Ford’s Panther platform has gotten quite popular with a certain group of car enthusiasts, for a few good reasons. You can pick up a former fleet Crown Victoria for pocket change, and for the money you get one of the most durable sedans that money can buy, not to mention plenty of headroom for mods, and the ability to scare Nissan Altima drivers on the highway. While the Crown Vic won the hearts of fleet buyers, and the related Lincoln Town Car was all about the bingo club members, there was a third, more fun way to have a Panther vehicle: the Mercury Marauder.
Taking its name from a handful of full-size sedans from the 60s, the Marauder was a genuine performance sedan, and it could be considered a factory sleeper in several ways. Its grunt came from the same 4.6-liter Modular V8 that its siblings used, but here, it put out a pretty healthy 300 horsepower. That was Mustang levels of horsepower in a completely unassuming full-size sedan. If it weren’t for the black paint scheme, you could easily mistake it for a cab, or a police cruiser.
The chassis also got some appropriate tuning, thanks to Tokico monotube shocks, and much larger disc brakes. With a 0-60 time of just over 7 seconds, you might not be able to scare any Porsches, but the unassuming Marauder could go to town on most Honda Civics and Toyota Echos of that era. This factory sleeper can now be found for, on average, around $20,000.
