mustang50v8 said:
i was having the same sort of thought. nissan did it with the 350z and the infiniti G35 coupe, they have the "sports car" and the luxury "performence car for the more grown up" and both cars seem to do very well in 2 seprate segments of buyers
That is a very provocative idea.
How can Mercury come up with a good RWD performance car, upscale of the Mustang GT?
What sort of car fits in the 30-35k price bracket, and not overlap too much over the SVT Mustang, the RX8, or the proposed 2 seat RX7?
It would need to sell enough to make mercury a nameplate again, since there really isn't much there now, besides the mountaineer. But, it also needs to keep from stepping too much on the toes of Mazda's bread and butter, the RX8, and future RX7.
I don't really see mercury doing a 2 seater, so RX7 is safe. I can see a four door coupe, but it would need to distinctly differentiate itself from the rx8, even though the mustang platform base is much heavier. (mercury did do a showcar about 6 or 7 years ago with two rear suicide doors, and a clamshell 2 peice hatch, maybe they could revisit.)
I am thinking a tech tour-de-force, a fully modern design, retro of absolutely nothing. Traction control, All-wheel-drive, and all sorts of interior baubles.
They could take the folding-into-the-floor seat technology from the SUVs, and make a long hatch fastback with a big loadfloor, and short rear half-doors. Go after the audi A4. A coupe with the utility of a much bigger car, and more cargo floor space than a Jeep Liberty, or the Escape, but with an admittedly lower roofline of a coupe.
I am not talking about a raised-roofline Subaru Outback kind of a car. but a car that would look very much in the idiom of a G35, BMW 330, or an Audi A4 coupe version (which doesn't exist) It would just have more passenger space with the rear seats open, and very generous load space, with them folded. IT would be bigger and a bit more adaptable, and AWD, which would differentiate it from an RX8.
A high-style car like that with 300HP standard, and a sequential paddle shift manual (being developed for the cobra anyway) option, or a paddle-shifted automatic, (which would shift for you if you ignore it, already doable) and sophisticated, smooth, but taut handling, possibly with active handling and steering adjustments, would be a great idea, and one that might put mercury cars back on the map.