[Shotimes] (OT) Marauder

[James F. Ryan III]

Don Mallinson already mentioned the '60s Mercury muscle car(s).

Car and Driver Television on TNN just did a piece on the deTomaso Pantera.
>From the story - Ford didn't know what to do with it so they gave it to
Lincoln/Mercury dealers to sell.  WHAT?!?!?  Sharing the lot with luxury
cars and salesman who didn't know how to sell it to the 'older' buyers who
typically purchase Lincoln/Mercury cars....it didn't sell!!!  Ford pulled
the plug in 1974.

However, I do remember seeing a lot of the little '70s Mercury Capri's when
I was growing up.  I can remember 4 on one street!!!!  Were they German or
something foreign, Opel maybe?  Did they sell well or was my street an
exception?  I can't say I've seen one in the last 15 years.  Where did they
all go?

Then came the Fox-bodied '80s Capri GS.  It didn't sell as well as the
'Stang either, even though it had the same 5.0, T-5, and suspension.  IMO
the rounded rear clip just never seemed to match the rest of the car.  (Did
they use the same rear clip on the ASC/McClaren 'Stang
convertible/roadsters?)  I did like the Capri GS front end better than the
'Stang front end.

Then came the '90s Capri XR2 turbo 4-cylinder.  Did it come in convert and
hardtop or just convert?  This was a foreign re-badge too, wasn't it?
Whatever it was it didn't sell either.

Oh, and lest we forget the Mercury Lynx and the LN7(Escort EXP twin).  The
Escort GT sold pretty well, and neither the EXP nor the LN7 sold well at
all.

Then comes the Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck.  Lincoln....pick-up
truck....who are the marketing wizards who came up with that one?  Let's
give it a 'real' wood bed and s/s liner....nope still didn't sell.  Was it
because they had problems with the real wood and replaced it with pin
stripes that were supposed to look like wood?

Then came the Marauder.  Will they ever learn?

Over in the '80s GM world, Buick had the Grand National and it did OK, Olds
had the Hurst/Olds and then 442 and they didn't sell many, Pontiac had the
Grand Prix and 2+2 (which I thought was the best looking of the bunch) they
didn't sell well either.  But the red-neck/mullet-head/NASCAR-wanna-be
magnet Monte Carlo SS.....



Jim Ryan
Wayne, NJ
'91 Plus - all white/mocha with fiberglass hood, rod shifter, & rear spoiler

255 Lph fuel pump, SHO Shop can & horn, 80mm MAF, S&B cone filter, SHO Shop
HiFlow Y-pipe & cat-back exhaust, SHO Shop LPM, SHO Shop underdrive pulleys,
SHO Shop HiRevs Jr clutch & steel billet LiteWeight flywheel, reinforced
engine & trans mounts, SHO Shop TQ limiters, SHO NUT aluminum SFBs, FPS '96
SHO front brakes, Carbotech F brake pads, Nook's full-body SFCs, Koni adj
struts, SHO Shop linear springs, 24mm FSB, 26mm RSB, SHO Shop steel f&r
STBs, Bridgestone Potenza RE-730 225/55-16, CATZ MSP fog lights, police
grille

 

 

 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Ron Porter
> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 11:28 AM
> To: SHOtimes (Team.net)
> Subject: RE: [Shotimes] (OT) Marauder
> 
> Another comment on the marketing issue.........
> 
> Don commented in an earlier post about the Honda Element being as ugly as
> an
> Aztek, but the critics call it "cute". Well, personally I don't care about
> cars that are not on my radar screen (like the Aztek and Element) but I
> notice when a semi-performance car like the CTS is also as ugly as an
> Aztek!
> 
> Anyway, in the local paper this past week, there was a test of the new
> Toyota ScionA and ScionB. ScionA looks sorta like a Matrix, but ScionB is
> a
> "box" like the Element. Anyway, predictions are that the "B" will sell
> well.
> In a related story, the Honda Element is apparently also selling
> well.....but to (average age)) 45 year-olds, rather than 27 year-olds as
> they predicted. Apparently the Aztek just isn't funky enough, and doesn't
> follow the "box" trend coming from Japan.
> 
> As a car enthusiast, I can't figure out why stuff like this sells
> sometimes!!
> 
> Anyway, here's a link to the two articles. Scroll down to the "Dude, Buy
> This Car" for the Element story, then to the Review of the Scion brand for
> the "A" and "B" info.
> 
> http://www.freep.com/backindex/2003/04/17/homepage.htm
> 
> Ron Porter
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Ransom T Holbrook
> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 8:22 AM
> To: Ron Porter; SHOtimes (Team.net)
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] (OT) Marauder
> 
> 
> You are right, HOWEVER, marketing has something to do with it also.  If
> Ford
> had a marketing blitz showing a teenager (or young adult) hauling around
> the
> UCLA cheerleaders or blowing the doors off a late model Camaro at the
> drags,
> the Marauder would have sold (to the 30-50 married male crowd).  The only
> other way that type of car would have sold is if it was an option package
> costing $1500 or less, and it kicked ass.  You never saw an ad for an
> Integra Type R, however it only cost the same as a GSR and it performed
> about 150% better, they lined-up to buy one paying as much as $5K above
> sticker..
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