car.

    Like 3
  21. Avatar Guggie 13

    Uncle Buck mobile LOL !! Love these Mercs

    Like 3
  22. Avatar Erik Westerholm

    Owned a ’69 X-100 in turquoise with a factory black vinyl top and no matte paint on the deck. Factory skirts, and those same mag wheels with tiny hubcaps. Factory White vinyl tuck and roll interior with buckets and console. Also came with a nest of carpenter ants as I recall. Noticed those crawling up my leg as I was coasting in to a gas pump for my first fuel up. Empty meant empty on this rig. Fast and thirsty, comfortable and very stable as long as you respected the limits. took it to 105 once with four people inside and backed off when the windshield trim commenced flying off. Still remember the tires I put on her: Hugger GT’s. Room for four with a trunk you had to crawl into to pack. Rim Blow horn, look it up. Fun car. Bought and sold for $650 with about 60,000 miles of pure big block enjoyment in between… :-)

    Like 5
    • Avatar Del

      I priced one of these out at the dealer with my Dad in 1970.

      They wanted about 5800 as I recall. Very expensive for that time.

      Dad never ordered. I was dissappointed. I loved these.

      Like 4
  23. Avatar Stevieg

    I always loved these. Sharp looking cars, like a combo of a pump ride & a bloated muscle car. That sounds WAY worse than it looks lol. Whatever, I would love to have a clean, rust free one like it. I do like how this one is equipped as I have had bad experiences with the Ford power windows from back then. Darn vacuum hoses lol! Had a sharp Lincoln Mark III that I could never get the windows to work in. Not a big fan of the rim blow steering wheel either due to reliability issues either.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Erik Westerholm

      Lol, would you believe that my local L-M dealer had 1 rim blow horn insert in his part bin? This is ca. 1990, and boy was that a joy to install in the steering wheel! :-)

      Like 1
  24. Avatar lc

    Picked up a low mileage white ’70 Mercury Marauder X100 in the mid eighties with the satin black rear deck, no vinyl top and many options….. comfy, powerful, thirsty, and I loved it!….one of the last factory type customs.

    Like 1
  25. Avatar Chuck

    It looks like I’m one of the older ones on this site! I was 22 when this was assembled! The same year I bought my first new car, a ’70 Torino GT fastback. I paid $3300 for it, and the payments were $90.61 a month for 36 mos. 351-4V Cleveland, auto, PS, Power Disc Brakes, A/C, radio, hide-away headlights, laser stripe, trailer tow, 3.25 posi, intermittent wipers, light package, rear window defogger, and rear seat speakers. I sure wished that I still had that car!
    Isn’t hind sight always 20-20!!!

    Like 6
  26. Avatar Bakyrdhero

    I’m not ashamed to admit I had to google “rim blow horn” I suspected I knew what it was, but I needed to confirm. Wiki says they were only produced between 1969-1974. I’m positive I would accidentally hit that horn enough to burn it out. It’s different though and different is interesting.

    Like 2
  27. Avatar kiteflier

    I was a teenager when this was new.. and stumbled upon one in the woods. I was taking a known short cut through the local woods on my bike and saw a car ditched off the trail with the hood up. Nobody around when I rode up and saw the carb was gone, Then I noticed the car was sitting on the ground. All four wheels were missing.. always gave me a feeling of something sinister when I saw that 2nd generation Merc style.

    Like 3
  28. Avatar Bakyrdhero

    Mercury really had the sinister look down pat..

    Like 2
  29. Avatar Stevieg

    I was born in September of 1970. I mentioned the rim blow steering wheel before because I know what it is, not many my age do.
    My Dad, about 1978, bought a used 1974 LTD Brougham at the local Dodge dealership used car lot. That LTD was quite the car. Purchased new by a local Ford dealer principal for his wife. Loaded, & I mean LOADED. It had cruise control amongst the many other features. When you got cruise control back then, you automatically got rim blow.
    Fast forward a number of years & I worked @ a used car lot. At the auction one day I saw a 1974 Mark 4, a gorgeous grass green car with white top & white interior go through the dealer auction. I was foaming @ the mouth like a St. Bernard! It was cheap too! It was a donated charity vehicle & I knew someone wealthy probably took a dirt nap and their family had no appreciation for the old boat! I was top dog in the bidding game! Cool car, even the 8 track player and the cruise worked! It had rim blow too…that didn’t work.

    Like 1
  30. Avatar Neil

    I’d have been 14 when this old girl was new :) And I’d love to have this one now :)

    Like 0
  31. Avatar Ron Hoult

    Ah….. 1970 – the year I graduated from high school. 4 years and a hitch with the Air Force later, I was selling FLM parts at a metro Detroit dealership. Saw my share of those land yachts including some mighty fine Mercury iron like this one. Wasn’t a big fan of ’em back then but that was a long time ago, opinions change. I’d go for this Marauder but my stable is full with my ’56 Vicky and ’64 Comet. :(

    Like 0
    • Avatar Chuck

      Hi Ron, I was working in Northland Ford parts dept in ’68-’70 in Southfield. Cruised Woodward from the mid ’60’s to the early ’70’s! I graduated Birmingham Seaholm ’66. The big T-birds, LTDs, Mercs, and Marks were land yachts back then. They weren’t real fast off the line, but you could cruise all day at 90, and feel like you were floating on air! I wished that I had a nickel for every gallon of gas I used cruising back then! Ah, those were the days!

      Like 1
      • Avatar Ron Hoult

        I was out at Spiker FLM in Milford. I was primarily a counter man but ran the truck to DPD and NPD sometimes, then around Detroit area chasing and dropping parts. Knew Ray Horn and Jim Mitchum quite well when they were at GPD in Ferndale. Didn’t Mel Farr buy Northland in the mid 70s?

        Like 0
      • Avatar Ron Hoult

        Spiker service dept prepped a lot of the Wixom Assy Plant executive cars – mostly big Birds and Lincolns in those days. We were about 10 miles from Wixom.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Chuck

        Ron, I used to go by Spiker FLM on the way home from Avis Ford when I worked as a truck mechanic & in the body shop. I also ran parts at DPD & NPD. I wonder how many times we crossed paths, and didn’t know it. I also worked at Ferguson Ford in Fenton for a while. If I remember, you’re right about Mel Farr buying Northland Ford. I also went by the Wixom plant quite often, as I took I-96 west, and sometimes exited at the Milford Rd. When I was working at Northland, we had a parts account with a garbage truck business. It seemed like I was delivering a heavy duty 534 truck engine once a week to them. That engine was a real gas hog!!!

        Like 1
      • Avatar Ron

        sounds like we had a lot in common back then. Shoot me an e-mail – racenstuff@hotmail.com more stories to share.

        Like 0
  32. Avatar Troy s

    I would have been a whopping 4 years old in the later half of 1970. It just might have been that year as a very small boy staring in awe at our neighbors dark green ’63 Ford Galaxie drag car in his garage, definitely was amazed how tall the drag slicks were, or the massive volume of the single over head cam 427 as he ran it up our street occasionally.

    Those kinds of memories are carved in stone.

    This old Merc here comes across as a sporty ride for the more mature middle aged guy, instead of a Riviera or Tornado he might pick this. Great lines.

    Like 0
  33. Avatar Pa Tina

    I was conceived in the back seat of that car.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Rhett

      Unless they’ve had it cleaned, I’m retracting my bid

      Like 1
  34. Avatar rod444

    I was totally nuts about cars by the time I saw this car as a 9 yr old, especially the red and black Marauder X-100 that my neighbor owned. He drove it a few years and then parked it behind his garage where I would drool over it from our back deck. I used to sneak over and look inside and imagine myself driving it and looking down that long, low hood. A few times I took a chance and opened the door and got an up close look at the dash. Such a great looking machine!

    My dad asked but the neighbor said he would “never sell it” and as I got older and went off to college it just sat there looking a little more faded and a little more rusty and sunk into the grass every year. I couldn’t believe he didn’t want to keep it in better shape.

    Finally as a young married guy, I came home one time and the Marauder was gone. Asked my dad what happened to it and he said the neighbor had moved and the Marauder got hauled away, but it didn’t look like it was being hauled away to be restored, but to the wrecker since it had sat so long it had rusted to pieces.

    I definitely felt a pang when I heard that. Sure wish my neighbor had given it up when it was still salvageable.

    ps. Frame rails on this one are scary.

    Like 3
  35. Avatar Gransedan

    I turned 8 in 1970. On the periphery, in ’69 or ’70, Matchbox sized plastic cars were give aways in Honey Comb cereal. One of them was a Marauder. I had a yellow one.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Bob C.

      OMG I remember those Honeycomb cars like it was yesterday. Do they still even make that cereal? BTW I too was 8 in 1970.

      Like 2
  36. Avatar r s

    “[…] double-roller timing chain and gears, […]”

    Double ROW timing chain and gears.

    Like 0
  37. Avatar Scotty Gilbertson Staff

    Auction update: this one sold at $4,550!

    Like 1
  38. Avatar steve jonas

    I have had two 1970 x=100s. One was stolen after I had it six weeks. The second one I put two years labor and $15000 into the restore. Anybody who says this is not a collectible car or a gas hog or a boat knows nothing about rarity, history, or pride in ownership of such a unique two year run car.

    Like 1
  39. Avatar Dave Davis

    Thanks you guys for the comments on the matchbox sized Merc Marauder’s in Honey Comb cereal. I found 3 of these 1/64th sized Marauder’s at an antique mall. I had to pay up for these little toys but they were in excellent shape and this is one of my all time favorite cars. Never knew where these toys originally came from but now I do, thanks again. About 4 years ago I sold a 64 Merc. Montclair breezeway, and was then looking for something with in my means such as a 71 or 2 Riviera boat tail, 69 or 70 Merc Marauder X100 or which is resting in my garage now a 68 Chrysler 300 2dr hard top. My ultimate car to own if I ever had the dough would be a 58 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser 2dr in excellent condition, doubt if that will ever happen

    Like 0

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