The Legend of the Florida Highway Patrol Mercury Marauder, the Fastest, Rarest Panther of Them All

[Sherminator98]

https://www.thedrive.com/news/34755/the-legend-of-the-fhp-mercury-marauder-the-fastest-and-rarest-panther-of-them-all

[sullynd]

I remember seeing the convertible marauder in Chicago. 
 

https://blog.consumerguide.com/forgotten-concept-mercury-marauder-concept/?amp=1

[Broncofan7]

Was any Panther variant ever tested with an Ecoboost motor at all?

[ehaase]

12 hours ago, Broncofan7 said:

Was any Panther variant ever tested with an Ecoboost motor at all?

3.5L EcoBoost debuted in F series for 2011 model year, and last Panther was built early in 2012 model year, so I'm sure Ford never tested an EcoBoost in a Panther. 

[rmc523]

I always liked the look the Marauders.  I know they were just a blacked out version, but thought they looked good.

[Joe771476]

Back 20 or 30 years ago when we were in Florida visiting my in-laws or Disney World etc., the most popular car on the road was the Mercury Grand Marquis, NOT the Ford Crown Vic. Was there a super huge Lincoln-Mercury dealer down there?  Anybody know the scoop?

[Sherminator98]

26 minutes ago, Joe771476 said:

Back 20 or 30 years ago when we were in Florida visiting my in-laws or Disney World etc., the most popular car on the road was the Mercury Grand Marquis, NOT the Ford Crown Vic. Was there a super huge Lincoln-Mercury dealer down there?  Anybody know the scoop?

 

Rental cars? I know when I was in Disney ages ago there was a ton of GM W or A body products in the rental fleets...it was pretty bad going into your hotel parking lot and looking for a white Buick and their be like dozen of them...kinda screwed if you don't remember your license plate lol 

[akirby]

I think the GM had luxury options not available on the CV but that’s just a guess.

[Andrew L]

On 11/10/2024 at 8:37 PM, Broncofan7 said:

Was any Panther variant ever tested with an Ecoboost motor at all?

 

I wonder if anyone has tried to swap an EB into a Panther.  Bet it would be fun to see.

 

I know when they were testing the Ford GT90 V12 they tested it in a Lincoln Town Car.  That must have been insane to drive... a quad turbo V12 pushing out over 700 HP.

[akirby]

12 hours ago, Andrew L said:

 

I wonder if anyone has tried to swap an EB into a Panther.  Bet it would be fun to see.

 

I know when they were testing the Ford GT90 V12 they tested it in a Lincoln Town Car.  That must have been insane to drive... a quad turbo V12 pushing out over 700 HP.

Remember the One Lap Of America LS?  Lincoln engineers shoehorned a supercharged Roush v8 into a LS.

 

When was the last time you tried putting a car on your expense report? Hey, it worked for these guys—Chet Dhruna (left), Jamie Venezia (middle), and Matt List, a trio of Lincoln engineers who stuffed a 390-hp, 4.6-liter Roush V-8 into a Lincoln LS to run this year's One Lap. It looked like a promising setup, and cooler still, it had the blessing of the boss. Unfortunately, the hot-rod Lincoln ventilated its engine block in its first run at Heartland Park. The boys phoned home, and the boss, Ned Nuss, told them to find a way to finish, then helped them implement his mandate with some online research. The solution was a $15,000 '03 Ford Crown Victoria, which the trio split three ways on their corporate credit cards. Swapping engines and getting the supercharger hardware attached took about 11 hours, and by 5 a.m. the next morning, the Lincoln was on its way to Pikes Peak. The body of the Crown Vic donor car will be used by Ford R&D

[Andrew L]

54 minutes ago, akirby said:

Remember the One Lap Of America LS?  Lincoln engineers shoehorned a supercharged Roush v8 into a LS.

 

When was the last time you tried putting a car on your expense report? Hey, it worked for these guys—Chet Dhruna (left), Jamie Venezia (middle), and Matt List, a trio of Lincoln engineers who stuffed a 390-hp, 4.6-liter Roush V-8 into a Lincoln LS to run this year's One Lap. It looked like a promising setup, and cooler still, it had the blessing of the boss. Unfortunately, the hot-rod Lincoln ventilated its engine block in its first run at Heartland Park. The boys phoned home, and the boss, Ned Nuss, told them to find a way to finish, then helped them implement his mandate with some online research. The solution was a $15,000 '03 Ford Crown Victoria, which the trio split three ways on their corporate credit cards. Swapping engines and getting the supercharger hardware attached took about 11 hours, and by 5 a.m. the next morning, the Lincoln was on its way to Pikes Peak. The body of the Crown Vic donor car will be used by Ford R&D

 

 

I do, what a beautiful creature it was.  A shame the real LS never got the 4.6 and got the 3.9 instead.  I think the 4.6 would have done the LS a lot better than the 3.9 but I guess we will never know.

[akirby]

Just now, Andrew L said:

 

I do, what a beautiful creature it was.  A shame the real LS never got the 4.6 and got the 3.9 instead.  I think the 4.6 would have done the LS a lot better than the 3.9 but I guess we will never know.

I don’t know - that Jag V8 was silky smooth and a 4.2L supercharged version would have been a screamer.  And it would have fit on the production line which was the problem with the 4.6.  But Jaguar pitched a fit and convinced higher ups not to step on their toes.