Mercury does not build many cars like the Mercury Messenger concept: a 2-door fastback with 4.6 L Modular V8, built from 2003 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Its designer of record is Gerry McGovern.
How it came about
The Mercury Messenger is a concept car manufactured by Mercury in collaboration with coachbuilder Stola. It was revealed at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The vehicle was named after Mercury, the Roman messenger god from whom Mercury gets its name.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 4.6 L Modular V8. The gearbox is a 6-speed automatic sequential. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Mazda RX-8, the Mazda Mazda3, the Bentley Continental GT. Its Mercury stablemates include the Mercury Bobcat and the Mercury Capri.