Faults:

I purchased this car for 100 dollars. It did not come with a battery. The car would stall constantly and I had to floor it to go 25 miles per hour. I replaced the vacuum line that went from the carb to the positive crankcase ventilator (PCV) valve. The timing was off by 3 teeth, somebody playing mechanic had been tinkering with things that they knew nothing about. it had a bad oil leak coming from the oil sending unit. I simply replaced it with a 1/4 inch pipe nipple and some plumbers tape. The massive oil leak (1 quart every couple of hours) caused low oil pressure. The #3 cylinder is dead.

General Comments:

This is the best running, most dependable car I have ever purchased for the price. I have about 260 dollars for a total investment. My friends make fun of it, but I love my Hoop-tie. Long live ragged-out fords!

Faults:

When it was purchased (for $200):

It would not start, the fuel pump had failed, fuel filters were clogged, and other fuel system problems.

Shocks were a bit stiff.

Driver's seat has a slight tear.

Transmission is quirky, original owner never changed the fluid.

General Comments:

This car is the first smaller sized Marquis Brougham, yet it is still a tank.

The car is very rugged and I don't have any worry of it breaking down.

The car, when driven properly has great accelleration and high top speed (due to the light body and 302 V8 engine)

Seats are very comfortable and there is a lot of room in the cabin.

The car, when cleaned up, will be quite a looker. The body style is very shapely and the vinyl top was only torn in one place (and easily fixed with epoxy).

Faults:

Has trouble starting when it hasn't been started in awhile.

There is rust on the rear bumper, hood, roof, and about 3 cubic feet on the passenger side.

The vinyl top is pretty much gone.

The A/C went out at about 73k.

General Comments:

The cabin is very spacious with huge bench seats.

It get great excel and fuel economy for a car that weighs almost 5000 lbs. Floor it and prepare to burn some rubber. It pushes 150 mph easy.

It has great turning response not sluggish at all.

However it is a boat and it can be hard to pull into tight spaces.

Faults:

Engine leaked oil fairly quickly.

Brakes failed a week after I got it, but were repaired easily.

Aged alternator failed, but was replaced easily.

Front shocks were dead when I bought it, as would be expected.

Yellow interior was obnoxious and was quickly covered with a case of vinyl spray paint.

General Comments:

Car had serious acceleration and it tops out at about 150 MPH.

When washed & waxed car looks like brand new.

Faults:

The car always used a quart of oil every 2,000 miles. Around 80,000 miles this increased to a quart every 1,000 miles. When I took it in for an overhaul we found the cylinder walls were pitted. The mechanic said it looked like this damage happened before the car was purchased. The pits were from rust that happened before the engine was installed in the car, June of 1974. We decided to put in a new short block. The car has not used any oil since then.

Some rust appeared around the rear wheel wells where the fender skirts meet the body. This area was reshaped and filled and repainted.

The rear bumper had to be reinstalled after rust got to the bumper impact absorbers. The car was Zebarted in June 1974.

The front transmission seal leaked after the short block was installed. The car is driven on long trips so we had the transmission gone through a couple of years ago, and also replaced the leaky seal.

I am writing this Aug 28, 2001.

All other maintenance, repairs and replacements have been normal.

The exterior and interior (rolled brown vinyl) is in very good condition.

General Comments:

The car is very powerful and rides well. A great trip car. Mileage on average is 14 - 16 miles per gallon on low octane gas.

It is a real classic, brown vinyl roof over a cream white body, a real looker. We get comments where ever we go. Where we can, it cruises beautifully at high speeds where it was designed to operate.

I replace all hoses and belts and antifreeze every 4 years so not to have problems on the road.

Air conditioning still freezes us out and the FM stereo radio sounds great.

The trunk was fully carpeted at the factory and is huge.

We did put new rear springs on recently when new shocks were installed. This holds the back end up when we travel with the trunk full.

Faults:

I've replaced two of the power window motors.

The engine burns a quart of oil every three days.

The seats have some tears in them.

General Comments:

The car out performs most cars I have raced.

I've had very few things go wrong on the car.

The car is very big and you can fit a rear differential in the trunk plus some more boxes.