The Mercury Marauder is a performance car and will appeal primarily to the automotive enthusiast. Mercury expects 90 percent of buyers to be male. Not a car nut? Don't buy the Marauder. The Grand Marquis or the Ford Crown Victoria will fill your big-car bill much better, and for much less money. That brings us to another point. We flinch at $35,000 for this car. But the four-door BMW 540i, with a 290 bhp 4.4-liter V8, costs about $55,000. The Lincoln LS with the 252-bhp 3.9-liter V8 lists for about $38,000. Of course, those cars aren't directly comparable to the Marauder, which is the only car of its kind on the market today. No doubt Mercury will sell a passel of Marauders to fans of big American muscle. Ford guys who wanted a car like the Impala SS but would never buy a Chevy finally have something to buy.
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