Waiting Room

Sure they don't have to do anything, but they could easily have put the $10k difference to pay for a new zl1. What they are doing is dealership suicide.

Back in the day my dad only used to drive Pontiacs. His friend owned one of the 2 dealerships in town. Probably one of the nicest guys you could meet. I used to go with him to get oil changes when I was little. Owner was always out on the floor talking to people. He wouldn't hesitate to let you have any car on the lot when you went in for service, even would throw his personal car keys to some customers. He continued to out sell the rival dealer despite being 10 min out of town. I could imagine what he would do in this situation, and it wouldn't have made it to the news. He sold out about 12 years ago and it couldn't have been at a more perfect time. He was too smart and nice for the dealer business.

Now a days you rarely see the owner of the dealerships I go to. They're always locked away in an office where no one can get to them.
 

Yikes, someone had a lucky day ... close call.
Naaah ... it's just a little rock chip!

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:: take note of the two large bolders, the one to the very right much larger then the second rolling smaller one. (both just miss the car)
:: also take notice of the time on the recording, taking exactly at 4:20 time (for those that know what that means)
 
Wow, any time I see something like that it reminds me of the pirate joke with the punchline, "BRING ME MY BROWN PANTS!"

Funny how they put their hazard lights on as the big rock is rolling towards them, glad the big rock stopped just short.
 
...Funny how they put their hazard lights on as the big rock is rolling towards them, glad the big rock stopped just short.

That may be what happened, but I'm not sure. It looks like you see their brake lights a couple of times as things are coming at them, then the hazard lights after the first impact.
When I was T-boned, it triggered the panic alarm (hazards plus horn) somehow.
 
Pretty sure the hazards come on automatically, I have seen plenty of car crashes on YouTube, most do that. Don't think Lincolns do that though...
 
I guess I was wrong. I have only been in minor accidents so I have not had anything happen, and I hope I never do.
 
i have also seen Top Gear videos where the car will trigger the emergency flashers under hard braking as well.
so emergency flashers after an impact seems likely, and not a bad idea from a safety standpoint.
 
This probably isn't everyones cup of tea around here. But some buddies and I get together alot, specially during football season. We also all tailgate together (STHs...we're the first ones into the parking lot through our gate) and beerpong is played usually every game / get together. We had a custom table made a few years ago and had (IIRC) the 2010 chiefs roster sign it.

Table:
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After someone posted up a deathround pic in FB, it got my wheels turning and I came up with these:

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came out like so.....

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1/4" plexiglass wrapped in led's powered by a 9v. (4 in total).

Not perfect, but good prototypes
I made the trays a bit bigger then I was planning when I ordered the LED's so they're a little short. I ordered 9v battery cases with switches, but they didn't come in until today. I need to decide how to cover the back of the LED strips (edge of the trays)... may just use tape. the lights themselves are waterproof, so its just cosmetic. I'll also be adding some more lights to cover the back and may do so etch work too... not bad though for a start.
 
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Oh, you can alright. When one of those plugs comes flying out of the head its game over. I've done that twice.
 
Chris, considered a Marauder until I realized how difficult they are to find in my area. Solid cars considering they're shared with the Crown Vic. The spark plug blowout shouldn't be a concern, I believe the heads were revised for '03 MY to address the issue for all modular motors, 5.4 especially.
 
Chris, considered a Marauder until I realized how difficult they are to find in my area. Solid cars considering they're shared with the Crown Vic. The spark plug blowout shouldn't be a concern, I believe the heads were revised for '03 MY to address the issue for all modular motors, 5.4 especially.

They are not easy to find, Ford only built them for 2 years, 03-04, with low production numbers as well.
 
Yeah they are rare, I think it's something like 11k models produced if I remember correctly. So I am expecting to drive quite a bit to find one, but I am pretty smitten with them right now. The reliability, endless sea of parts, and bigger aftermarket are all very enticing. Mileage doesn't seem to be a big factor either, I see some with 80k going for the same price as ones with 140k. I think in a decade or so, they will be pretty sought after and a good, mint example could easily go for what I plan to purchase one at.

As far as the plugs go, I blew two out of a 2006 CVPI. I don't think it's a model year change but rather the new heads on the 4 valve as opposed to the Crown Vic's 2 valve. No one on the internet seems to know for sure but there is definitely less reported incidents of that on the marauders then regular crown vic's.
 
I have had 6 mod engines.

95 Continental... 226K
02 Town Car... 210K
97 Mark VIII... 173K
97 Mark VIII... 102K
98 Mark VIII... 80K
93 Mark VIII... 200K

Never had a spark plug blow out on any so far. I would love a marauder but don't need any more cars right now. I just saw one sell locally for $6500 with 152K. Another one I know of is at my old community I used to leave at back in 04. He still has it and most of the time is always garaged. I saw a undercover cop marauder pull over a car today. Plenty down here in FL but still rare.
 
Yeah I don't wholeheartedly blame some engineering fault for the plug blowing incident. This was a very well used and abused 4.6 2v in a CVPI that I got, like third hand, and used it at the limit on a weekly basis. Also, from what I can infer, it seems they are just a bit more sensitive to proper spark plug torque than others, which is a cause of the fault.

Anyhow, I am pretty smitten by them and I guess I consider myself officially looking for one. Newest thread on the mercurymarauder.net forums has a few guys successfully getting collector car insurance on them. Like I said above, I imagine in a decade or so, mint versions will fetch a good penny for the right customer. However, I want one to drive!
 

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