So much for the death of Mercury

[Stephen]

a very strong old Cougaresque concept from Mercury.

Story and pictures courtesy of MSN Carpoint.

Ford Motor Company wants to send a clear message: Mercury is back! With a strong vision and a number of new products on the horizon, Ford says their “sleeper” brand is here to stay.

Chris Theodore, vice president of North American product development, announced that in the next few years there would be a new minivan, small SUV and two new cars from Mercury. And what better way to proclaim that Mercury has a future than with a sporty new concept called the Messenger.

The new sport coupe represents the first expression of Mercury’s new design DNA with a sleek, sculpted style. The large air scoops on the doors and hood give this vehicle a powerful look, and the long hood covers a powerful 4.6-liter V8 engine.

The Messenger’s sports-car proportions are further enhanced by the placement of the ****pit directly between the wheels. The interior door panels echo the sculpted exterior of the vehicle, and the instrument panel has been kept simple and clean.

There’s no word on when—or if—we’ll see this sporty Messenger concept in production form, but it looks like it would fit with the Mustang platform quite nicely . . .

 

[Stephen]

Rear

 

[Stephen]

Interior.

 

[Stephen]

Whats everyone think? I really like the interior, very simple and retro.

 

[zavaral]

i love it. it kinda looks like the '69 cougar. looks bad ass

jason

 

[jimbo74]

i like it... looks like an astin martin.... very cool, and a hell of a lot cheaper i bet.... mercury is coming out with some nice stuff now.... i love the mercury mauraders

 

[Heath]

The interior is okay, but I REALLY like the outside... SWEET looking ride...

 

[Stephen]

I sat in a Marauder at our car show, I liked it too, I'm going to have to find a Lincoln/Mercury dealership that has one I can drive.

I love the messenger concept though, what a gorgeous car.

 

[Heath]

Beautiful Car...

 

[SaleenEXP]

Originally posted by Stephen
I sat in a Marauder at our car show, I liked it too, I'm going to have to find a Lincoln/Mercury dealership that has one I can drive.

Definitley test one, they are plain out amazing. The minute you turn that key, you hear the mean rumble that can only come from the dohc 4.6

We only deal with the guys at Holman Lincoln Mercury here, and have known them for a while. We're good friends with the service manager and he took me for a test drive in a stock one the 1st day they came out, it was his demo to use. Just plain out amazing, you would not believe how well that car handles, puts plenty of cars with supposedly "sporty" intentions to shame and puts them to shame in road feel also. Perfect suspension calibration.

When I went in yesterday to rip my system out of the 94' we traded in, he took my mom and I for a ride in his new demo Marauder that our dealership added a Diablo chip, 4.10 gears, a Flowmaster exhaust (using dual 40's baby ) and a cold air intake. Talk about waking it up, they run about a 14.6-14.8 stock easily, and with just those mods he ran a 13.78 at 103.9 mph at Moroso, showed me the track slip which he uses to show customers what it can do .

After my mom got in, he starts it up and that truely Cobra esque exhaust note starts rumbling, he backs it out and and floors it tearing through the dealership going sideways, but in a straight line , for about 70ft .

If I wasn't getting an 03' Mounty, that would be basically the only car I would look at cause it's just sinister.

 

[james t]

very, very awesome to say the least. FoMoCo is really getting their act together. i really like alot of their new concepts, like this car, the new 'stang, new F150 & Lightning, and of course the re-done GT-40.

 

[rvitek]

Interesting this is a concept from Mercury. I would have expected it to be something out of the Lincoln lineup. Anyway, it looks OK - and they do need something to compete with that oh-so-nice XLR

Dead Link Removed

 

[Black Magic]

I love the new Mercury products. I hope they keep up the good work!

 

[mattadams]

that cougar looks awesome... wonder why they decided to revive it, I thought they were cutting production of it.

 

[Stephen]

I don't think the Messenger will compete with the XLR. The XLR is supposed to be in the 70-80k range, I can't see them selling the Messenger much over $35k. It'll be a close stablemate to the new Mustang if it sees production. To have it compete with the XLR would be overlapping to Lincoln's territory, and Ford doesn't want to do that anymore. They want a distinct mission for every division.

I'd look for a new Continental or a new Mark series to take on the XLR.

 

[DonM]

Wow, i like it. Kinda reminds me of a Mustang and the Caddy pictured above!

Very nice.

 

[N2MUDN91]

that looks good, the nose is kind of narrow for my taste. but i like it

 

[davesexplorer2]

that first cougaresque thing looks like its trying to jump on the chrylser crossfire/pontiac soltice bandwagon.
not that thats bad....