By Jeff Glucker
The Panther Platform had one hell of a run, didn’t it? Initially introduced in 1979, it would underpin millions of cars all the way up to 2012. While it’s likely best known for serving as the backbone of the Ford Crown Victoria, you can’t count out the Mercury-badged Panther platform cousin: the Mercury Grand Marquis.
I have to believe that a clean Grand Marquis would make for a supremely comfortable daily driver. That’s assuming, of course, that you can stomach the fuel costs. After all, you’ve got Ford’s 4.6-liter V8 stuffed in the nose of this thing for many years. And definitely the 2002 model year, which I’ve come across on my local Craigslist.
The seller certainly could’ve provided a lot more photos. But the listing gets straight to the point. This thing has just 79,000 miles, one owner, zero accidents, and a clean title. It also passes smog. With an asking price of $3,200, it seems like a fantastic deal for someone needing reliable and ready-to-go transportation.
If that were more local, I’d be seriously interested, but I’m on the wrong side of the country for it to be feasible.
I’d drive it as-is until I could raid a junkyard for a Mustang 5-speed manual and clutch pedals.
Grand Marquis owner here–2008. Had 64,000 miles on it when I got it two years ago. Total creampuff. I’m actually a GM guy (one of those “I’d rather push a Chevy than drive a Ford types) but I wanted a big ol’ rear drive V8 boat before they all went extinct.
I’d say that the ownership has been as expected, good and bad. Mostly it’s as advertised–a big Barcalounger that is a great place to fall into after a long exhausting day of teaching entitled upper-class Midwestern parochial high school students the vagaries of chemistry, and for that I love it. Pretty reliable so far, although it does what I call “Ford stuff”: little electrical gremlins that pop up from time to time. Gauge cluster blacks out and needles go flatline every one in a while then boop! and they’re back. The door remote and inside trunk release quite working and it needed a new driver’s door module, but make sure you get EXACTLY THE RIGHT ONE. How many are there to choose from? Well, how long do you have? This platform was only in production for 33 years and they only changed the driver’s door module every three months or so. /s
And, as a professional bassist, I’m gratified that most of my stuff fits in the trunk.
Hell yeah – I think a bassist rolling up in a Grand Marquis is on brand, that’s pretty awesome
a testament to the power of branding: even though there’s no appreciable difference between this and a base Crown Vic, i’d much rather have the Vic, and i have no idea why.
Then get someone to also buy a Town Car – and create a gang of Panther Platform loyalists.