This rather interesting car was seen at the Hot Rod Power Tour when they stopped in the Quad Cities last summer, on their way up to Wisconsin. Yes, yes, this is really a Mercury Marauder with a carriage roof–the first one I’ve ever seen so equipped.
What’s that? Odd, you say. Why, didn’t you know that all performance cars are supposed to have carriage roofs? The Caprice-based 1994 Impala SS was originally supposed to get a Landau roof with opera lamps, dontcha know!
That said, I actually liked this car–top and all. I think it’s due to the fact that the paint, top material and interior are all black. Now if it had had a tan top (or whitewalls), hmm, I don’t think that would’ve really looked very terrific. But this car? I’d drive it!
Cars with these type of door frames don’t work with any kind of roof, the final Fleetwood barely did.
I was one of the few fans of the last Marauder,the vinyl roof doesn’t come off looks wise,a shame Mercury was left to die
That roof does nothing good for that car.
An aside: It bugs me when you see a car displayed with power cabling and phones and junk strewn about.
+1 re cables and junk
I never liked these Maurauders, though I’m a huge Grand Marquis fan. I always felt they had the wrong engine. The smooth DOHC 4.6 really belonged in the Town Car. The Marauder really deserved the larger 5.4 V8. DOHC or not, it would have provided the brute torque these cars deserved.
As for the roof, i’ve always hated the cloth tops, it just says “Florida” too much.
No, what it says is “South Florida”. We in northwest Florida have good taste.:-)
The DOHC 5.4 doesn’t fit in the engine bay as configured. Requires a domed hood and I think some suspension work.
What they should have done is given it a factory supercharger, but it was already uncomfortably expensive. Window sticker on mine was just a tick under $36K. (I bought it used…)
DOHC would be a must if you want any inkling of performance out of a 5.4. the SOHCs versions are asthmatic dogs. The run of the mill 4.6 SOHC is a better performance engine than the dump truck 5.4.
My dump truck with the SOHC 5.4 has a supercharger from the factory.
I thought the carriage/vinyl roof became especially pointless once rooflines went “aero,” but I underestimated the persistence of its fans. Despite living here all my life, I never could understand this aesthetic, esp. in the Sunbelt where anything not metal or ceramic gets well-baked outside.
And how could they forget the cheesy-looking wire-wheel covers? This is part of the carriage-roof package.
I think the reason the 5.4 never went in a Panther was that the manifold won’t fit under the hood. it would be spectacular if Ford still built them and used the 5.0 Coyote engine.
Here was an attempt at stuffing a 5.4 into a 90s Town Car in my neck of the woods.
You might be a redneck if…
A Coyote powered Panther is on my bucket list. Preferably a Box two door with an ’03-’11 frame underneath (yes, that’s been done).
I don’t really like the coach roof on a Marauder. It’s like wearing a blazer over a tee shirt and gym shorts.
Kind of like wearing knee socks in your Birkenstock’s.
I like the vinyl top. Which workshop/company did it??? Can anybody recommend one?
I am not a big fan of cloth or vinyl roofs on cars….I’ve seen vinyl roofs trap water between the vinyl and metal causing rustholes in the roof, Years ago, in the mid 1980’s, a coworker of mine had his 72 Buick Skylark coupe repainted and the vinyl roof replaced….Within a year or two, the roof had lumpy spots in the vinyl where the metal was rusting out underneath the vinyl….
Some cars look better with vinyl roofs though…..The 70’s Dodge Dart 2 door Swinger and Plymouth Scamp 2 door hardtop seemed to wear a vinyl top well…..The Plymouth Duster looked better with a plain metal roof although the Gold Duster package with the partial vinyl roof did not look too bad.
I think it largely depends on how the stylists design the roof’s c-pillar to join up with the beltline. If there’s a clearly defined line that connects with the bottom of the rear window, a vinyl roof doesn’t look bad. The Duster’s styling didn’t have that so a vinyl roof doesn’t come off so well in that application.
A ’68-’70 Dodge Charger, OTOH, has a clearly defined line where the flying-buttress c-pillars join the beltline. Those cars look great with a vinyl roof.
I think most of the Muscle car era cars look good with a vinyl top, not a fabric top, not a padded top, no caps to make the quarter windows into opera windows, no “carriage” half roofs, no faux convertible detailing, just a plain vinyl top wrapped tightly around the actual steel roof panel, from the bottom edge of the A pillars to the bottom edge of the C or D pillars. It seems like when the Brougham era went into full swing that kind of roof treatment went extinct forever.
Personally I’d love to see a new Camaro or Challenger with a true vinyl top if it were done the right way.
One of the most interesting applications of a ‘tight’ vinyl roof was that on each and every 1970 Plymouth Superbird. It was one of Chrysler’s limited production specials designed specifically to qualify for NASCAR and the only reason they all got a vinyl roof was to more easily hide the welds for the special rear window plug for the more aerodynamic rear window instead of the more costly metal finishing needed without the vinyl covering.
The issue with using a vinyl roof in this way was that, with age, those roof welds would start showing through the vinyl. One of the most notorious for this was Chrysler’s E-body ponycars.
I’ve seen a few junker E bodies where that seam would become exposed without a vinyl top, although perhaps they had one and was removed. I assume the heat of the usually black top probably caused the filler(lead?) to melt right?
Interestingly the modern technique of joining the steel roof and quarter panels together is to join them at one long seam from the windshield to the back window, and covered with a strip of metal, plastic, or even rubber(sometimes black sometimes body color), which is exactly where most old vinyl tops had their sections joined.
So true. I have a survivor ’71 Dodge Challenger with the boar grain top and if you look closely you can see the quarter to roof seam. I presume it has always been like that. It also has a couple of grind marks under the original paint. It’s interesting what customers would tolerate back then. Now, of course, it just gives it character.
Given the tepid performance of the Marauder, this isn’t so bad, particularly since the top color is black (any other color wouldn’t have went over so well). It’s like grandpa just wanted a little more performance from his Grand Marquis, but didn’t want to give up the brougham. In fact, maybe if Ford has just offered the DOHC 4.6L as an engine upgrade in the Grand Marquis, things could have turned out differently.
OTOH, if Ford had figured out some way to squeeze the 5.4L into the Panther’s engine bay, it might have been a whole different story.
I just noticed what looks like a glued-on, JC Whitney-style spoiler on the trunk lid. That looks far worse than the vinyl roof.
A few years back I told my daughter if I ever get to the point of liking that sort of roof, she has my permission to immediately put me in a nursing home. I will surely have gone over the edge. This poor ole Marauder reminds me of the day I was at a gas pump with my 2003 Grand Marquis LSE. Another LSE, with a sissified vinyl roof, pulled up across the way. That poor car seemed embarrassed to be seen in public; kind of like those sad little dogs who are made to wear ribbons and bows around their necks.
At least it does not have the fake ribs and such of the phony convertible tops that can still be seen on cars driven mostly by old people who live on the East Coast, and who go 45mph in the left lane on the turnpike, and STOP on every on-ramp before entering.
I saw one on a mid-2000s Saturn Ion sedan! Complete with Brougham-style miniature rear window!
I heard someone refer to the Marauder as a police car wearing evening clothes.
Ugh! That’s just awful.
Love these, but not with a carriage roof. Why would you?
Why would you? Well, there were plenty of LM dealers whose business models were based on selling as many cloth roofs as possible, and plenty of folks whose formative car years were in the Great Brougham Epoch, and whose idea of the height of automotive chic is a cloth or vinyl roof. Back in the 80s I saw lots of Sables and Topazes in the Detroit area with dealer-installed cloth or vinyl roofs, and those cars looked truly wretched with the addition.
For a regular Grand Marquis this wouldn’t be questionable, but applying this toupee to a Marauder would be the equivalent to applying it to a Taurus SHO or a Mustang GT. The geriatric set wasn’t the target for these cars like the rest of the Panthers.
Oh, I really think of Florida seeing endless Mark VIII with fabric roof with golden trims!
Oh, the solution is going for whale Caprice.
I saw this car there as well. I stood there totally baffled for a few minutes wondering what, why and who would do that.
I’m not going to criticize though, to each his own.
Sans top, that would be the only Panther I would ever own.
It was definitely a Panther Twilight Zone moment!
I actually don’t mind the IDEA of a vinyl roof on these cars, it’s the execution on this car that stinks. The chrome strips added around the door posts and at the belt line look cheesey. If you, the customer, actually like this look…don’t buy a Marauder but instead get a Crown Vic and add some whitewall tires and fake wire wheel covers.
BTW, I’ve never understood why anyone would put a vinyl roof on a car the same color as the rest of the body. It’s sort of like a woman wearing “flesh colored” lipstick.
Szilard:
If you want a vinyl roof on a car you can try a really good car upholstery shop. Yes, there are also “kits” that are usually used when you want to “formalize” the roofline. Or if the rear or side windows will have their shapes modified to look more formal. Contact the body shop of a large Cadillac or Lincoln dealership if you spot a few of these types of cars on their lot.
I haven’t seen one on a newer model, but a popular car that got a vinyl roof treatment is the 05 Camry. I’ve seen a couple here in north Florida including an orange one with a cream colored roof. Another one I’ve seen is white on white.
Still better than the ones with the chrome taillight trim
If you want a cloth roof, get a real convertable. Otherwise, leave it alone.
Y’know Tom, not so long ago I wrote a post on how my teenage perception of American cars as chintzy barges was challenged and destroyed by the beautiful ’87 Thunderbird. But a carriage roof? On a Marauder??? Teenage perceptions re-booting in 3…2…
You think that’s something? How about THIS!
And THIS! That’s right, a functioning opera lamp. Ah ha ha ha ha!
…1 liftoff, we have teenage perception liftoff… 😉 Having said that I am secretly attracted to opera lamps and can forgive them, but thank goodness no-one knows that…!
Actually that really is not that bad looking. I think the half landau top makes this car look very stately. That is the first time I have seen an opera lamp on a door instead of the B pillar. which means this is exposed to the possibility of wire fatigue from opening and shutting of the door. Hidden B Pillar cars are horrible candidates for opera lights
Seeing as how that’s a “regular” MGM…I kind of like it!
Shhh, don’t tell.
Mock tops… the automotive equivalent to a bad hairpiece. Wait… isn’t “bad hairpiece” redundant?
Poor Marauder. It certainly wasn’t a factory option, probably dealer installed, or perhaps by an owner with questionable taste. Combined with the cheesy plasti-chrome on the B-pillar…ugh. Ruins one of my favorite cars.
At least it’s the (comparatively) common black color. I’ve seen a photo of a blue one with a carriage roof…one of only 317 made in deep blue pearl (’03 only).
As an antidote, here’s one with no vinyl, no spoiler, no taillight inserts, no “jewelry” whatsoever. (Okay, one small window sticker.) Man, I miss that car.
“Now Mr. Thornton, your Marauder just came in, but we can install a special, deluxe carriage roof onto it for only $4999.99! And I’ll even throw in the Tru-Coat.”
That’s how I imagine this going down…
When my late cousin ordered a `98 Lincoln Town Car, he had a “dealer installed” simulated leather carriage-landau top put on. The price? 2500.00. They saw him coming.Within two years, it started to peel off.
Slizard you can get your mock top needs met by Roman chariot of cleveland Ohio
The fate of any Mercury that ends up on a Buick dealer’s used car lot.
A Marauder with a landau-carriage roof? As James Bond said in “Goldfinger”-“thats like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs”.
Reminds me of a really bad toupee
Here is I believe a factory installed one that actually looks good. And I’m buying it.. Rare. Or am I wrong is this aftermarket done right, unlike the one in this article which looks horrible. I hate all the chrome for sure and would remove or black it out