Affordable Muscle: 1969 Mercury Marauder
For whatever reason, the Marauder has never hung around long. For each of its three iterations, the first run was its longest at only three years. Too bad, as each version has been a pretty cool twist on your typical full-size cruiser. My wife just replaced her ’03 Grand Marquis with a ’03 Marauder so I’ve been giving these older ones a bit of a look lately; what can I say, I’m a completist! This 1969 Mercury Marauder located in Springfield, MO is currently listed for sale here on eBay, with a Buy-It-Now price of $5,750 and features the always appealing “Make Offer” option as well.
When Mercury revived the Marauder badge in 1969, it was made available with either the 390 or 429 cu/in V8 engine. The 429 was standard in the even more upscale X-100 version of the Marauder, and this one sports it as well but according to the VIN, it is just a nicely optioned base model and not a mis-listed X-100. The seller states there are 65,149 miles on the clock, and while they cannot verify that to be accurate, it does appear to be believable based on the overall condition of the car. According to the seller, the engine runs strong with no smoking on startup and has been test-driven a distance of about 50 miles by his mechanic without issue.
The interior on the Marauder looks to be pretty well preserved for a car that’s pushing 50 years old; some cleaning and a bit of upholstery work will go a long way but luckily it appears to be complete with no missing pieces. Apparently, the A/C even works and blows cold.
Overall, the Marauder is in very decent, drivable condition. The seller says the original fender skirts are included and are in the trunk – I’m guessing we can probably hold those responsible for the rust in both rear wheel wells, but other than that area the car does appear to be rust free, even in the floors. The seller also indicates that they are aware of a source for replacement rear quarter panels. Other than that, it looks like this Marauder is ready to enjoy right away while working on a restoration!
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Comments
The red on red kills it for me, but man, this would stick out in a line of Chevelles.
Sure would!!…seeing as its 20 feet long
Seems like we had one of these featured not to long ago or am I dreaming? I like almost all things Mercury. Would love to have a set of those Mag-Stars for my 70 X-100,can’t find them very often now days.Looks like a nice car,think I would try to repair the rust before changing out the quarter panels.
This car came with hub caps so they must have found the Magstars somewhere along the line. VERY cool car.
The thing that surprised me about this car was that it was a 429 TWO BARREL. K code engine instead of N code. I’ve lusted over these cars for a long time, never knew they made them that way. KSWF, I have a set of MagStars I’ve been meaning to sell, including the ultra-rare center caps. I’ve come to the conclusion I’ll never own one of the cars, so I need to divest a bunch of parts I’ve acquired for them. Can you go through BF to get my contact info?
The Magstars used on the Mercurys had a larger inner flange circle for the bolt pattern while the ones used on 1967 Shelbys had a smaller bolt hole flange. I think both styles look great.
Yes, the two barrel was standard on the 429 in ’69. The X-100 got the 429 four barrel. I have the ’69 Marquis with the 429 two barrel and it has scary amounts of power and torque! BTW, the Marauder was on the 121″ Ford wheelbase (like the Colony Park) and so was even shorter and lighter than the Marquis. Even the Marquis @ 224″ is 4″ shy of 19′. VERY few cars EVER pushed past the 19′ mark.
Our 70 a month ago.
Beauty. Love it, check the frame real good as they rotted out early in the game. Good luck to the new owner. Turn the key and enjoy!!
Cheers
GPC
Well, I am new here and I’m already hooked onto Barn Finds! Hello from a teenager that likes cars such an extent that I should probably seek help! This lovely Marauder really has grown on me, as my late uncle was actually a senior FoMoCo engineer. Even though he could have easily afforded Lincolns, he always bought Mercuries. I believe it was because a Lincoln would have been pretentious and overbearing in his eyes. It’s time to get back to the present now. Even though I currently have a Studebaker GT Hawk, this Marauder is looking more and more ravishing in it’s scarlet dress!
That’s a sweet looking ride, lack of skirts give it a more sporty appearance. Red on red is fine, if it had a black interior it’d be spot on at least for me, along with a hotter 429.
Nice Earl Slob Paint Job!
Dark grey w the black rear deck and red interior would be really sharp.
Gone
Nicely equipped standard model that shared its interior trim with the Monteray Custom. The X100 shared its interior trim with the top Marquis series with a choice of a leather and vinyl bench. vinyl split bench seats with individual front armrests or vinyl bucket seats with a console
Ain’t she sweet!
I owned one a couple years back, mine was a 70 x100 and finding parts was a nightmare. I ended up selling it on Ebay and shipped it to Austria
Nice. Love the color combo
Had a turquoise one with a white interior with a strong 390 in it. Drove it to California and passed everyone there and back. My cars claim to fame was that we could get 6 guys over 300 pounds complete with boots and hats and fit comfortably. It was a hell of a good car, still miss it.
scottymac, thanks for the offer, I’ll ask my wife to try and make a deal , These posts are the limit of my computer skills.
The two close ups of the fender openings shows a severe rust bucket.
Given the rusty condition of the rear wheel wells I’d say the original skirts went long ago. They are not easy to find!
The X100 interior was a real step up from this base model! I’ve owned a perfect (really) X100 for many years…great cars!