A Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was used this week. It was a police car from the Laredo Police Department. Seeing this ten-year-old workhorse made me miss my old car. Soon, the odometers on these P71 Interceptors will read, “I’m too old for this crap.” People thought that the Florida Highway Patrol Mercury Marauders were the fastest and rarest Panthers in Florida, and seeing that old cop car made me feel for them. Twenty years ago, a man named Dennis Reinhart gave 27 modified 2004 Mercury Marauders to the state police of Florida so they could use them in high-speed chases to keep an eye on the state’s roads. The Marauder was already a modified version of the standard Crown Vic. It had a 302-hp V8 from the Mustang Mach 1. On the other hand, Reinhart went above and beyond with several changes that made these the best sleeper cars. In the early 2000s, Ford sought to make Mercury stand out from its other brands. Ultimately, the company built a full-size performance sedan to compete with the Chevy Impala SS instead of rebranding Ford Explorers. The Mercury Marauder had a Mustang engine and was built on the Panther frame of the Mercury Grand Marquis. I call it a “performance sedan” because Mercury did, but other than the 4.6L V8 features like bigger brakes and an aluminums driveshaft were taken from the police-spec Crown Vic. This may be why Reinhart, who owns a business that makes performance parts for Ford, thought it would make a great police car. A 2005 news statement said the upgrades included an ECU tune to boost power and eliminate top speed limits, a custom driveshaft, and a rear sway bar. Cooling and stopping were also made better, among other things. But one of Reinhart’s engineers told us a much more exciting and thorough story about how the cars were made. For example, some of the original Marauder chase cars still had the same brakes as when they were first made. Changes were made because the first ones needed to do the job better. The technician said that one of the rotors broke when a cop slowed down quickly from around 150 mph to catch up with some bikers. Because of this, all modern cars have Brembo brakes, which have more oversized rotors that are cross-drilled and slotted. When the rest of the Marauders went into service, this change was made to all of them. After the top speed cap was removed, the stock aluminum driveshaft, also in regular police-spec Crown Vices, was no longer up to code. During high-speed chases over 150 mph, several cops said they heard a knocking sound coming from under the car. He said that the drive shaft hit the body. “As a result, all of the Marauders in service now have carbon fiber racing driveshafts.” In the end, this change was made to all cars. Even though the results were precise, the gains in power were never measured on a dyno. It’s possible that they can fly. The worker told us that the highest speed ever recorded was 174 mph, even though it wasn’t “official policy” to try it. The Marauders were turned into the alpha Panther by adding internal and external cams, radar equipment, audio recording devices, and stealth emergency lighting. Before getting on the road, the hand-picked cops in charge of one had to pass a three-day advanced driving school. Before some of the Florida Highway Patrol’s Mercury Marauders hit their service limit of 75,000 miles and started being taken out of service in 2008, they were used all over the state. Reinhart Automotive returned the cars, removed the licensed plates, and sold them to private people. Even though no one knows if the FHP still uses any, some were still in use well into the 2010s. So, there are two things you can learn from this. First, if you see an eBay listing for a Mercury Marauder, check to see if it’s one of these. Also, slow down if you see one on a Florida highway. The perfect Panther might still be around.
