The car just tracked along in the proper direction without event.
This is a considerable accomplishment in a big, over-powered, rear-wheel-drive car, as my experience and the rest of the world will attest.
Sure, a part of me -- the childish part, I admit -- was kind of sorry that the rear end wouldn't step out and let me re-create my youthful experiences with such cars. But the small adult part of my brain was impressed.
When the car was parked and I had a chance to do a careful once-over of the accommodations, my opinion of the Marauder was further upgraded. The folks at Ford's assembly facility outside London, Ontario, have done a very nice job of taking a Grand Marquis and stepping it up a couple of notches.
The overall impression is indeed sporty with luxury finishing a close second, which is really remarkable when you think that Grand Marquis is one of the un-hippest cars built today.
Back in the garage at Ford's proving grounds, my colleagues and I delivered our key recommendation to the Mercury mavens on hand: ''More power, please.''
We were considerably concerned that we were not able to ''light up'' the rear wheels on the wet pavement, but we were told that was because we weren't trying hard enough. Sure enough, out on the highway later, I watched two colleagues lay rubber in an impromptu intersection drag.