r/MercuryCars

tl;dr - Mercury made two actual Marauder convertible show cars, 1963 & 2003. Others are simple dealer or owner 'phantom' conversions.

"It's a Mercury Marauder convertible." I love to give that answer, no matter how many times I get asked what kind of car it is. Mostly get a nod or a simple one word back, a few know the Marauder name ("Didn't Parnelli Jones race up Pikes Peak in one?"). But a convertible? Never been called on it, not once.

Did Mercury really make a Marauder convertible? The answer is not only YES, but on two completely different occasions 40 years apart.

Marauder engines were an available Mercury performance option for many years, including a mean three carb setup in the '50s with one of the cooler air cleaner tops ever made. The first car to actually wear Marauder badges on the fenders was released February 14, 1963 as a '63 1/2 model. Before that new slippery fastback roof was available, Mercury opted to create a 1963 Marauder convertible show car using a 1963 Monterey convertible. This car was used for the January '63 auto shows and national press coverage. The existence of this white convertible is well documented and even shows up in the promotional DVD and literature for the 2003 Marauder. It was however, not a production vehicle. It was a show car, with hand sanded hard foam under the seat covers and no actual top mechanism in place. It differed from the production Marauders in various ways. Two easy to spot ones are the Marauder flags were placed in front of the fender script, instead of over it and the show car had wide extruded aluminum rocker panels.

1963 model year dealer literature and advertising never show a Marauder convertible as being available. Oddly enough, there are more than a few 1963 Marauder convertibles out there. So are they fakes? I've spoken to two owners who have history going back that indicates their cars came from the dealers badged as Marauders. Others had trim swapped along the way. So what happened here?

And that Marauder convertible 40 years later? Oddly similar circumstance with Mercury again preparing to reuse the Marauder name. The February 11, 2002 Autoweek cover and article shows an Eaton supercharged black, full sized convertible. I later saw the concept car on eBay and wished I could have scored it. Sadly, even though Mercury seemed to really toy with bringing the car to market, it never was. The 2 door convertible or a 2 door sedan version of the 2003 Marauder was never available, just the 4dr body style was made. That super charger never made it as a factory option either. 2004 saw a few colors other than black and the end of the Marauder name. Permanently it seems, now that the Mercury brand has been killed by Ford.

How Maruader Convertibles Came to be

My car is a 1963 Monterey S-55 convertible, loaded with options. I looked many years to locate this exact car, a factory 4 speed car with the full S-55 bucket interior. Found it, paid too much for it, but got the exact model and setup I had dreamed of finding. It needs a full restoration, but I drove it for some time before parking it and am quite proud of it.

"So what kind of car is it?" A 1963 Monterey convertible. Images of grandparents and fuddy duddy looking 70's 4 doors still fill my head. Proud or not, man, I hated calling this wonderful car a Monterey and I'm sure it showed.

Then I started to do some research, found the Marauder fastback history and eventually, references to the show car. One thing led to another and I became obsessed with changing mine to be just like a Marauder convertible SHOULD have been like. What blew my mind was the Marauder fender script had the exact same pin placement as the Monterey script and popped right on. The trunk casting? Same thing, lift the Mercury Monterey piece off, slide the Marauder one right on. I also changed the glove box casting from S-55 script to Marauder flag and used the same holes. The only things that didn't just pop on were the checkered flags for the fenders. I carefully placed mine based on the hardtop Marauder (over the script) instead of like the show car. It was obvious that reusing the same script holes meant the flags had to go in a different place and the production flag placement is perfect.

So if a dealer in 1963 had a customer who saw that show car and wanted a Marauder convertible, or maybe just had a Monterey that needed to move, a quick trip to the parts bin would yield a Marauder convertible instead. On the several Marauder convertibles I've seen pictures of, those flags are all over the place. Marauders also had upgraded chrome under hood which some of the convertibles are missing. My belief is some of the 1963 Marauder convertibles out there, S-55 and other trim levels, DID come from the dealers like that. Others, like mine, are later made 'phantoms', cars that never were but could have been made.

My Dream Car Story

We were an old car family, Fords mainly, with a stray Lincoln or Mercury here and there. We had many different cars, but two that I really liked were a pair of Comet S-22s Dad bought; a 6cyl convertible and a 260 V8 hardtop that needed much work. The lines and trim were neat compared to our Falcons and stuck in my head. I kept this eye towards Mercury and later saw pictures of a 1963 S-55. This really clicked since I was already in love with the Galaxie convertibles. Growing up in Scottsdale, AZ meant being around LOTs of old cars. Dad worked on them and had friends with a G code 406 hardtop and an R code 427 convertible. The performance potential of these monster cars sealed the deal in my head very early in my life. And they have room for 5 with a trunk full of luggage and coolers. Road trip perfect.

Many years go by and the dream evolves. Only a convertible with a big block. A 352 is not an option. A 4 speed with buckets and a console. I live in AZ, so no rust was a viable demand. My '63 Monterey S-55 dream was #1, but a few other cars would suffice if the deal was right. '66 or '67 Comet maybe? Montego MX? With my wife's support, I trolled the Trader mags and newspaper ads seeking the deal for a car I'd pick as the one. Lots of way too pricy cars and just missed deals (AZ '66 Cyclone convertible with a 428/auto in Globe for $4500... ouch, an hour too late). Over the years my net widened until I found a really nice car at a really good price. A 1967 Mercury Park Lane convertible, loaded with a 410 V8. Ran perfect, looked fabulous and was an AZ low mile beauty. For $3500. But it was a bench seat/auto and the Park Lane trim was a bit over the top for my muscle car dream. Kim did like the car and the price was sure good, so I really pondered it. I finally decided a '63 S-55 was what I really wanted and even if it took time, I'd wait.

A few S-55s came up, all automatics. Most were either way too much money for me or had some level of rust in them. A moderately priced S-55 in Prescott was advertised and we hit the road. We found a complete, but thoroughly weathered from long time outdoor storage, S-55. It needed everything, but was a solid and complete AZ body with decent trim, 390 and a console automatic. This was very hard to pass up, it was the first S-55 convertible I'd ever actually seen, but I have nowhere available to tackle a restoration from the frame up. And it was an automatic and I wanted a 4 speed. When I said that the owner chuckled and said he'd never heard of a 4 speed in a full size Mercury convertible, just Fords. He told me to jump on buying his car, I'd not find what I'm looking for and he had someone on the east coast interested. I passed, a few weeks later it sold sight unseen to someone and shipped east.

More time passed, in 1999 I found an ad for an S-55 convertible in La Puente, CA and a claimed 4 speed car. There it was, one state away with a price 2x what I was willing to pay. Ouch, no way. But it drove me crazy wondering if this was really a nice condition big block 4 speed car. Months go by and the ad reruns, eventually dropping the price slightly. I call and soon wish I didn't. It's an original CA car with a claimed 62k miles and no rust. Z code 390 4bbl and 4 speed, 3:50 rear gear. And then the option list; power windows/steering/brakes/seat/top, first year AM/FM, Mercury under dash A/C, remote fender mounted mirror, fender skirts. All this and an amazing color combo, black cherry metallic with the deluxe two-tone rose beige interior. Was this possible? Sadly, the owner also knew exactly how rare and special it was.

The price was pretty firm and some of the condition comments didn't quite ad up, making it easier to decline. But this was the car, equipped exactly like I had fantasized about except maybe the color, which interested me anyway. Was I making a mistake? What if I never find another one like it? Drove me crazy.

My wife Kim watched this and listened to my torment. She saw I was clearly obsessed with this car and the idea of someday restoring it to be our road warrior cruiser. She pointed out I'd never had a really nice car and if this was the one I'd always wanted, maybe we should think this through further. That was all it took and I was off and running. Rounded up some cash, borrowed the rest and made the call. A deal was struck that included him driving the car to Phoenix, he was sure I'd buy it when I saw it. I almost didn't!

When the car arrived it sure didn't show off well. The top, which he said had some minor tears, had shredded on the trip and he had cut it off the frame, revealing a very rusty header bow. The speedo did not work, putting mileage in doubt. While the body was solid, the car had lived close to the ocean and much of the trim was pitted or dull. The paint was a shabby old redo that was in poor shape. The seats were dried out with split seams. I was expecting a car in much better shape and was disappointed.

But it had just driven from CA, the data plate checked out with all the right options and it looked unmolested and original everywhere else. He did point out a repair where a tire tread had taken out the left rear inside wheel well, a decent repair job and the quarter looked fine. After much consideration I paid the man and took him to his drop off point in the car. It was an unbelievably fun car to drive, even in its current poor state of tune. And everywhere you go, that car gets looks. The rappy glass pacs someone added helped a lot with getting those looks too.

The torque in the Ford FE big block is a wonderful thing, even a basic 390 4V. The car just pushes you in the seat and gives a healthy dip between shifts. A much different experience than an automatic. The bucket seats are wide and the dealer option aircraft slip latch style front belts a neat touch. It feels like the car was made just for me and I fell in love with the car right away.

A few months later the timing chain jumped. A tear down showed an engine that had never been apart. It also showed one that had been poorly maintained and was full of crud. The timing chain was totally stretched and there were obviously more miles covered than advertised here. Or they just never changed the oil from new. A new chain and a bigger Holley carb and Mallory dual point yielded an even stronger car to drive.

I started the long process of locating better trim and factory performance upgrades for the car. Bit by bit most of the trim has been swapped out for better and NOS pieces. I had the massive bumpers re-plated and found much better head and tail light bezels, all 10 of them. Better lenses and all of the Marauder trim, including NOS fender script. The matching fender mounted mirror for the right side was located. Performance wise I bought a complete 3 2bbl setup with the correct carbs and located a factory 1963 dual point distributor. Since my car was made in December 1962 the 427 was not yet available. The G code 406 would have been the hottest engine available, so I found the right 406 cast iron exhaust headers, much shorter than the 427 got later. Only major missing part is a better header bow for the top. I have three, but all are rusty or damaged and would need combined. Always expected the top bow to be reproduced (same as Galaxie), but still waiting. I did buy a new top and pads.

When I had the bumpers off I cleaned, painted and did my best to restore all of the front and back of the car. I installed all the NOS and decent used parts I had. I joke the first and last 6 inches on the car are done. I added those cheesy chrome 'eyelid' covers on the four headlights. Seemed to look right to me on the car and it really looks better overall.

I blew the head gasket and parked it in the early 2000s. I assumed it would not move again until a full restoration could start and it has sat undisturbed in an enclosed garage since. My '66 Ranchero is back running and driving after a disc brake and suspension upgrade, so starting to eye the Merc again, as next up. At least I found the car and parts while they were still available to me!

Out of storage and cleaning her up for a car show!

Mercury Marauder Convertibles? Yep, they exist. Kinda...

1965 Park Lane

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'49 Mercury Convertible