2003 Mercury Marauder (EBay listing number 150307313854)
If Ingmar Bergman’s chess-playing figure of death drove a car, this would be his. Behold the fearsomely black, unmarked glory of the Marauder, a low-volume, high-performance version of the Ford’s rear-drive Crown Vic/Mercury Marquis cop car with a Cobra-like 4.6-liter, 335-horsepower V8 under the hood. You can’t buy more menace per dollar than the Marauder. Sneak up behind somebody in the left lane and watch him swallow his cellphone.
1965 Chevrolet El Camino hot rod (EBay listing number 360103981845)
Words cannot express the total, unmitigated cherry-ness of this gorgeous ’65 El Camino gasser. The El Camino is a legend in its own right, a pickup/sports coupe widely favored by country boys, cholos and a certain Democratic president who put Astroturf in the back. This example has been re-skinned inside but retains original rally gauges. De rigueur rodding includes a 350 small-block V8, Crane fireball cam, 750 cfm Double Pumper Holly carburetor on an Edelbrock manifold, and white Heddman headers. What’s that smell? My soul is on fire.
Dan Neil in the LA Times blog Up to Speed, “EBay cars under $10,000 that beat the pants off a Nissan Versa”
This bastard can write.
