Q &A w/ a 36 Year old Detroit Native gives a little insight into his world and into his 2000 Mercury Marauder “all custom”
QUESTION: I saw your car on the freeway the other day. … What do you call that color?
ANSWER: Lime green.
Q: So, how did you come up with this color idea?
A: It was off an old Datsun, it was like in the ’60s or something? … That’s why I came up with the color, seen on an old car like in the ’60s.
Q: Where’d you get it painted?
A: Maaco.
Q: Oh, OK. … They give you any grief when you came in and told them you wanted it to be lime green?
A: No, you know, they want money. Paint it pink with orange stripes, they’ll do it. (Laughs.)
Q: How’d you get the rims green, too?
A: I painted them myself. Got the paint code from them and went up to the paint shop and sprayed ‘em.
Q: Were they chrome before?
A: Yep, all chrome.
Q: So you took your chrome rims and painted ‘em?
A: Yep. And the reason I did that is because (of) these raggedy Detroit streets, hit all them potholes. And they welded them back and they messed the chrome up when they welded ‘em. So I said hey, I might as well paint ‘em instead of buying some new rims.
Q: What kind of reaction do you get from folks when you drive by?
A: Just say that’s a nice color. Older people say that’s a pretty color. And thumbs up. You know. All that. (Laughs.)
Q: Anything crazy happen while you’re in the car?
A: No, nothing really. Just a lot of attention that’s all. My wife don’t like the attention, but hey.
Q: Yeah, your daughter told me she doesn’t like the car either.
A: They hate it.
Q: Why is that?
A: Too many females’ attention.
Q: I was gonna ask you if …
A: Yeah, they like the car. Females like the car. Older people like the color. Everybody likes the car; I don’t know why.
Q: You ever had a car this wild looking?
A: Yeah, I had a purple one last year … with spinners on it. I sold it. Put it on Craigslist and sold it. … Trying to sell this one, too.
Q: So what’s next, maybe flaming orange?
A: I haven’t thought of it yet. I’m gonna get an SS pickup and do something. I like that SS Silverado pickup … but other than that, I’m done with the bright colors.
Q: Oh, yeah? Why?
A: (Sighs.) My wife be tripping, man. (Laughs.)
(SUMMER 2010) Demi Moore is in Detroit filming a movie with Miley Cyrus, and she couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted a lime-green Mercury Marauder on Seven Mile Road.
“Wow only certain cities can pull a car off this color,” Moore tweeted after spotting the sedan, decked out with chrome accents and mile-high rims.
Although a Mercury Marauder — plus Chevrolet Monte Carlos and Impalas, and maybe the occasional Ford Crown Victoria — on Seven Mile is nothing new to Detroiters, we’re guessing they’re few and far between in Hollywood.
Moore and Cyrus are filming the flick “LOL,” a remake of a French film in which a teen girl faces her first heartbreak — gasp! — and the divorce of her parents at the same time. Moore, as you might have guessed, plays Cyrus’ mom.