For Sale: 1966 Mercury Marauder S55 Convertible, 13K Miles, 428, 4-speed, A/C - $40,999 - Whippany, NJ - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1966 Mercury Marauder S55 Convertible, 13K Miles, 428, 4-speed, A/C - $40,999 - Whippany, NJ

13K Mile - 1966 Mercury Marauder S55 - cars & trucks - by owner -... (craigslist.org)
Seller's Description:

Beautiful 1966 Mercury Marauder with 13K believed original miles! This car runs and drives great! Shiny Russett Emberglo paint, great interior, and solid mechanicals! Strong 428CI motor with a 4speed transmission makes this car a great beach cruiser or highway runner! odometer: 12495
Contact: no phone listed
Copy and paste in your email: a88adade50d83ff397348fde811775d0@sale.craigslist.org

I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1966 Mercury Marauder S55 Convertible.
The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975, Edited by John Gunnell states 669 1966 Mercury Marauder S55 Convertibles built.

[alsancle]

The four speed makes that pretty cool, although they are asking real money.

[1957Birdman]

For that price you would think they could take the time to wipe the dust off of the seats. A nice car but asking price probably on the high end for a Mercury.

Lew Bachman

1957 Thunderbird

[Gearheadengineer]

This car looks to be in very good shape. I love the Emberglo color. Same platform as the Ford Galaxie but the Mercs look bigger to me. 
 

Interesting and unusual powertrain. Rare car, even in the automatic version. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the full size Merc with a four speed. 
 

They could have had the interior cleaned for what, maybe $50?? Rear bumper looks like it has been hit in the center. Maybe minor stuff but for the asking price it should be perfect. 
 

My usual warning on these: check the frame for internal rust and rot. Every inch of it. Tap it with a hammer or get a borescope. Or both. Even with low miles these frames rust from the inside out. 

[58L-Y8]

With a severely rectilinear design such as these 1965-'66 Mercurys, any minor deformations are glaring.

[ericmac]

I find this yet another incredibly appealing car for six good reasons, it's unusual,  it's a convertible,  1st gear, 2nd gear, 3rd gear, 4th gear!

[TexRiv_63]

WOW that is a beautiful car! Almost bought a hardtop version a few years ago.

[JamesR]

Wow, I love that thing. Price is irrelevant to me because it's above my price range anyway. I know, however, that I'd rather pay that amount for this unusual car (in this condition, anyway) than for the same year of ubiquitous Chevelle or Mustang.

 

58L-Y8 is correct, though. Flaws are easily seen with all of those long straight lines. At high noon on a sunny day, my white '63 Olds 88 coupe looked rather impressive, but at dusk...yikes!

[StillOutThere]

While very professionally applied in appearance, I don't believe the mid-door "rub strip" is a factory item.  As many will recall, in SOME cases the aftermarket suppliers who installed these things used to drill and pop-rivet the ends to keep them on. 

Just sayin' -- anyone interested in this gorgeous car may want to inquire of the seller as to just how this trim was done.   Even double sided tape alone, if done years ago, is not going to want to be removed without paint damage.

That is my only real concern about this gorgeous car's cosmetics.

Another concern would be just how extensive and expensive the replacement of extreme low mileage hardened seals and hoses and diaphrams and etc. in the mechanical end is going to become.  Seller does not state any of this has been addressed.

[kingrudy]

Pretty cool color, the color really puts this one over the top. That said. IMO when cars lost their curves (through 64), I lost interest. I believe that the market reflects this, so 40K might be a stretch IMO. 

[m-mman]

22 hours ago, StillOutThere said:

While very professionally applied in appearance, I don't believe the mid-door "rub strip" is a factory item. 

No, it IS 100% factory!   

The S-55 model (Monterey series with standard buckets, console and 428 motor) used a double painted pinstripe that went straight from the front fender through the S-55 emblem at the rear. 

The base Monterey used no side trim, the Montclair had chrome on the top of the fender & door, the Parklane had a wide axle level trim. Something had to be done to differ the S-55 from the Monterey and the paint stripe was it.  

 

My Parklane:

Edited December 23, 2022 by m-mman (see edit history)

[JamesR]

It's interesting to see that the S-55 had what appear to be essentially the same bucket seats as the Thunderbird that year (though the upholstery is somewhat different.) Did all FoMoCo cars use those seat backs and bases for buckets in '66?

[m-mman]

1 hour ago, JamesR said:

Did all FoMoCo cars use those seat backs and bases for buckets in '66?

Yup. The seat frames were the same 64-66 Merc, Galaxie and Bird. 

Ford and Merc got a new flatter style for 67. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by m-mman (see edit history)

[TexRiv_63]

Here is the hardtop I was thinking of buying, had harder to see double red pinstripe on sides.