Ford killed the Mercury brand a decade ago
but there are still people who wonder what the defunct marque’s lineup would
look like nowadays. While there’s no way to find that out, every once in a
while we stumble upon renderings of modern-day Mercurys based on other cars,
mostly Fords. That’s exactly the case with the 2021 Mercury Cougar created by
Abimelec Design.
Why the Cougar? Well, it was one of the
brand’s most popular models and one of the few to have a cult following among
American buyers. Looking at the CGIs, it’s not hard to realize that this
hypothetical Mercury Cougar is based on the latest Ford Mustang Fastback.
Marketed as a sports luxury coupe, the
Cougar was built alongside the Mustang for the first two generations (1967 to
1973), then as a Ford Torino sidekick (1974-1976), and finally as a counterpart
to the Thunderbird (1977-1997). Ford also sold a Mondeo platform-based,
front-wheel-drive Cougar from 1999 to 2002, but most fans would rather forget
about that one.
Anyway, so why would a 2021 Mercury Cougar
look like in these renderings? Well, it’s because the author applied typical
design cues from the first-generation Cougar on the bodywork of a modern-day
Ford Mustang Fastback. Styling highlights include hideaway headlamps, Cougar
badging and horizontal taillights.
The question is where a 2021 Mercury
Cougar would be positioned on the market right now. According to the author, it
could be marketed as a competitor to the Lexus LC, BMW 8 Series and Jaguar
F-Type. We don’t believe that’s a very realistic assessment but we can’t argue
with the engine choice: a 450 HP 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6.
