430 Super Marauder

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430 Super Marauder

Post by 58-Pagoda » Wed 11. Jan 2012, 13:50

I've been working for some time on assembling a historical chronology of the development of the 430 Super Marauder which I found to be quite interesting the deeper I got into it. I'll start with Bill Stroppe who was the man who put the magic in it. The following article is a good lead-in and details his rise to racing prominence. It is reproduced with permission of Hemmings Muscle Machines.


Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines
October, 2008 - Daniel Strohl


For a guy who made a name for himself racing and building fast sedans and off-road vehicles, it may seem a little strange that the most crucial moment of his life happened in a boat. On that day in July 1947, Bill Stroppe manned a vessel that looked like a contoured plywood mattress with a couple stubby wings up front and a circular cockpit. Built in California from Navy-surplus plywood, Stroppe had made himself a race boat. Not just any race boat, though: The Miss Art Hall was powered by a Clay Smith-built Ford flathead six-cylinder engine, and this race, the Detroit International Boat Race, renamed the Henry Ford Memorial Regatta after the then-recently deceased industrial pioneer, was one Stroppe had never run before.
Ford's engineers--who didn't care much for the newish, but problematic, flathead six-cylinder--watched from the banks of the Detroit River as Stroppe plowed through the 225-cu.in. class, qualifying well ahead of his fellow competitors and running just as fast as the unlimited-class hydroplanes. They all wanted to know just how he had coaxed that six-cylinder to both produce power and to rev past 4,500 rpm, the point where the engineers had identified, but not eliminated, a troublesome imbalance. Stroppe had to deflect all the engineering praise to Smith, his racing partner and pal, but the men at Ford now knew about this young man from California and his enthusiasm for competition.

"Henry Ford (that would be Henry Ford II, Henry Ford's grandson) actually offered him a job with Ford in Detroit after that race," Willie Stroppe, Bill's son, said. "He declined, but came up with the idea of a West Coast racing operation for Ford."
Willie Stroppe said his father always had a competitive streak, and thus he always enjoyed racing. "He liked the intensity of it," Willie said.

Born January 15, 1919, in Long Beach, California, Bill Stroppe began wrenching on the family dairy farm's delivery truck before he was 10, started dismantling cars in a local wrecking yard soon after and, by the time he was 14, he was running his own service station. Faced with a choice of high schools, either the prestigious Long Beach Wilson or the well-established Long Beach Polytechnic, Stroppe chose the latter because it had an auto shop class.
Through his auto shop teacher, Floyd Nelson, Bill became involved in midget racing, which led to dry-lakes racing, which led to his friendship with Clay Smith, an enthusiasm for boat racing, and a job servicing cars for Art Hall's Lincoln-Mercury dealership, all of which, in turn, led to that day in July 1947 and then another day three years later when Ford--specifically the Lincoln-Mercury division--agreed to Stroppe and Smith's suggestion of a West Coast racing operation.
Though Ford wouldn't start campaigning and selling cars under the Total Performance theme for another seven years, Stroppe already embodied the philosophy of racing in all conceivable forms. On his own, he raced in the SCCA (and won a championship in 1952 in a Mercury flathead-powered Kurtis 500S) and crewed for cars at Indy. He participated in the Mobilgas Economy Runs in the early 1950s, and convinced Ford to provide a full team of Lincolns for the 1952 to 1954 Carreras Panamericana. His effort paid off when Lincolns took the top three spots in the 1952 and 1953 editions of that race.

After the accidental death of Clay Smith in 1954, Stroppe continued to run Lincoln-Mercury's West Coast racing efforts on his own, and at about the same time, he switched his focus from racing Lincolns to racing Mercurys, and from preparing cars for road racing (Mexican authorities canceled La Carrera Panamericana before the 1955 race) to preparing cars for stock car racing.

Stroppe weathered the 1957 to 1963 ban on factory racing involvement with a number of preoccupations, including the development of police packages for Mercurys, a brief stint with Autolite's racing program and an even briefer stint with Chevrolet. But when Mercury pulled out of stock car racing for good in 1964, Ford paired him with the Holman-Moody duo, a partnership that led to Stroppe's involvement with the GT-40 at Le Mans and with Ford's efforts at Pikes Peak. But it was while standing on Pikes Peak in 1969, as Willie Stroppe recalls, that Ford notified Stroppe that the company was once again pulling out of racing. Still committed to racing, he quickly transitioned to off-road racing in Ford's Bronco, then goaded Parnelli Jones into driving for him. The duo became nearly unstoppable in off-road racing until an accident in 1974 pushed Parnelli out of the field.

Stroppe continued to build race cars, off-road trucks and the occasional special project for Ford, but reorganized his business in the mid-1970s to include Willie in the day-to-day operations. "The cast of people who worked for my dad was unbelieveable," Willie recalled. "Racing was always in his blood, but working with those in the upper echelons of Ford really made him strive harder." Bill Stroppe died from complications from a fall in 1995. Willie still runs his business, Bill Stroppe and Son, in Paramount, California.
stroppe.jpg

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by Shelby#18 » Wed 11. Jan 2012, 16:30

Excellent post. Thank you

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by 58-Pagoda » Thu 12. Jan 2012, 00:17

Glad people are enjoying this.

Stroppe spent '56 and '57 developing the Mercury M335 dual quad option to qualify for NASCAR. The engine was based on the Lincoln 368 and ~100 examples were built with cars pulled off the line and sent directly to Stroppe's shop in Long Beach, CA. Legend has it he wanted a West Coast racing presence partly resulting from Ford's new East Coast operation that was headed by his ex-employee, John Holman who later formed famed Holman-Moody.


Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines
May, 2010 - David Traver Adolphus and Jeff Koch - Photography by Jeff Koch

It's always been about racing.

From the very earliest days, there have been cars built for the street to justify speed elsewhere, laying a thin skin of usability over an engine and suspension unsuited for everyday use. Homologation was the name of the game, and in the Fifties, that game was mostly about winning on the circle track.

Mercury took a very different approach. Inasmuch as they had a racing program at all, it had been focused on road racing--specifically for La Carrera Panamericana, with cars built by Bill Stroppe's shop in Long Beach, California. Lincoln was seriously involved in La Carrera, so it was a short step for Mercury to get involved. But the division's split from Lincoln in 1955 more or less coincided with the cancellation of the Carrera, leaving Mercury without a performance reputation of any kind, aside from some success in the bare-knuckle, wheel-banging world of economy runs, where, once again, their cars were built by Stroppe.

In those days, the Blue Oval wasn't yet a force to be reckoned with in NASCAR, where GM was consistently cleaning house, with Chrysler coming on hard. Stroppe, with John Holman in his shop, was modestly involved in 1956, but had only minor success with 312-cu.in. Montereys, as raced and famously flipped half-a-dozen times by Russ Truelove at Daytona Beach. Holman left Bill Stroppe's shop to take over Ford's racing program in Charlotte, North Carolina, a program that soon became Holman-Moody and took Ford to Victory Lane about every three days.

We haven't tracked down anyone who worked for Bill 54 years ago, but legend has it he wanted an answer to the new East Coast operation and his ex-employee. His opportunity came in 1957, when Mercury got a version of the Y-block 368, introduced in Lincolns in 1956.

Standard in Turnpike Cruisers and optional in the Monterey, the Y-block 368 was hot enough, a super-torquey 290hp, but without Lincoln's 300hp, fancy pistons and resulting 10.0:1 compression. A bored and stroked version of the 1954 Lincoln 317/341, it had been developed specifically to compete with Chevrolet and Chrysler, and Mercury chose it as its "NASCAR motor" for 1957.

Stroppe, as Mercury's official experimental and racing division, got the job of building both the race cars and the homologation units for retail sale: 100 units by NASCAR regulations. The 368 would be returned to Lincoln-spec 10:1 compression (10.8:1 in racing engines), but with a full race makeover featuring dual four-barrel Holleys and making 335hp, a figure ultimately confirmed on Stroppe's engine dyno.

In 1957, Hot Rod reported that the hi-po engine was destined to be a special order for the Turnpike Cruiser, but that didn't happen. Instead, Mercury pulled Monterey bodies-in-white from the line at Los Angeles Assembly in Pico Rivera and sent them 20 miles south to Stroppe in Long Beach. They were mostly stripper two-door sedans, their best compromise between weight and stiffness--although a handful of other bodies, including a Turnpike Cruiser, have turned up. With enough initiative, you could order the intake and twin Holley setup as a kit over the counter for your base single-four barrel 368, and a few hot rodders did, but Stroppe's shop built the M-335 engine with a high-lift Isky cam (.468-inch, intake and exhaust), mechanical lifters, heavy-duty springs, high-flow exhaust and other tweaks.

More than just the Lincoln engine went in. The front end of the car had a lot of Lincoln (or station wagon), too, and the first-year Ford aluminum bellhousing covered a heavy-duty clutch and 35-pound flywheel. In back, the suspension was truck-derived, and had the first-year 9-inch rear axle. The three-speed was the only transmission available, and it was built for heavy duty in the Stroppe shop.

The result was nasty. At idle, all you hear is a pure muscle-car chug and lope, thanks to the solid-lifter cam clattering away; it's a Sixties sound, not one you'd associate with tailfins. This is a car that means business.

For a big guy like our West Coast editor Jeff Koch, getting in something like our feature car, owned by Joe Ventura of San Diego, California, can be comical. The floor is tall, the roof low and the steering wheel wide. Wedge yourself in there--the seat won't go back far enough for long legs. You do it like a sports car: Sit first, wind your torso in and then swing in the legs.

Once inside, it's bare. No headrests, no mirrors--which you don't necessarily notice at first. Manual everything and an optional AM radio, no delete plate. The wrap-around glass, at least on Joe's car, was surprisingly warp-free, so the view wasn't as fishbowl-nauseating as some other late-Fifties cars. Edsel used the same piece of glass in its big '58s, along with many other 1957 Merc bits, giving a clear picture of the Ford food chain that made an Edsel a three-year-old Lincoln.

The rest of the cabin works well. The wrap-around dash isn't a knee-buster as on some other cars we could name (cough--Impala--cough). The three was only on the tree, as far as we know, and third likes to pop out, on this and other cars, so it's cool to rest your hand on the stick.

Joe completed the three-year restoration on our feature car literally as we arrived to shoot it, at 10 a.m. that day, so it wasn't what you'd call fine-tuned, and something was up with the heavy-duty clutch. It did get lighter as we used it, but takeup was at the top of the pedal, the 1-2 shift was balky (easy to go straight up into reverse--not good) and we could feel the clutch slipping on hard acceleration.

We're not going to judge, because the odometer was at 00005 for our shoot and test drive... and 00016 when we were done. Thanks, Joe! It was just as well, because the skinny 8.00-14 four-plies would light up like a Lucky Strike given half a prod of the throttle and the axle was a peg-leg. Only Lincoln had limited-slip in 1957, but it put up with our low-speed shenanigans.

When we started to get up some speed, second gear seemed too hairy and third was lugging, although the Y-block wasn't too bothered by that. All the more reason to get on it, then. Imagine sitting in what you think is a low-buck commuter... and then you stomp on it. Suddenly, the Jekyll and Hyde routine is on and all the barrels open up. Big, loud and vicious is the name of the game, and that's when we felt the clutch slip, big time.

No one ever tested this baby in the day, but Motor Trend took a 290hp Turnpike Cruiser, 400 pounds heavier, with a Merc-O-Matic, to 60 in 9.8 and the quarter in 17.2 at 80 MPH. With the same slippery, treacherous tires, we wouldn't expect the 0-60 to improve much, but the quarter mile ought to be much better, well into the 16s. Top speed of the Turnpike Cruiser was a listed 110 MPH; NASCAR rigs made about 115 at Darlington and close to 130 at Daytona Beach, which makes us think the street version could do 120 or better, depending on the driver's willpower.

The steering was as heavy as you'd expect in a car this big, but immediate and quicker than the usual manual slop box, and with less on-center goo. Nice. The heavy-duty suspension really pays off in cornering, which is surprisingly flat, but again, there were those tires, giving up lots of twist and yaw and wobble. This is not a wussy car, in any way. The station wagon 3-inch brakes worked well in our admittedly low-speed stops. Really, it all came down to the tires. We have no problem with them as part of the experience, but this was a lot of car on a little rubber, and, slow as it was, you can see how the horsepower race spurred tire development.

Back in the day, they had problems racing it, too. Stroppe campaigned two Montereys in NASCAR in the East, Tim Flock's #15 and Billy Myers's #14. Flock was in and out of the hunt, and even won the Convertible Series race, the car modified for a bolt-on roof, at Daytona Beach on February 16, 1957, with Myers in third. Flock also took second at the Rebel 300 at Darlington in May. But other than that, the long-distance program didn't have much success.

They did better on the West Coast, closer to home for Stroppe, who was part of the on-track team. Jimmy Mantz, Marshall Teague and "Thin Man" Sam Hanks all carried the Mercury flag, and it was back-and-forth, hot and heavy with the Pete DePaolo-led Fords that spring. Hanks won the (counterclockwise) 100-mile road race at the USAAC Championship at Pomona in late February, the first victory for the '57. With Jimmy Bryan in the #4 car, '57 Mercurys had four out of the top five starting spots at that race. It didn't take long for the blown DePaolo cars to come back, though, Troy Ruttman's car winning over Teague, Hanks and Mantz at Fresno on March 10. And that was the news: supercharged Thunderbirds. Who cared about Y-block Mercs?

"Everybody long 'bout those years was looking for big cubic inches," said Pete Taylor, who built a couple of Mercury 368s for Holman-Moody in 1957. Installed in Thunderbirds, Holman-Moody, in an ironic turn, had borrowed those cars from Pete DePaolo. "It was a cubic-inch war 'round about then," said Pete, who said the Mercury engines were strong, but heavy--they ran them in the 12-hour Elkhart Lake race with no problems. "A lot of iron there, but it put out pretty good horsepower. But the 312 Ford would outrun it, especially with a blower on it." And the supercharged Thunderbird engine certainly grabbed the headlines. "There wasn't but two cars on the East Coast that was Mercurys," said Pete, "and they wasn't written about too much... It's just a heavy, mishandling car. It didn't work out that well."

Hmm. Big cubic inches. Race engine. Not too good in the curves. Why, that sounds like a muscle car to us. Pete also tells us that race teams, at least, could buy them over the counter from Ford. "We got a whole, complete engine from Ford, including the dual quads," also including the Isky cam Stroppe used, he said. "We took it apart and blueprinted it."

A photo from Hot Rod showed a room full of race 368s being prepared in Stroppe's shop in 1957. Not that we see the M-335 being faked, but it's good to know they were out there. Joe mentions that Stroppe-built street engines have a number stamped on the front of the intake manifold; his is #33 in the production run, and he knows the unstamped over-the-counter-strength versions are out there.

Mercury's, and Stroppe's, time came when the race ban was lifted about five years later, and they ruled the 1963 season with the S55 Marauder. The lessons Stroppe had learned with the M-335 program undoubtedly contributed to that success. So maybe the Monterey wasn't much of a force on track, or even within the Ford universe, after the Thunderbirds came on. So what? We know which one we'd rather have today. It was the most powerful engine ever put in a Mercury up to that point, and oh man, is it one evil machine.

Some pics from Hemmings of Stroppe's customized engine with M335 valve covers, dual quad intake, etc.
189341-1000-0.jpg
189351-1000-0.jpg
189371-1000-0.jpg
189361-1000-0.jpg
According to Holley's archives, the carbs were developed for the Mercury Trackmaster program and are proprietary Ford. In case you're looking at the swap meet, the correct numbers are ECU H / List 1545, with metering blocks 1889 / 1892. I have not been able to find these numbers published anywhere, and Holley was tight-lipped about what they could divulge. A set of correct carbs, air cleaners, and dual quad intake sold on ebay for over $6k a couple years ago. That did not include the valve covers.


Stroppe's Shop
Here's some photos of Stroppe's shop where the M335s were being built. Mercury turnpike cruiser engines in the foreground, looks like a Lincoln engine with large air cleaner in the background and a M335 dual quad engine beyond that.
Stroppe M335Ax.JPG
Stroppe M335Bx.JPG
Recently came across this vintage blower air box and wondering if anyone has any info on it. Is marked Lincoln 368 and is for a supercharged dual quad setup. According to the seller, it was off a 1956 Lincoln race car and had a top cover with a Lincoln emblem on it, Spaulding and Stroppe decals. Any info appreciated: supermarauder@gmail.com

Seller's description:
VINTAGE EARLY LINCOLN V8 SUPERCHAGER CARB BOX. FOR 2X4 314,368, HAND MADE FROM STEEL, CAME IN THREE PIECES, MISSING TOP. AS I REMEMBER IT WAS FLAT AND HAD LONG BOLTS THAT WENT THROUGH THE TOP AND INTO THE THREADED BASE, IT HAD A LINCOLN EMBLEM ON IT AND COOL SPAULDING AND STROPPE DECALS.

I HAVE HAD THIS FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS. CAME OFF A 1956 LINCOLN RACE CAR, WAS SUPPOSE TO HAVE COME FROM A CARRERA PANAMERICANA RACER. I REMEMBER THE CAR WHEN I WAS YOUNG BUT THOUGHT IT LOOKED LIKE A STOCK -CAR. I DON'T KNOW WERE THE TOP WENT BUT I DID HAVE THE MCCULLOCH SUPERCHARGER AND PULLEYS BUT SOLD THEM AT A SWAP MEET. IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS CHROME AT ONE TIME BUT IS RUST NOW, STILL A VERY COOL EARLY PART.

stroppe box 1.jpg
stroppe box 2.jpg
stroppe box 3.jpg
stroppe box 4.jpg
Last edited by 58-Pagoda on Wed 19. Sep 2012, 00:21, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by Theo » Thu 12. Jan 2012, 06:09

Scott, thank you so much for this great contribution. I 'm at work at the moment, so didn't read it all through. Just couldn't wait to thank you. It's people like you who make this place a valuable and outstanding address within the internet.
It took some time until I started to understand that the lack of visible traffic is a result of the fourum's easily accessible information. This forum has become similar to a Wiki, where visitors add information to the log rather than being focused on conversation.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by 58-Pagoda » Thu 12. Jan 2012, 14:08

Yes Theo, I think that is the primary function of this forum. More of a knowledge database, at least that is how most people have been using it... now onto some more with the story.

The AMA racing ban - this comes courtesy of Don Capps who is a racing historian and agreed to share with us.

Ford and Total Performance...

In the ecology of major corporations, there is an ebb and a flow. In the late 1950s, the major corporations involved in motor racing in the United States, General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, were up to their elbows in backing teams on the NASCAR Grand National circuit. The Ford effort was headed by Peter DePaolo, the Mercury team by Bill Stroppe, the Pontiac team by Ray Nichels, Chevrolet had teams run by Smokey Yunick and Hugh Babb, and Petty Enterprises ran the Oldsmobile team. Needless to say, it was a no-hold barred contest. The cars sported fuel injection and even superchargers since these items were listed in the factory parts catalogue. In addition to Grand National racing, Chevrolet was developing the Corvette and an out-and-out racing variant, the SS, to pick up from where the Cunningham team had left off to win the major endurance events of the day, Sebring and Le Mans in particular. Ford was toying with a similar plan for the Thunderbird at one point.

The idea of "Win on Sunday, Sale on Monday," was an idea that seemed to working. The Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) seemed to have other thoughts about such activities however. The AMA was not an organization with much flair and racing did not set well with those at the helm. Besides, the memories of Watkins Glen in 1952, Indianapolis and Le Mans in 1955, and many other racing related fatalities did not make the AMA fond of the sport. Although it put some pressure on GM and Ford in late 1956, both continued to support racing and advertise their successes in the media. Even NASCAR took the AMA hint and placed restrictions on the use of race wins in advertising, violations of which could - and did - result in the loss of Manufacturers Championship points.

On 19 May 1957, the AMA got the opportunity it was looking for. At Martinsville, during the "Virginia 500," on lap 441 of a scheduled 500 laps, the Bill Stroppe Mercury of Billy Myers crashed. The Mercury was thrown over the retaining wall and into the crowd, injuring several spectators, among them an eight-year old named Alvin Helsabeck. The race was halted and not restarted. Within hours the news of the incident was headline news in the media. It was carried by the Associated Press and the United Press International as the lead item for the day. The AMA were not amused.

On 6 June 1957, the AMA summoned representatives from all the automotive companies and after a short meeting issued a recommendation that automobile manufacturers refrain from supports racing or other events in which performance was a factor. GM and Ford were reluctant to agree, but the pressure was too much and they agreed to the terms dictated by the AMA. Although both would fiddle around with making their "police" models available to selected customers, that was as far as they were willing to push the AMA.


The AMA's racing ban set the tone for things to come in 1958 and was the culmination of multiple race-related fatalities, including the deaths of 2 more children, who were struck by a loose wheel, in a race that took place after the Billy Myers incident. As noted in another article above, Stroppe got through that period by working on Mercury's police package program which arguably took racing development underground.

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by Chris Craft crazy » Sat 14. Jan 2012, 15:37

Great thread, thanks Pagoda... :o
MEL Marine division... and if you thought MEL car parts were scarce....

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by 58-Pagoda » Mon 20. Feb 2012, 16:42

Working on the police angle....

I first learned of the use of the Super Marauder engine from Royce Brechler's Mercury Mermaid website. Mentioned among his projects is that his 1958 Mercury Super Marauder was rumored to have been a police vehicle. Here's some pics of his car that he has shared. Also check out his website on the Mercury Mermaid with Hilborn injection on a modified 368 Lincoln engine- neat stuff http://webpages.charter.net/brechlrl/pages/b_w_pics.htm
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So this is an interesting idea that the super marauder was offered as a police package, but perhaps initially discounted when practicality and reliability come to mind. But no, it really did exist according to a Mercury Police Package brochure I recently came across:
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A closer look at those Mercury "Police Packages" (from Ford Police Cars 1932-1997 Edwin J. Sanow)
“In 1957, the middle of a horsepower race between Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler Corporation, Ford upped the power of its police engines again. The star of the lineup was the 312-ci Y-block, rated at 245 horsepower with the single Holley 4-bbl and 270 horsepower with twin Holley 4-bbls. The 270-horspower “Ford Interceptor 312 Super V-8” was the first, last, and only Ford police engine to use dual 4-bbls carbs, and the compression ratio of 9.7:1 was used on both versions of the 312 and was then the highest compression ratio used on a Ford police package engine. A retail racing package was available for the 312 which boosted compression to 10.0:1 and horsepower to 285; this was not available with the police package.

By 1958, the days of multiple carburetion in Ford-marque police cars were over. Mercury police cars, however, were still available with triple 2-bbl carbs. The Mercury police package was based on the 122-inch wheelbase two-door and four-door Monterey sedan. This 4,100-pound cruiser easily met the requirements for state police and highway patrol use. The standard engine was the 312-horsepower, 383-ci, 4-bbl. One optional police engine was the 360-horsepower, 430-ci, 4-bbl normally restricted to the Montclair. This was the first year for Mercury’s massive 430-ci V-8. The 430-ci was a stroked version of the 383-ci big-block, and both had 10.5:1 compression.

The 430-ci police mill came in two versions. One was the 360-horsepower, 4-bbl while the other was the 400-horsepower, 6-bbl. That’s right, three two-barrel carbs. This was the first year for triple deuce induction on any Mercury police car. This also marked the first time any Ford or Mercury police car was powered by a 400-horsepower engine.
This was not Mercury’s first use of multiple carbutetion. In 1956, the 312-ci Y-block was available with twin 4-bbl carbs in the M-260 package producing 260 horsepower. In 1957, the M-335 power package included dual quads on a 368-ci V-8, resulting in 335 horsepower. The 1958 model year was the last for multiple carburetion, either dual quads or triple deuces on a Ford or Mercury police engine.

The 400-horsepower Super Marauder 430-ci was only available with the Merc-O-Matic automatic. A 2.91 rear gear was used with this power team. The 312-horsepower, 383-ci V-8 used 2.69 rear gears with the Merc-O-Matic and 3.56 gears with either the three-speed or Overdrive. By 1959, the horsepower race from the previous year’s retail cars was over. Multiple carbureted V-8s were gone. Compared to 1958, compression ratios were down slightly to 10.0:1 and so was horsepower at 345 for the 430-ci.”


Sorry Theo, those are the best pics I could find at this time. I am on the lookout to get my hands on a copy of the brochure.
Last edited by 58-Pagoda on Fri 9. Mar 2012, 15:16, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by Theo » Tue 21. Feb 2012, 10:03

Great thread. can you post those scans in a bigger resolution? It's O.K. with the forum format. It would be cool if those pics were big so that they would expand on click. I wish I could read them better.
Again, interesting info.
Ride on
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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by 58-Pagoda » Sun 30. Sep 2012, 22:13

I’d love to get high-quality scans of the Police brochure if anyone in the Mercury arena has this in their collection. This is what I have been able to make out from the brochure:

The opening paragraph of the brochure reads:
For 1958, Mercury Police Cruisers are flat ahead in all the features that count for law enforcement. Mercury, alone, offers a family of revolutionary new Marauder V-8 engines with horsepowers ranging from 312 to 400… for superlative performance under all driving conditions.

The text on the Super Marauder engine reads:
The 400-HP Super Marauder engine provides extra, lightning-fast interception plus the maximum speed and performance you may need for most special requirements.

Caption next to photo of SM engine:
This engine is an excellent option for lightning-fast acceleration plus maximum speed and performance. Available with most Multi-Drive Merc-o-matic transmissions and dual exhausts.


Bruce McCahill reported on a test-drive of the 1958 Mercury in Mechanix Illustrated (February 1958). In that article, he states:
"There is also another little dandy currently referred to as a 'Super Marauder.' Bill Stroppe originally worked up this one for the use of ambitious cops chasing ambitious speeders. But a nice touch offered by Mercury this year is that this same daisy-flattener is offered to the taxpayer-- the first break this guy's gotten in years. The Ford Motor Company has been building up a reserve of new engines for several years. This newest Mercury-Lincoln offering (with a claimed 400-hp rating) is the greatest in Ford's history." http://www.mercurystuff.com/temp/1958-M ... ercury.swf

One final point on the police brochure is that compression ratio is listed as 10.5:1 which was the first incarnation of the 1958 430 MEL. Compression ratio was lowered to 10.0:1 on February 17, 1958, so the police brochure and police Super Marauder application were released earlier than the public version of the Super Marauder which would have had the lower compression ratio.

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Re: 430 Super Marauder

Post by 58-Pagoda » Mon 10. Dec 2012, 14:28

Development of the SM 400 option is said to have been in response to Ford desiring to dominate the horsepower race of the mid to late 1950s. This comes from several accounts of individuals who discussed the matter with Bill Stroppe about 20+ years ago. Basically, Ford wanted to have something out there that topped all of the manufacturers in horsepower. The 312 and the newly introduced 352 FE engine needed too much work but the 430, with its 375/360 HP rating was an easy low cost way of doing this. Hopefully in the future I will find the time to speak with those guys and find out more from those conversations they had with Stroppe.

Here I am presenting a number of articles that discuss the SM 400 option. Many thanks to all who have contributed these, and especially to Joe Paulus. I am making them available here as they help tell the story.

Popular Science- December 1957
The SM option was in development at this time, and this is one of the earlier publications acknowledging its existence. Of note is the article's claim that Mercury was going to out-do Cadillac by 65HP, Chrysler by 55HP, and the Chrysler F.I. engine by 10HP. It also indicated a special camshaft was going to be used in the SM400, but that cam apparently never went into production.
SM Popular Science 1.JPG
SM Popular Science 2.JPG
SM Popular Science 3.JPG

Car Life- March 1958
Car Life reported on the SM400 option in March '58, also noting that it is Mercury's answer to the fuel injection offered by some of its competitors. The other interesting piece in this article is their comment on the the last page that the SM option will fit on the Lincoln in case any Lincoln owners desire more power. It is mentioned as a "power kit" which was presumably available from the dealer.

As widely rumored, the option was never offered for the Lincoln, at least no J-code Lincolns have surfaced. I have personaly seen at least 2 J-code Mercurys that were factory-delivered with the Super Marauder. According to conversations people have had with Stroppe, Lincoln had a J-code program in the works and had reserved the code for production but Ford cancelled that at the 11th hour. Stroppe had already commissioned the production of X number of the Lincoln units which then found their way to dealers to be sold and liquidated over-the-counter. Stroppe was reportedly quite perturbed at Ford's decicion to pull the plug.
SM Car Life March 1958.JPG
SM Car Life March 1958 2.JPG
SM Car Life March 1958  3.JPG
SM Car Life March 1958  engine.JPG
Last edited by 58-Pagoda on Tue 18. Dec 2012, 23:54, edited 1 time in total.

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