Took the plunge . . . a BIG plunge

[Mark [N4OGL]]

Hi Folks,

After watching this thread as a guest, and after driving a Marauder a couple of times, this past Saturday I took the plunge and ordered a new 2003 in Silver Birch. The dealer is checking with the Zone office to see when to put the order in so I get a Moonroof (I consider that essential, and thanks to the information on this board and elsewhere I learned that 1 March 2003 should be the start of availability). Otherwise, they're likely to just accept the order and build it out without the Moonroof. I'm planning to go to the Chicago auto show this week, and I see by another post that there's a good liklihood of a silver one on the Mercury stand, based on what was in Detroit.

And, even better, I also took the plunge and ordered a Marauder S from Kenny Brown. David Frey was great and let me drive the Panther S twice, which I loved. So - all the toys will be there in the car. I also saw Bill's car ("Mens Rea") there, and was interested to learn that we live two cities apart in the Chicago western suburbs.

I was planning on ditching the factory Alpine unit and getting a Traffic Pro installed (www.hktrafficpro.com) but I think I will now keep what's in there and find an aftermarket navigation unit instead (mostly because I would still like the steering wheel controls to be functional, and I want the cassette for "books on tape" during long trips). Currently under consideration is the StreetPilot III and the NAVMAN iCN 630 (www.garmin.com and www.navmanusa.com, respectively). I will add a hands free kit for my Kyocera phone and a new mobile amateur radio (the D700A from Kenwood - www.kenwood.net). That, plus all my KB stuff should make for a very interesting ride.

If anyone has experience with navigation in the car, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Finally, I'm thinking of shipping the car out to the Monterey Historics this year and driving back. I've gone every year for several years, and this year the honored marque is Ford for its 100th birthday. This rocket sled should cause quite a sensation among my racing friends out there.

So - anyway - 'Hi y'all.' Glad to be here.

Mark

[Macon Marauder]

Mark,

Welcome aboard! I know you'll enjoy it, I just don't know how you can wait that long...

[BODYMAN]

Mark, welcome aboard!! So is youre car going to KB as soon as you get it? Mine is being dropped off at KB this Saturday. I will be very anxious to get it back from him before the warm weather. Sounds like you live just around the corner from Mensrea. Man thats pretty cool so will you be #8 at Kb? Did Dave tell you? keep us all updated.


Mensrea, sounds like youre gonna have a neighbor in the future!!!


Todd :) :flamer: :) :) :) :)

[Mark [N4OGL]]

Hi again:

Quick update: I'll be #10 of the signature edition. Dave told me he just sold #7 (to the previous poster, I presume) and I wanted to reserve #10. That'll put the 'first' and 'last' within five miles of each other.

If they mate, will they produce a Mini Cooper S?

Perhaps we can get a group to show up at the Downer's Grove Friday nite car show, or Westmont on Thursday nite when they showcase Mercury (in Westmont, June 26 is "squad cars" and July 17 is "Ford").

Ciao,

Mark:rolleyes:

[O's Fan Rich]

Green with envy!!!
Enjoy the cars, and welcome to the wonderful world of the Double M Ranch!

[dok]

Mark

When did they tell you that they would make your car? I ordered a silver birch one yesterday and was told that they won't start production of the silver MM until April. :(

[Bigdogjim]

Mark: Welcome! Sounds like a plan. Looks like a lot of though went into the MM. Enjoy the car, enjoy the ride, enjoy the site.

Big Dog :beer: :beer:

[mensrea]

Congratulations Mark... nice to know we are close. Are you getting the torque converter/polished calipers/rotors?

I would suggest you take a look at this link for info on a notebook and or pocket pc based navigation unit. If you have a notebook computer, this thing fits in the PCMCIA and you're rolling. I have used it an they are great, and cheap as well.

Congratualtions, and welcome! That's three Marauder S owners on this board :)

travroute copilot info (http://www.travroute.com/products/default.html)

[BeaSStMaster]

For what it's worth ...

I have a Compaq iPaq handheld PC (which is really cool all by itself) and TravRoute (www.travroute.com) has software/hardware to turn it into a pretty good GPS system. They offer a compact flash version, a sleeve version and a y-cable version. (I have the Y-cable so I can put the antenna on the rear decklid with an extension s-video cable)

The Pocket Co-Pilot 3.0 from TravRoute is about $299. The Handheld PC ran me around $600. If you compare to some of the other in-vehicle navigation systems, that's very competative. And, you then have a really useful handheld PC to boot (excuse the pun) that plays MP3's too ... what a deal! You will, of course, need a PC for the software and USB to install to the HHPC and to download maps.

It offers maps of the entire US and is only limited by the size of your compact flash card. (512Mb recommended) You'll also need the compact flash sleeve for around $49. I've traveled quite a bit and it navigates very well with verbal turn-by-turn commands, distance to destination, distance to waypoint, etc... A handy vent-mount bracket takes care of mounting and it's not something that you have to leave behind in teh vehicle.

I'd say my satisfaction level is over 95% with this as my navigation system.

[jgc61sr2002]

Mark - Congrats. I know you will enjoy this site. It's the best when it comes to the MM. Thanks to Logan and LML. John :)

[chapel1]

Mark.Hello and welcome to the neigborhood.I'm just alittle south of you.:coolman:

[LincMercLover]

Hey Beast! Where you been? Wanna meet me up at Fast Lane tomorrow? I'll be there... Might be test driving that stock 1996 Impala SS that's for sale (just to see what I'm not missing :D). PM me or something!

[UncleLar]

Mark,welcome aboard,keep me informed about those Downers Grove cruise nights my sister lives out there. Larry KB9JUJ 73

[Mark [N4OGL]]

Hi Bill & others,

After thinking about it for a while, I think I will stick with my decision not to get a nav system, because I'm just not happy with what's out there so far in the aftermarket. Contributing to my decision is that I'm an in-house licensing attorney for Navigation Technologies (www.navtech.com), the company that makes the maps all these folks are using, so I have a good idea of what's coming in the pipeline. What's there right now doesn't excite me, so I'll probably end up with a StreetPilot III (from www.garmin.com) that I can use when I travel. I've also got Garmin's iQue 3600 on order, and tht's more integrated and routes better than the various iPaq solutions out there (Mapopolis excepted).

I also decided not to get the torque converter, but will get the slotted rotors (geez, those things are <b>big</b>) and the aluminum control arms in the rear if Dave can get them. I think I may come back and get the torque converter once I have to open the tranny up for some other reason, but for now I think I'll leave it alone.

I don't have a build date yet, but I'll post it once that surfaces. It's ordered from Crossroads LM in Indianapolis, sales guy Tim Hembree, the guy Dave Frey at KB recommended. When it comes in, they can just toss it (er, place it <i>gently</i>) on a flatbed and drive it over to KB. FWIW, Tim tells me that they sell more MM's there than anywhere else in the country. It is worth noting that there are no spare MM's anywhere on his lot except his demonstrator, so that's a significant fact. Will it give him more 'pull' in the ordering? We'll see.

For anybody who's in the Chicago area, you may have noticed those little hockey pucks on the back of CPD's (or Illinois SP) unmarked Crown Vics. Early on I figured them to be cellular antennas. After some (well, a lot) research, I found that they were Terk (www.terk.com) antennas for Cellular and PCS. Almost no profile whatsoever, and 2.5dBi gain! If you use a cell in a hands free kit (as I do), that seems a really stealth installation.

Stay tuned for the latest news on the Silver Marauder S.....

Mark

1996 Land Cruiser
Cameron Concepts Supercharger/Intercooler; 390BHP
- Lots of other toys on it, too (www.lcool.org)
1998 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T GL (soon to be a trade in)
2002 Greenspeed GTO (www.greenspeed.com.au)
- To be used in the 2003 Lance Armstrong Ride in October! (www.laf.org)

[Larry: 73s de N4OGL]

[SaxGuy]

Regarding the street pilot III, this system is great. It's portable, its upgradeable, and it has a very nice screen. I use this thing all the time, and it is wonderful!!!

[Wags]

Hey, I think that we Chicagolander's have one of the largest group of Marauder owners around. It would be cool to show up in Downers, or any of the cruise nights with 8 or more Marauders in line (including 2 KB's). There are cruise nights every night of the week around here all summer long.

Wags

[SaxGuy]

Wags, I would be all over that as soon as I get me Marauder!!! In regards to the low-profile antena, I believe that Illinois police use antenex which is based out of Illinois. http://www.antenex.com/ I just think those low-profile antenas make the car look to "In service" for me.

[Mark [N4OGL]]

Yeah - I'm <b><i>real</b></i> familiar with Antenex. I've got four Phantom antennas on the roof of the Land Crusher. Two VHF, one UHF, one PCS/Cellular, and an A-base 1.2GHz.