Mercury Marauder Performance Sedan Makes Virtual Comeback, It’s Still a ‘Sleeper’

Created just before the start of WWII, this automotive division had an extremely specific task within the Blue Oval ranks – it was the medium-level echelon and the brand that bridged the price gap between Ford and Lincoln ranges. Right after the worldwide conflict, Ford reorganized Mercury and Lincoln into a singular division that had a distinct sales network from the namesake brand to try and improve the premium image of both.

As for its targets, the Chrysler brand, DeSoto, Buick, and Oldsmobile were major rivals, but in modern times the company failed to grasp the changes in consumer tastes, and following lengthy sales and market share declines, it was retired to greener pastures by Ford early in 2011. Interestingly, the Mercury name remains active, so Ford could one day choose to bring it back to life without too much hustle.

Well, for sure, some people would have a list of specific models that are worthy of a resurrection even today, ready at hand – both in the real world and as well as across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Such is also the case with Marouane Bembli, the virtual artist better known as TheSketchMonkey on YouTube, who is keen on unofficially bringing back to CGI life the short-lived 2003 Marauder ‘sleeper’ performance sedan. But what is a Marauder, first?

Mercury used this nameplate thrice during its lifetime, and at all times customers were offered a full-size car that derived its moniker from the division’s most powerful engines available across the lineup. Curiously, all of them were also quite short-lived. So, the original Mercury Marauder was offered for the 1963 through 1965 model years with a distinct fastback styling (same as the Ford Galaxie) and was a sub-series of the three main Mercury models at the time - Monterey, Monterey Custom, and S-55.

In 1969 and 1970, the Marauder returned as the fastback variant for the Marquis and was positioned between the Mercury Cougar and Lincoln Continental Mark III, now reinvented as a personal luxury car. Alas, that was a short stint, as well. And then we must jump more than a couple of decades in time to witness the revival for the 2003 and 2004 model years. Now thoroughly modernized, the Marauder nameplate sprung back to life as a high-performance version of the full-size Grand Marquis.

If the design looked familiar, it is because the Blue Oval Company used the same body-on-frame Ford Panther platform as with the Ford Crown Victoria, complete with the 4.6-liter Modular V8 engine that was good for no less than 302 hp and could speedily reach 60 mph (96 kph) in around six seconds before hitting the top speed of 140 mph (225 kph). Basically, it tried to emulate the ‘sleeper’ looks and performance of the 1994-1996 Chevy Impala SS.

And although it had no direct Ford counterpart, the reinvented Marauder had the same fate as its predecessors, as it was swiftly decommissioned for the third time due to lagging sales. In the end, the Blue Oval division produced merely a little over 11k units. That would be a big sign of worry for any corner-office head honcho mulling a second, 2023MY revival, right? Alas, such trifle things as potential deliveries are nothing for a dreamy pixel master who decided that he missed the 2023 Mercury Marauder and just needed to “design a new one.”

As this is not the first time he felt the aching desire to revive the Marauder, now we are getting treated to a rear POV. And, instead of stealing some Ram 1500 TRX goodies, this time around the redesign (which kicks off at the 4:21 mark in the video embedded below) made do with some practical and feisty Ford DNA. For example, the latest behind-the-scenes making-of feature includes some Ford SUV taillights with a rugged LED look that befits the early 2000s atmosphere of the original.

Alas, everything else was slightly tweaked or entirely reworked. So, the greenhouse was lowered by an inch or two, the trim and ornaments got blacked out for a modern look, the wheels are much larger and now dressed in bronze due to the black paint almost having a dark green iridescence at times, plus the tires are also much wider than before. Last, but not least, even though it mostly keeps the initial ‘sleeper’ atmosphere, now the Marauder is obviously ready to turn heads and stand out in any performance sedan (wink, wink Dodge Charger, and Mopar aficionados) crowd.

And it is all due to one final change – the CGI expert also snatched the wing and rear diffuser complete with the double-tipped left/right exhaust assembly from the (S550) Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and then operated some mild changes and other subtle tweaks to better fit the Mercury brand image. What do you think, does the result look ready to receive our traditional CGI hall pass, or not?