the reason the Maraduer didn't sell was that it was still underpowered, and riding on a 20 year old chassis. I am not sure, but I think Mercury used the same engine that they used for the 99 SVT Mustang(the overated HP disaster). Now Chrysler comes out with this 300C, and it has way more HP, better handling, a unique style that hasn't been out for 10 years, and a much nicer interior, along with the perception of higher quailty since it is built with Mercedes parts. Now Ford and Chrysler have similar cars for the same price, with the Chrysler being the far superior car.

If Ford had put down their crack pipe and priced the Marauder at 25K instead of 35K, I think they would have sold quite well.

 

The Marauder was a great idea.....I was really pulling for it. It had enough power, it just didn't have enough torque. I've always thought that another 40-50ft/lbs of torque and a $29,999 price tag would have made it a success.

Too bad they just didn't use a retuned Triton 5.4. It would have given them the the power and torque required, and any additional cost from the 5.4 block would have been offset by the SOHC heads/valvetrain vs the 4.6's DOHC.

 

AronZ28---
Well, depending on how technical you want to get, the 300C is a ten year old design if you think it was inspired by the 1992-2002 Bentley Continental. If you think it was just nearly a direct copy of the 1999-2004 Bentley Arnage though... it is only a 6 year old design .
http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/meris...y/c441707a.jpg
http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/meris...y/c446849a.jpg

 

but the bently is such a classy car that will never go out of style. And Chrysler did make it more slab sided and boxy than the bently. And it isn't a 10 year old design. Chrysler drew the 300C from scratch just recently.

And what they should have done for the Maraduer was put in the 03-04 Mustang Cobra supercharged engine. All that power would easily compensate for any other weaknesses that the car had(styling, handling, etc.) I know it compensated for all the inadquecies in the old Mustang.

 

So.... would you say the '97 Corvette was a brand new design or a 6 year old one (at the time) since it based pretty tightly on the '91 Mazda RX-7 concept car? (which became the '93 RX-7.)

I'd say it was a couple years old design since I believe the first C5 design showed up in '95, but that is only because I consider it different enough from the RX-7. However, I have trouble seeing the difference between the Bentleys and 300C, they are just too similar from all sides. Believe it or not, I actually misidentified the first 300C I saw, I thought it WAS a Bentley

 

Well then, the Chyrsler stylists have achieved their goal.

 

Mercury waited for the 2003 updated frame to build the Marauder. It has an extra crossmember. I felt it was underpowered also until I've been driving it a while. The more I drive it, the better it responds. And I think it's even faster that the 91 Z. Very pleased!!!