Kappa Fighting Cougar

[jsaylor]

First sketch..I used the Messenger as a starting point but this is a smaller car based on a rwd platform too small for a Mustang. While a definate departure from any of the Cougar's previous roles I think this pays proper homage to the original without crowding any other Ford offerings, like the Mustang or a potential Lincoln coupe, too much. A base four cylinder, followed by a V6 powered XR7 and topped by a full blast Twin Force V6 Eliminator sounds like a great lineup to me. What do you think?

As an fyi since it isn't easy to tell at this stage...the classic 'Cougar' headlight design and I am trying to convey includes the lights and the grille like the original design but in a different manner. The lights and grille are divided by the center strip in the headlights with the grille being below and the lights above.

[2b2]

In general I agree wholeheartedly

my version's an XR6 (probably have mentioned it more than once)
about 183" ovl with a 110" wlb = enlarged RX-8 mainly
- it'd be great to have a puter program that could 'average' the shapes of the Messenger+Mustang+RX8 in realtime
then by moving the cursor towards one 'donor', that style would be emphasized.
...as a starting-point only of course & it'd have a unique, new/diff grille treatment.

Are you re-interpreting actual photos with these sketches?
the proportions are so realistic, they give that feel

...A base four cylinder, followed by a V6 powered XR7 and topped by a full blast Twin Force V6 Eliminator sounds like a great lineup to me. What do you think?

really like the smaller, lighter, no-need-for-a-v8!
think 4-passenger is required for both:
- sales (don't think Kappa is that big a deal honestly)
- And fitting Mercury's direction too
& tho, if the 3.5v6 fits - of course the 2.5 4cyl would too;
I might not play that card at first :unsure:
guess it'd depend on which sport-economy balance would make the proper first impression;
imho once the econ-role enters the public's perception, it's harder to add the sport-quotient.


ps did you get my PM last week? found a Mustang rendering to show you...

[jsaylor]

In general I agree wholeheartedly

my version's an XR6 (probably have mentioned it more than once)
about 183" ovl with a 110" wlb = enlarged RX-8 mainly
- it'd be great to have a puter program that could 'average' the shapes of the Messenger+Mustang+RX8 in realtime
then by moving the cursor towards one 'donor', that style would be emphasized.
...as a starting-point only of course & it'd have a unique, new/diff grille treatment.

Like you I too am an avid fan of the Mercury brand and think that there is still a place for Edsel Ford's 'other' creation in the FoMoCo universe. I've always had a soft spot for the Cougar, particularly the 67-70 models, and would love to see a proper cat come back on the scene again even if it does have to happen with a bit of a twist. Over time I think you'll find we have a lot of common ground when it comes to the viability/future of the Mercury brand.

Are you re-interpreting actual photos with these sketches?
the proportions are so realistic, they give that feel

I used a photo of the Messenger concept as an underlay partially to help keep proportions as realistic as possible and partially because I like the overall shape of that concept and wanted to keep some of the greenhouse design as well as the basic proportions in tact. I use an underlay more often than not to help with perspective even if the the vehicle I am using for refernce isn't going to have a stylistic influence on the sketch I am making.

For example, the Mustang concept I have been working on was initially roughed in with a photo of Maserati's new coupe as an underlay. In that particular instance the Mustang sketch ended up so radically different in nearly every way from the Maserati that I probably would have been better off to have foregone the use of an underlay altogether. In fact, I am getting ready to give the Mustang an update foregoing the use of even my own sketched as an underlay in order to alter some of the proportions without undue influence.

really like the smaller, lighter, no-need-for-a-v8!
think 4-passenger is required for both:
- sales (don't think Kappa is that big a deal honestly)
- And fitting Mercury's direction too
& tho, if the 3.5v6 fits - of course the 2.5 4cyl would too;
I might not play that card at first :unsure:
guess it'd depend on which sport-economy balance would make the proper first impression;
imho once the econ-role enters the public's perception, it's harder to add the sport-quotient.

I too think that Kappa is over-rated, but the Cougar as a small sports car just struck a cord with me...no idea why really. And I actually agree about the V4 (btw I really meant V4...more on that at a later time) and was actually thinking about the same last evening. Were I too hash out a rough idea of a Cougar lineup right now I would start with a 3.2L/~265hp version of the new Duratec V6 as a base model, a 'light pressure' turbo'd/ ~325hp version of the same for an XR7, and a full steam turbo version of the same 3.2L V6 for an Eliminator. If that last version made ~385hp I would be thrilled since it should propel such a small car with a great amount of gusto and all of these should be reaonsbly realistic cars that provide great performance. Once I get all my stuff back in order and can spend the time to properly finish this out I'll likely whip up a coupe version as well since this concept is really growing on me.

ps did you get my PM last week? found a Mustang rendering to show you...

Hmm, I went back through my messages and didn't see anything about a mustang rendering. Obviously have my attention at this point.

[2b2]

Like you I too am an avid fan of the Mercury brand and think that there is still a place for Edsel Ford's 'other' creation in the FoMoCo universe. I've always had a soft spot for the Cougar, particularly the 67-70 models, and would love to see a proper cat come back on the scene again even if it does have to happen with a bit of a twist. Over time I think you'll find we have a lot of common ground when it comes to the viability/future of the Mercury brand.

My favorite & new theory
(adding on to my theory that Any decision on Merc is on hold until they see how Lincoln does next year w/ lots of new stuff)
is that Ford was surprised how much of an image boost Mercury got from "just a good spokesperson"
and
they now believe Merc will be easy to resurrect - to the point that they think Lincoln has to be re-established first (a bigger harder task) or Merc would overwhelm its chances

...underlay... ...Maserati...

cool - it's worked for you
&
surprised by the Maserati since the drawing is very much a Mustang
&
I wanted to do a Cougar 're-draw' (more than chop) on a Maserati sideview but my hard drive overflowed with pix & it got deleted

I too think that Kappa is over-rated, but the Cougar as a small sports car just struck a cord with me...no idea why really. And I actually agree about the V4 (btw I really meant V4...more on that at a later time) and was actually thinking about the same last evening. Were I too hash out a rough idea of a Cougar lineup right now I would start with a 3.2L/~265hp version of the new Duratec V6 as a base model, a 'light pressure' turbo'd/ ~325hp version of the same for an XR7, and a full steam turbo version of the same 3.2L V6 for an Eliminator. If that last version made ~385hp I would be thrilled since it should propel such a small car with a great amount of gusto and all of these should be reaonsbly realistic cars that provide great performance. Once I get all my stuff back in order and can spend the time to properly finish this out I'll likely whip up a coupe version as well since this concept is really growing on me.

v4 huh? shades of Taunus? (iirc) 2 stroke?
&
3.2??? Volvo Si6 or typo or destroked 3.5?
(here's an old quickie chop of a v6 sport Merc done on a Huckfeldt rendering of a future BMW)
& re-thinking/remembering - I'd definitely keep the 4 cyls for a C2 Merc sport version: "MilanettoXR3"!

looking forward to more of your renderings!

[jsaylor]

My favorite & new theory
(adding on to my theory that Any decision on Merc is on hold until they see how Lincoln does next year w/ lots of new stuff)
is that Ford was surprised how much of an image boost Mercury got from "just a good spokesperson" and they now believe Merc will be easy to resurrect - to the point that they think Lincoln has to be re-established first (a bigger harder task) or Merc would overwhelm its chances

Considering the fact that Lincoln is almost certain to be 'fwd heavy' in terms of platforms for the near future I tend to agree with your thinking here. I'll probably post my idea for a Mercury revival, and my ideas on the same for Ford and Lincoln, here eventually. A lot of those ideas are controversial as you may soon see, but my plan has Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury working in concert to approach the market as a whole in a way that suits each brand while keeping them all completely disinctive. I suppose in the end this all does more to prove that I have too much time on my hands than anything else.

v4 huh? shades of Taunus? (iirc) 2 stroke?

Yeah, Taunus is typically the first thing that comes to mind when I mention this. Although that engine program was fundamentally compromised in many ways, like the 60 degree design, that I am trying to avoid. First, I like the idea of cooking up a V4 by cutting the upcoming Boss V8 in half. In fact that is how the idea was hatched in the first place. Such a move would provide for a vast range of 4-cylinder displacements (2.0L to 3.5L realistically) and the very short front to rear length of such a design would mean that the same could fit very nicely into a rwd platform. Wether this would be superior to a bid inline 4 in terms of NVH is debatable since each has their advantages. But it would easily equal the same in this respect and both the exhaust note and power delivery stand to gain in a V formation as well. The obvious production advantages of producing half of a Bass V8 are also very attractive.

3.2??? Volvo Si6 or typo or destroked 3.5?

Destroked Duratec here for sure. I like the shorter package the V6 offers improving both weight distribution and packaging in a rwd car. And if Ford engineers could find a way to lend this engine a more Alfa Romeo-like exhaust note I think the Duratec package as a whole lends itself very well to a small sports coupe offering great power and good packaging at a good deal. I like the Volvo piece, but in this instance I prefer the Duratec.

(here's an old quickie chop of a v6 sport Merc done on a Huckfeldt rendering of a future BMW)
& re-thinking/remembering - I'd definitely keep the 4 cyls for a C2 Merc sport version: "MilanettoXR3"!

I really like that chop...and that surprises me since I've always found 5-door hatchbacks a particularly difficult design to make visually appealing. And the approach taken stylistically suits what Mercury should be going for perfectly.

looking forward to more of your renderings

I look forward to the same from you.