The Panther platform had a very long life, mostly underneath taxis, police cars and grandparental transport. These offered rear-wheel drive and periodically attracted enthusiasts off and on over the years, with the Mercury Marauder being the ultimate factory iteration. One thing all factory versions had in common, however, was an automatic transmission. That’s been corrected in this example!
In the ad text below, you can read the whole list of upgrades, but suffice it to say a lot has been done. That being said, the car has some needs and has no air conditioning at the moment, so either be prepared to deal with that or to fix it.
Click for eBay ad
Kenosha, WI, USA
$3,200 BIN with offers considered and six days to go
Just a Panther with Cobra wheels, or might there be more to it?
Exhaust is even subtle.
Typical bench seat screams “grandpa!”
Finally, we have the money shot. The old school Hurst shifter and ball with the simple boot are perfect, to us. Note that this can take a double-DIN head unit, so Android Auto and CarPlay are easy adds, making this fully modern in terms of infotainment and navigation.
Ad text:
I am putting up my 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis LS for sale. Title is clean and clear and in my name. I have put a lot of time and money into this car, and I have enjoyed the process but its time to sell and put my focus elsewhere. Visually you can see what is new. This car is in great shape for the year, one small rust spot on the body shown in pics. The interior is a 7/10, as there are faults, but mechanically she is 10/10 with many, I mean many new parts within the last 5k miles. I’m going to try my best to list everything here. My goal for this car was to create a 4dr mustang (01-04) with bolt ons, and I succeeded. Everything new unless specified.
Good:
-completely rebuilt rear end by CNC offroad in Kenosha
-ford performance rebuild kit, all new seals and bearings
-new ford performance 3.73s
-used traction-loc out of a mustang, rebuilt with ford performance kit
-60k mile P.I. longblock complete engine out of an 06 Grand Marquis
-every seal aside from headgaskets have been replaced with either Fel-pro or OEM gaskets
-front timing cover, intake manifold gaskets, front and rear crank seals, oil pan, everything external on the longblock.
-brand new oil pan
-t45source brand new rebuilt TR3650 5speed transmission with less than 1K miles on it. Upgraded billet shift forks.
-Ford performance Iron Flywheel
-Ford performance heavy duty clutch kit
-new Ford shift fork, pivot ball, TOB
-Steeda clutch cable, firewall adjuster, double hook quadrant
-Piers custom 5 speed swap pedals
-real Hurst shifter and base not just the ball
-Steeda underdrive pullies
-03-04 Mercury Marauder stock intake, airbox and 80MM MAF.
-EGR delete
-used BBK longtube headers for 98 mustang
-BBK catted H pipe
-custom 2.5″ dual exhaust with 2 chamber Thrush mufflers dumped at the rear axle, done by Daves American Muffler in Kenosha
-Ford Cobra wheels, OEM wheels not reproductions, in good shape except for minor curb rash. With original cobra centercaps
-Hankook Ventus ST 255/50R17 with less than 2k miles
-Eibach wheel spacers
-new brake rotors front and rear
-new ebrake pads and hardware
-custom 2″ drop coilsprings from coilsprings.com. No cut coils here
-KYB gas-adjust shocks on all 4 corners
-TVR complete front lower control arms, ball joints and bushings
-Moog upper control arms, ball joints and bushings
-Moog inner and outer tierods both sides
-Moog pitman arm
-Moog Idler arm
-Energy suspension rear control arm bushing kit
-removed mechanical fan, installed a eletric fan out of a mercury cougar with a derale fan relay kit
-new radiator
-alignment with cobra wheels on from local speed shop
-cruise works
-SCT X4 tuner
-custom tune from Mo’s Speed Shop in Georgia.
-stock wheels and tires
Probably missing some things. now for the bad.
Bad:
-ebrake doesn’t work. Needs all 3 cables replaced
-Speedometer frozen/doesnt work. Bought with it frozen never fixed
-AM/FM radio inop. Needs antenna. Aftermarket radio works fine and has aux. port
-drivers door panel handle broken
-no AC. partially deleted.
-beige interior stained, generally worn. would benefit from an interior swap.
-small rust spot drivers rear door in pics
-steering gearbox needs to be rebuilt or replaced, steering input is sloppy
-paint is sun faded on trunk, roof, hood and doors
I’m trying to be upfront so I don’t have to have anyone dealing with surprises or inconveniences. I expect the same, as such you have questions, call me before coming. My car is not perfect but its also not poorly assembled. I would drive this car anywhere.