2005 Mustang....good for Chevrolet?

all this talk about future cars and high horsepower is making me horny!! LOL

Stay away from Mercedes-Benz dealers then. The high horsepower German dames will leave you broke

JimF65 said:

What do you mean "swapped the body work"? The Probe was a Mazda, just with a few sheet metal differences. Yes, not a bad car, but definitely not a worthy successor to the Mustang name. True, we don't have the authorative documentation from Ford, but it's pretty clear, and many mags speculated the above with nary a denial from Ford when it was happening.

As for the Cougar: poor styling, too close a copy of Asian cars, not a worthy successor to that name, in my humble opinion. You don't get ahead by imitating.

Yup, they do listen to consumers..... sometimes. :o)

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The Probe always looked like a nock off of the RX7 with its pop-up headlights and whatnot.

The Cougar was definately not the right car/design for Mercury.

Back on topic, Mercury needs a "grown up" version of the Mustang... maybe with suicide doors so folks can get into the back seat, more trunk space, etc. A GTO fighter if you will. That would make the Mustang doubly damaging to Chevy by sharing platforms and covering a wider market segment.

somebody should photochop a new cougar based off of the new mustang. i'd do it, but i ain't that good. I can tint windows and lower cars, but not change the grilles and tailights.

30AnnivStang said:

somebody should photochop a new cougar based off of the new mustang. i'd do it, but i ain't that good. I can tint windows and lower cars, but not change the grilles and tailights.

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Search the forum, it has been done and looks pretty cool IMHO.

yep, just found it.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=392258&highlight=cougar+photo

30AnnivStang said:

yep, just found it.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=392258&highlight=cougar+photo

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I looked, that is one goodlookin' car. Interesting that they put the little "kickup" on the rear fenders that the original Mustang had but the new one doesn't.

63_Fairlane said:

The Probe always looked like a nock off of the RX7 with its pop-up headlights and whatnot.

The Cougar was definately not the right car/design for Mercury.

Back on topic, Mercury needs a "grown up" version of the Mustang... maybe with suicide doors so folks can get into the back seat, more trunk space, etc. A GTO fighter if you will. That would make the Mustang doubly damaging to Chevy by sharing platforms and covering a wider market segment.

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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

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

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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.

Actually, Ford does offer that kind of upscale coupe; they call it Jaguar XK series

fly2low said:

Actually, Ford does offer that kind of upscale coupe; they call it Jaguar XK series

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I realize that is in jest

But the XK coupe starts at $69,995 US. That is Porsche-upscale. Aston Martin is Ferrari-upscale, with most of their cars well above 80k.

The potential Mercury offering would be based on the Mustang hardpoints, and powertrain. Likely in the market of the BMW 330Ci, or Infiniti G35, which both start in the 30K range. My idea was a powerful and advanced coupe to cater to the sport sedan crowd, who may not really need 4 full doors, but can't find much else in the 2 door market right now, or want a domestic alternative to Germany or Japan.

I would hate to think about how a Mustang-based car would get clobbered by the competition above about 45 or 50k. That platform may be based on the LS/S-type, but it has been changed to be less expensive (macpherson struts in front, instead of the LS's double wishbone, lessened insulation against NVH, etc.) in order to make the base mustang availabe at less than 20k, when the LS, S-type, and T-Bird cost at least twice that, on average.

The new mustang platform is not in the league of a Porsche Boxster S or 911, nor should it be. The XK barely is, and it is an expensively designed car. The new Aston Martin Vantage V8, on a completely new platform with the DB9, should be very interesting in that market, though.

I think we are all after the same thing for Mercury. A sporting coupe/sedan that can seat four adults comfortably and haul ass. A slimmed down Marauder, with more displacement. I think the new school "suicide doors" would be a nice touch, but not absolutely necessary. It would be bigger than the RX8 or Mustang but also have more useful interior and trunk space.

AWD and other high tech options easily be lifted from Volvo would make it more upscale.