2000 Mercury Grand Marquis

[croyde]

Finally have arrived home in London after picking it up 25 miles east of Inverness on Saturday and doing a bit of a tour on the way back.



Phone pic of the car outside a guest house near Fort William. I'll upload more once I have sorted the camera out.

So it's a 2000, registered here in 2001 and only has 53k kms on the clock. It's immaculate and the interior is like new. No better way to test a new purchase than by putting it through 700 miles of fast but windy A roads in the pouring rain for the first day followed by more of the same the next day but with some sunshine then big A and M roads down to Yorkshire.

Did Snake Pass (A57) across the Moors this morning, which was interesting although I have to say that the big Mercury did very well and I would have been a lot more confident had I been sitting on the correct side of the car Busy London traffic was an eye opener to say the least and it just made it through the entrance to my parking space.

On the motorway it was smooth and fast and no problem even at 1.0 Leptons. Vague steering caused by the overly assisted power but non of the weaving horror stories that I have read about which brings me to where it was originally from.

I spoke to the garage that sold it a year ago and they told me it was from Canada hence the speedo being in kms but a little research and the fact that the passenger mirror has the standard warning about things being smaller than you think is in Arabic, make me think its a GCC model that was destined for the Middle East.

Its a GS yet has the twin exhausts so higher power and the 40/20/40 front seats of the Lincoln Town Car although the centre bench is missing yet the lap belt is still there. I wanted to check the axle code on the plate on the inside of the driver's door to see if it had the better gear ratios, as it certainly seems fast for a big 'un, but this has been removed at some point.

Anyone know of a way of getting info from the VIN? and if any of you are members of the Crownvic.net forum, would you let the mods know that I have been waiting to be approved for over a week now, ta. Same user name btw.

So apparently the Middle East model has the HPP (High Performance Package) similar to the the cop P71s so this might explain the reasonable handling and quicker response.

Love to find out more of it's history. I have MOTs going back 8 years which would appear to show that the car was originally from down here. Well Slough and Tonbridge actually. Any help would be gratefully received and like I say I'll stick some more pics up when I have sorted the camera cards.

Edited by croyde on Monday 21st July 15:52

[croyde]

In Glen Coe as the clouds ascended after a very foggy morning.



Just after Snake Pass. Bet the car designers never envisaged it being used on those 'Quaint' British country lanes.



Same place, different angle.

[croyde]

Thanks guys. It took me 2 tanks of fuel to do the trip which worked out to a pretty respectable 26mpg. Not bad for a 4.6L V8 mated to a lazy 4 speed auto. Bet I don't get anywhere near that once in London traffic tho

[croyde]

Thanks all. I paid a couple of euros to one of those on line VIN decoders that showed the model that I have and the exact options that it has. I'm just wondering about this Middle East connection as on top of everything else it has the slight boot lip spoiler that only the GCC models got.

Parked it next to my 1998 E36 323 Beemer and boy does it suddenly look very big

[croyde]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Can I marry you?


I love american metal!

Where do you look to find cars like this? I have looked on AT and there isnt a huge selection of wallowy american barges. There a loads of lovely old muscle on Car and Classic but many of those are expensive! (as an aside, Dodge Rams seem to ask for strong money! You could probably buy a new one and ship it over for the asking price of some of them!)

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Monday 21st July 16:41

I'll set the date

To be honest, I have harboured this itch for years and have kept a constant eye out. The Crown Vic and the Grand Marquis are like rocking horse doo daa over here.

I took a punt, after a few phone calls to previous garages, on this one and bought it unseen off eBay after talking to the owner who has turned out to be a thoroughly nice chap. He has kept it in such good condition that I feel obliged to continue to look after his P&J and am now concerned that the scrotes and bad parkers of London will destroy it.

My attitude was that the cost of flying up and getting a train plus hotels, fuel and food for a 700 mile trip in the car was worth it on it's own. Anything else is a bonus.

Just took my son for a quick spin thru our overcrowded SW London area and I effing love it. Just wondering if it will make the 180 degree turn on the up ramp at my firm's multi-storey tomorrow

Workmate wants to see it.

[croyde]

After 700 miles of driving it's only just hit me how big it is.

[croyde]

Its in the firms car park at the mo. The other cars start at the front bumper and finish by the back of my driver's seat

[croyde]

Very busy on the Mile End Rd on my commute home last night but still made good progress despite the MGM's size, much to the concern of the little Golf I was following through the gaps in traffic

I see the Ace Cafe has an American Car night from 4pm this Sat as a precursor to the Chelsea Cruise. Not been to the Ace before so how's the parking there?

[croyde]

Hey Roo, as yours was also destined for the Middle East, was your's also de-catted and how did it get through the MOTs?

Cheers.

[croyde]

Thanks, not due for nearly a year and it has all the previous MOTs.

Any meets worth going to around London or the home counties?

[croyde]

Haha! nice.

I have always liked the black steelies, might be tempted if cheap enough although the standard alloys are nice too.

Well I have checked and there is an oil cooler so along with the other extras this must be a Middle East car. One of the guys on CrownVic.net reckons it would have been part of a shipment bound for Kuwait that ended up being sold through a US Ford dealer in Essex that no longer trades.

So Arabic writing on door mirror, dual exhausts, better suspension, 3.08 rear axle, 40/20/40 Lincoln seats, boot lip spoiler and oil cooler.

One problem I have is parking in car parks. If fullish there is no room to swing it into a space with cars either side and to the rear. If the rear is clear then I have space but if someone is parked in the next row behind when I come back then I'm fooked

Went to an empty car park with my son to practise but he reckoned I was hitting the cars pulling out especially with the front. Best avoided then

Shame as I can park my E36 with my eyes shut.

[croyde]

So I'm still driving and loving the big Mercury, apart from the fuel bills, and pretty happy blasting it through heavy London commuter traffic.

When I first mentioned yonks ago that I had a hankering for a big Ford sedan, many posted about how awful their experience was of them, even when driven in the US. Tales of needing all three lanes when cruising at more than 70 as the thing steered like a boat and so wallowy it induced sea sickness.

OK the handling is nowhere near the class of my e36 but I have had no problems on British motorways, even at .9 leptons and it doesn't wallow, much to my disappointment as I wanted a car that stopped and then kept bouncing like you see in the films . It's pretty quick off the mark for a 2 ton car as well.

I'm wondering if the fact that it doesn't feel much different to an older European car is down to it's HPP package fitted as standard to all cars due for the Middle East.

Anyone know about this? Something about heavy duty sway bars, oil cooler, different rear axle gears, twin exhausts and Lincoln Town Car front seats.

Cheers Y'all.

[croyde]

Don't want to. In an ideal world I'd live in the country with a big space for cars and motorbikes but alas I live in a small flat in London and own 2 cars and a motorbike, all moved around one space.

I've stuck a deposit down on a new Mustang and as the Merc is in brilliant condition it needs to go as my Beemer is worth bugger all. I'll be getting rid of my Street Triple too but I might replace it with a cheap bashed up Vespa.

You seen the ad already

[croyde]

I know

Bit surprised that within a couple of hours of sticking it on there it's had 100+ views and 12 watchers. I didn't think that anyone would come across it. Bit of a niche market I thought.

Already have a guy in Germany pestering me for more pictures and to tell him of any little fault or spot of rust. The door keypad doesn't work, a common problem, and there are three tiny spots of bad paint on the bonnet which I presume was a rust repair. It is so clean it hurts

[croyde]

Newer plates with same number. Love to know if he gets that price.

Maybe I won't but then I did well out of it and I still miss it.

[croyde]

Same one just newer plates with the same number.

ETA looks like he's put down the year first registered in the UK. It's really a 2000 model.

Edited by croyde on Friday 17th April 09:28