Mercury is returning to its roots as a design leader introducing the Messenger concept, a distinctive and energetic high-performance two-seat sports coupe. The Messenger concept car represents the first expression of Mercury’s new design DNA with a clean, technical appearance that begins to establish the look of Mercury products still to come.
"The body surface reflects the car’s power and grace, with flowing body lines that are accented with purposeful air intakes and outlets," says Gerry McGovern, design director, Lincoln Mercury. "The dynamic fluidity of the Messenger’s lean and taut form is expressed at rest as much as it is in movement."
The Messenger’s proportions are the direct result of the dramatic vehicle architecture - clean and sculpted with a tautness and agility that transcends the vehicle’s design and handling characteristics.
The spoke wheels have a turbine theme, with vanes that reflect the appearance of the Mercury "flying M" logo. The functional vanes help direct airflow over the vented brake disc and high performance brake calipers, further communicating the car’s high performance capabilities.
One aspect of Mercury’s future design DNA is embodied by the stacked element theme at the front of the vehicle with distinctive front lights and vertical grill elements. The rear lights convey the DNA message with sequential taillights that repeat the theme. Large, sculpted front air scoops and outlets at the front and rear of the vehicle provide a purposeful and powerful look.
The compact and efficient exterior package provides a cockpit-like driving environment inside, with the cockpit placed directly between the wheels to further emphasize the car’s proportions. The Messenger interior is designed to be taut, innovative and functional -- technologically advanced, yet intuitive to use, providing innovative stowage and space within a compact package.
All displays in the cockpit emit minimum levels of information to facilitate quick and concise driver response. The instrument panel is designed with primary focus zones that have intuitive interfaces to keep the driver constantly informed. Switchgear is minimized to reduce distraction.
"This vehicle is driver-focused, from the commanding seating position to the way the vehicle interfaces with the person behind the wheel," says McGovern. "Use of the controls inside the cockpit is intuitive."
The seats in the Messenger are mounted laterally to the tunnel and rocker panel to further strengthen the lightweight aluminum hydro-formed monocoque, while forming part of the integral occupant safety cell.
Design inspiration for the Mercury Messenger goes back to Mercury’s roots and gives a message of where Mercury is going in the future. Edsel Ford’s vision at Mercury’s start in 1938 was to produce vehicles that were refined with an emphasis on design. Reliability and swiftness were admirable attributes for a new automotive brand. Similarly, Mercury’s modern mission is to capture the American driving experience through innovation and design.
"Messenger is about taut, dynamic surfaces. It’s charismatic and modern," says McGovern. "It’s about intelligence, connectivity and it’s about distinction.
"Mercury is to be a design-driven brand - the Mercury DNA is delivering vehicles that are energetic, distinctive, intelligent and charismatic," says McGovern. "On the outside, its vehicles will feature proportion and package efficiency with optimized surface language that is clean and simple, lean and taut, with drama of attitude, produced with a product design approach.