Ford Grand Marquis
The Mercury Grand Marquis
is a more upscale version of the Ford Crown
Victoria produced by the Ford Motor Company.
The
Grand Marquis shares the same platform as
the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car.
All current Panther-based cars are powered
by Ford's 4.6 L SOHC V8 engine, which produces
anywhere from 190 to 250 hp (142 to 186 kW)
depending on model year and configuration.
The only exception was the Mercury Marauder,
the Grand Marquis' high performance cousin
which was powered by a DOHC version of the
4.6 L engine and produced over 300 hp (224
kW).
Power is carried to
the rear end by a 4-speed electronically-controlled,
wide-ratio automatic transmission. This transmission
is known as the 4R70W, and is the successor
to Ford's AOD and AODE transmissions of the
early 1990s.
Mercury has always
been marketed as a step-up from the Ford
brand and has historically been more performance
and luxury oriented. There are indications
of that in the Grand Marquis. Properly equipped,
the large sedan can be both a comfortable
semi-luxury sedan while still offering adequate
performance.
The
Grand Marquis remains quite affordable,
priced well below similarly well-equipped
entry-level luxury sedans. Prices for the
Grand Marquis range from $25,555 to $36,060.
