Was Dark Blue Pearl never advertised?

[Chad1987]

I have the 2003 Marauder brochure, it makes no mention of Dark Blue Pearl ever being offered. It shows the Black exterior with the light flint and dark charcoal interiors, but nothing about DBP. In 2004, it wasn't offered, so no word about that either.

Was it introduced later in the model year and received no press or attention?

Was it supposed to be a very limited production or did it only sell 328 because of such little press & attention?

[DOOM]

Henry Ford said it best!

You can have any color you want! As long as its BLACK! :D

[Mr. Man]

The idea was to do only black but after selling very few cars in the desert SW Steve Babcock and his crowd realized no one wants black down there so SB was introduced. Black and SB were to be the then permanent colors and the other colors were to be replaced after each model year ended. The Blues were introduced at the end of the 03 model year and DTR was the replacement. Had the car cont'd the '05 cars would have been some form of White. I seem to recall Steve Babcock also saying the replacement colors were to also alternate dark/light. I guess DBP is considered a light color. Steve and I discussed the White version a bit at MV9 and while it was cancelled before to much thought was given to it's final form the interior may have been available in some sort of a tan/saddle leather as well as the greys. :)

[Marauderman]

This is where Rex comes in and says that Blue was chosen due to Black running out one day --so 328 where done before a shipment of Black arrived .......Yuck, Yuck ,Yuck.....Truth or Not???

Only those on the line really know---...some say a special run for "effect" which apparently wasn't to good----.........others say.........well, you see, it goes on,..and on,.....take your pic...........

But like the Real World..........It was Back, when it Came In BLACK!!!

Carry on !

[Bluerauder]

I have the 2003 Marauder brochure, it makes no mention of Dark Blue Pearl ever being offered.

Yep, the 2003 MM brochure only shows the Black MM. The Blue and Silver were introduced mid-way in the model year and the brochures were never updated to reflect the change.

Heck, I didn't even know Blue existed until the day that I bought mine. Found out at 10:00 AM and it was mine at 2:00 PM the same day.

[Comin' in Hot]

The dealer sales guide I have lists the black and blue, silver is no where to be found

[Chad1987]

Yeah, I didn't know blue existed until the day I first saw mine. The sales rep from the dealer called me and I asked him what color it was, he said it was blue with the light grey interior. I was shocked and jumped online to Wikipedia and found they did offer them in Blue, but they were so rare... I was sold at that moment.

[boatmangc]

Henry Ford said it best!

You can have any color you want! As long as its BLACK! :D

Absolutely!!!

[gpfarrell]

Though it was never publicized, I heard Steve Babcock say they intended all Marauders to be black for the first 6 months of production, then they'd add a few more choices in addition to black, but only for 6 month periods.

All the dealers loaded up on black ones but couldn't sell them, so few bought DBPs for inventory. Then the '03s ended and DTR came long.

I don't recall the light/dark thing, but that may be true.

I alo ont recall the SB details because mine is Blue!

[TFB]

Though it was never publicized, I heard Steve Babcock say they intended all Marauders to be black for the first 6 months of production, then they'd add a few more choices in addition to black, but only for 6 month periods.


I more or less remember hearing same at Carlisle the year prior to Marauder being built...

[8UWITH6]

I have a customer at work who has a 04 DTR when I told him I bought a Marauder he asked what color. I told him Dark Blue Pearl and he scoffed and said, "They never made a blue Marauder". I told him to bring his ass down to the store to see mine :)

[Shaijack]

Only sold black ones here. First blue I seen was Rex's. Wife fell in love with him, oh I his RED, not him.

[FastMerc]

When the auto show was here the Marauder display had colors shown.Colored blisterpack things and blue was there,so planned or not?

[Bluerauder]

Only sold black ones here.

I couldn't find a black anything on the day that I decided to go looking. Malloy L/M had a DTR on the showroom floor and a Silver Birch in the lot. No Black MMs at all. Wasn't interested.

Went over to Cowles Ford to test drive a Black CV LX Sport. No Black CVs either. I ended up driving an Ice Blue CV LX Sport but it didn't "excite" me. Didn't like the color.

Brown's L/M had called earlier in the morning to say they had a Blue MM in stock. I made the salesman go out to the lot and read the back bumper 'cause I thought he was looking at a Grand Marquis.

The wife encouraged me to drive the 45 minutes up to Brown's L/M just to take a look. When we saw it sitting in the corner space up on the hill all shined and detailed, I knew that if the numbers worked out it would be mine. They did and I drove it home about an hour later.

I really didn't find out how rare the Blue MM was until about 4 months later.

[LSp8]

I remember back when I was 17 my Dad and I went to Darcars L/M in Marlow Heights to get his Continental serviced and they had a DBP next to the showroom floor and I saw one on display at the NY Autoshow. Didn't realize they were that rare until a couple years later. The only non S/C MM I'd trade mines in for.

[CBT]

I have the 2003 Marauder brochure, it makes no mention of Dark Blue Pearl ever being offered. It shows the Black exterior with the light flint and dark charcoal interiors, but nothing about DBP. In 2004, it wasn't offered, so no word about that either.

Was it introduced later in the model year and received no press or attention?

Was it supposed to be a very limited production or did it only sell 328 because of such little press & attention?

They secretly called 328 cool people and asked if we wanted ours in blue. :cool:

[Bluerauder]

They secretly called 328 cool people and asked if we wanted ours in blue. :cool:

Hey, we weren't supposed to tell anyone that. :o Didn't you sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement?

[CBT]

Whoops! Now they will come for it.....:eek:

[Bluerauder]

Whoops! Now they will come for it.....:eek:

.... or swap it for a DTR. ;)

[SC Cheesehead]

The idea was to do only black but after selling very few cars in the desert SW Steve Babcock and his crowd realized no one wants black down there so SB was introduced. Black and SB were to be the then permanent colors and the other colors were to be replaced after each model year ended. The Blues were introduced at the end of the 03 model year and DTR was the replacement. Had the car cont'd the '05 cars would have been some form of White. I seem to recall Steve Babcock also saying the replacement colors were to also alternate dark/light. I guess DBP is considered a light color. Steve and I discussed the White version a bit at MV9 and while it was cancelled before to much thought was given to it's final form the interior may have been available in some sort of a tan/saddle leather as well as the greys. :)


Yep, the 2003 MM brochure only shows the Black MM. The Blue and Silver were introduced mid-way in the model year and the brochures were never updated to reflect the change.

Heck, I didn't even know Blue existed until the day that I bought mine. Found out at 10:00 AM and it was mine at 2:00 PM the same day.

IIRC from Steve Babcock's Q&A at MV9, the plan was to always produce a Black MM with a color variant to be added annually. DBP was the original variant, and as the car was actually a mid-year 2002 release, the DBP "year" was up in mid-2003, with SB the replacement color. SB ran from mid 2003 to mid 2004, with DTR being its replacement. Had production continued into 2005, white would have been the new color, followed by (I think) a green the following year.

[Rockettman]

^^^ funny you should mention green. Here is a piece of a conversation - through a work friend - from an employee (in the paint area), that retired in 2002.

"Unfortunately, I left in 2002.. I was there when we started making the Mauraders. (High Performance Mercury) however, before they started regular production , I was gone... In fact, I was slated to drive test one , however, that never materialized before I left..
So as to the colour question,, I remember, black, dark green and did not see any Maroon ones, or blue ones either"

[CBT]

^^^ funny you should mention green. Here is a piece of a conversation - through a work friend - from an employee (in the paint area), that retired in 2002.

"Unfortunately, I left in 2002.. I was there when we started making the Mauraders. (High Performance Mercury) however, before they started regular production , I was gone... In fact, I was slated to drive test one , however, that never materialized before I left..
So as to the colour question,, I remember, black, dark green and did not see any Maroon ones, or blue ones either"


If they made a Forrest Green Metallic, kind of like the Bullit 'stangs, oh yeah daddy like. :beer:

[SC Cheesehead]

If they made a Forrest Green Metallic, kind of like the Bullit 'stangs, oh yeah daddy like. :beer:

Fo ****zle, a Forrest Green Metallic 'vert woulda been to die for, bubba!! :banana2:

[Rockettman]

I think we may be missing something here.

I wonder if any Green ones were infact made; and if they exsist?

[Mr. Man]

I think we may be missing something here.

I wonder if any Green ones were in fact made; and if they exist?
Not from the factory. My guess is if there was a green tester they may have used a green Marquis shell. It was most likely crushed or repainted.

I'm not convinced SB was to be phased out. Might have to beat on Steve at the next meet he attends to clarify. I know the DTR was to be replaced with some sort of White. As far as the '06 model I remember him saying no color was picked but they were bouncing ideas around in the planning meetings. Even heard Steve liked that Mustang chrome illusions paint.

[Bluerauder]

I wonder if any Green ones were infact made; and if they exsist?
Could have been the *****y black paint on the early MMs looked green under factory lighting. ;)

All the colors Black, Blue, Silver and DTR are accounted for under the official 11,052 production according to FPG. If a green existed, it wasn't an MM.

I have never heard mention of a factory green MM before other than a "maybe" in later production that never happened.

[Rockettman]

Could have been the *****y black paint on the early MMs looked green under factory lighting. ;)

All the colors Black, Blue, Silver and DTR are accounted for under the official 11,052 production according to FPG. If a green existed, it wasn't an MM.

I have never heard mention of a factory green MM before other than a "maybe" in later production that never happened.

Read my quote from post #21.

You're right though. If there were any; they'd have to be registered.

[Chad1987]

Oh man, a Marauder in that dark green the Bullitt Mustang was done in would look SWEET!!!

[maineiac]

Or one in fox body 7up green , would be nice.

[Bigdogjim]

I remember Steve saying he was a little shocked that the blue did not sell as well as he thought? Maybe that's why there are only 328 of 'em.

[Mr. Man]

I remember Steve saying he was a little shocked that the blue did not sell as well as he thought? Maybe that's why there are only 328 of 'em.
Yeah that's the reason :shake: :rolleyes: :D

[Chatam/Marauder]

If they made a Forrest Green Metallic, kind of like the Bullit 'stangs, oh yeah daddy like. :beer:

It's called Dark Highland Green (DHG) to be exact, I once owned a 2001 Bullitt, what a great color, would look good on a Marauder too!
Speaking of the Bullitt's, the ones in True Blue are very rare as well.