When most people think of what defines a hot rod, the words “big” and “four doors” do not typically come to mind. However most people have not seen Jerry Irwin’s Whipple supercharged Mercury Marauder. Irwin’s Marauder is easily the car to fear on any night out on Woodward Avenue.

Back in 2009, Jerry came across a car for sale he’d never heard of before: the 2003-04 Mercury Marauder. Now like any good gearhead curious of a mysterious car, Jerry started doing his homework. He joined an online forum and started asking around. He ended up buying a 2003 with a blown engine.

Sometime later, he found a replacement Marauder engine in a junkyard, only this one was different. It had already been topped with a 2.3L Trilogy supercharger, and it’s been downhill ever since. Using his pro skills as a machinist, Irwin has gone on to become a major contributor among the Marauder community.

Fast forward to early May of 2015, and Jerry’s close friend & fellow Marauder nut Zack McGrath sends him the link to a 2004 Marauder for sale on the forum. Once he read the ad, he couldn’t call the owner (Doug) fast enough.

“I was all giddy,” Irwin said. “I got his text as I was leaving work. When I hit the link, my phone froze. I had to turn it off and back on.”

A short jaunt down the freeway later, Jerry pulled off and made a down payment. He now owns four Marauders.

The exterior of the Whipple car has remained fairly simple. It retains stock style Marauder rims, though the rears have been widened to 9.5”. The shining rims are shod in Nitto NT555 rubber, with a 255/45ZR18 up front & 305/45ZR18 out back. A fiberglass cowl hood has been added to clear the absolutely massive supercharger, while Coyote style 5.0 badges have been added to hint at the deadly power plant lying in wait. Unlike many other custom Marauders, the Whipple car doesn’t have a decklid spoiler. “It needs one,” Irwin’s good friend and Marauder associate, James Martyka, replied, “We’re also making up a set of projector headlights for it. Stock headlights suck!”

Suspension remains mostly stock, with the rear air ride system being eliminated in favor of Suncore replacement coil springs.

“I don’t like the way the car rides though,” said Jerry. “It feels bouncy, and when there are 4 250lb guys sitting inside, the back end gets way too low.”

However, combined with the massive rear tire, this Panther has the “do not mess with me!” rake going on. Compared to another one of Jerry’s cars, his 950 horsepower silver Marauder, the Whipple car definitely has a lot left to be desired.

While Silver has been updated with much larger front and rear sway bars, billet aluminum control arms, and Watt’s link arms, and double adjustable QA1 coilover shocks, Whipple remains with stock sway bars, stock stamped steel control arms and Watt’s links, and KYB police duty replacement shocks.

The heart of the beast is an MMR 5.0L stroker. Stuffed inside iron block is a forged 3.750 stroker crank, Clevite Race series crank & rod bearings, Manley Pro-series billet connecting rods, 2618 MMR/Manley 10.0:1 compression pistons, & ARP mainstuds. Heads are factory Ford with Comp bump sticks providing 0.475-inch lift with a duration of 274 at 0.050.

Topping off the already potent engine is the absolutely gargantuan Whipple Crusher supercharger. With the ability to move 4.0L of air per revolution, the Crusher is bigger than most standard car engines. An Accufab throttle body lets air into the monstrous bullet. Exhaust runs through Stainless Works catless longtube headers and into custom 3” pipes with an X-pipe. MAC Pro Chamber mufflers give off a sinister note at idle and wail at wide open throttle. Final numbers were 750 horses and 630 ft/lb of torque at 15 psi.

The transmission is the weak link in the deadly combination. A few nights before the 2015 Woodward Dream Cruise, James and Jerry were out having some fun. James blipped the throttle, and that was when the shiola hit the fan. The intermediate shaft snapped. The entire trans had to be torn apart just to replace the shaft with a piece that could stand up to Whipple’s hearty torque.

“Torque is probably close to 1100 I’m betting. Hence when you sneeze on the pedal it snaps the intermediate shaft,” said James. Nevertheless, a solution is just down the road (pun intended) “I’m holding out for an aftermarket controller for the 6R80. Lidio is running 9’s in his Mustang with a stock 6R,” said Irwin. 31 spline axles and an Auburn pro diff put power down, while 4.10 gears deliver neck snapping acceleration.

Despite the giggle worthy amount of mods, Jerry still loves to drive the car, and happily looks forward to the day he can take it down the strip.