77k Miles: 1965 Mercury Park Lane Marauder
It isn’t clear how long this 1965 Mercury Park Lane Marauder has been sitting around in its garage, but I think that it would be fairly safe to assume that it has been a reasonable length of time. When the car’s original owner passed away last year, it was inherited by a lady who has decided to part with it. Barn Finder Ikey H spotted this beauty for us, so thank you for that Ikey. The Mercury is located in Durant, Oklahoma, and is listed for sale here on Craigslist. The owner has set a price of $9,995 OBO for this 1960s classic.
It appears that the original owner has kept the Marauder in a garage for virtually its entire life, and its condition doesn’t appear to be too bad. The current owner doesn’t reveal a lot of information about the state of the car’s floors, but the outward appearance of the car looks quite promising. There are some areas of surface corrosion, but no obvious significant rust issues. The trunk lid was damaged when someone attempted to force their way in at some point, but the rest of the body looks to be quite good. There is certainly nothing apparent that will require urgent attention, and what is visible could easily be addressed in a home workshop.
The interior of the Marauder is like so much of the rest of the car, in that I think that a good clean would make a world of difference. The rear seat looks good, and the dash and pad are also in really nice condition. There are a couple of minor tears in the headliner, but they are the type that could easily be blind-patched by a decent upholsterer. The tops of both door trims look a bit odd, but the same upholsterer might be able to bring them back into shape without the need to replace the vinyl. In keeping with a more luxurious image, the Marauder is also fitted with air conditioning, power windows, power seats, and a tilt wheel.
The general appearance under the hood of the Mercury is actually quite decent, and it sounds like there might not be a lot of work required before this old girl is ready to hit the road again. What you’re getting for your money is the 300hp version of the 390ci V8 engine, 3-speed Multi-Drive Merc-O-Matic transmission, power steering, and power brakes. The owner actually states that the car will need a carburetor tune-up and new tires, which gives the impression that the car essentially runs and drives. If this is the case, then it would probably be worth treating the carburetor to a rebuild and then giving the car a thorough mechanical check and clean. It could well be that the car will then be ready to cruise the highways again. The owner also states that the Marauder only has 77,500 miles on the odometer, but doesn’t indicate whether there is any documentary evidence available to verify this as original mileage.
If this 1965 Mercury Marauder is as good as the owner is leading us to believe, then returning it to active duty would seem to be a pretty straightforward job. With 300hp lurking under the hood, it is a car that would offer pretty reasonable performance, and with some minor cosmetic work, it would be an eye-catcher wherever it went. As a project car, this is one that shows an awful lot of promise.
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Comments
Nice, but not 10,000$ nice.
I sold one a few years back for 3500. It was maroon and black interior. So 10000 seems a bit high, I am assuming so is the seller.
It appears to be missing the left front turn signal lense, which I imagine won’t be easy to find, or cheap to replace. Otherwise, a seemingly nice solid platform, needing a return to former glory! :-)
This car is a mess .. $6K tops, seems solid but needs everything.
Yeah. And they didn’t even air up the right side tires.. Could have cleaned it up a bit, don’t ya think?
Looks pretty close to McGarrett’s car. In some early episodes, they had him driving a coupe (in some scenes), but most of the time it was a sedan.
Nice car that wouldn’t take too much to return to the roads. Tho $10k is quite a reach for this one. It’ll likely grow roots before selling. Drop the asking to $7k, settle for $5500
Looks like it has A/C, that would need converting to the new refrigerant.
Love the Marauder package and the 300hp – 390 is a plus but this one is simply overpriced by 50%
The Parklane Marauder was as good as it got in 65.
This is a nice example. Hagerty says its worth 15 grand.
As usual the owner just wants to dump it without the few hundred need to get it running properly.
Which means some one is going to get a deal.
Seats, engine, other design cues remind me of the ’66 T-bird I brought back from the dead for my Dad. After re-doing brake and fuel lines, tank, carb, master cylinder, the 390 fired up to a nice idle and (despite the lack of floorboards) I backed it down the driveway and roasted the crusty old snow tires in triumph. Those seats are popular in the custom world, being not-too-large but quite comfortable. The bigger cars don’t bring the coin of the mid-sized muscle cars, but they are more interesting and largely approachable. Thanks, Adam. Best of luck to the buyer!
$10,000 is reasonable. Beats the hell out of that $28,000 Charger with no motor and transmission
Will this car fit in any modern garage? It’s like 25 feet long!
LOL
At 5500 plus plus repairs you’ll be the only one at the show with one
there was a paving foreman at the construction company I drove truck for he had a black mercury marauder with a white leather interior, loaded to the gills! one problem he chewed tobacco and half the time when he spit the juice out the window it was up! the inside of that care stunk like crazy he tried to sucker me into cleaning the thing up for his daughters wedding ! i wanted no part of it and refused to clean the crap off the inside of the drivers door and floor
Those 1971/1972 hub caps, sorry, wheel covers seem to be the go to when the originals can’t be found.
Cool old boat!!! It sure beats driving some $10,000 Honda around!!
The left rear quarter looks damaged by the bumper , and they state trunk damage. Its going to need some work to be sure , but how many of these are left ? It would really be a beauty redone !
Better examples out there for much less money.