The Cougar was a model concocted by the now-dead Mercury brand back in 1967. The Cougar was also Mercury’s first pony car, a vehicle that slotted between Ford’s Mustang and Thunderbird.

Unluckily, the the Cougar was discontinued in 2002, and Mercury would follow suit in 2010, when Ford signed, sealed, and delivered the brand’s closure. Luckily, someone thought of bringing back Mercury, specifically the Cougar coupe, albeit in the digital world.

Could A Mustang-based modern Mercury Cougar work?

If we are to strictly look at Abimelec Design’s renders, the answer would be yes. But ask Ford about it and the answer would probably turn into a stiff no. Which means we’ll go with the positive answer.

What’s more, he believes a modern Mercury Cougar coupe would make a worthy competitor for the likes of BMW 8 Series, Lexus LC, and Jaguar F-Type, which means it would have to up the ante in terms of luxury. As we all now, the current Mustang doesn’t offer what we’d call a premium cabin, despite it being a massive step forward from the previous generation’s interior.

In addition, we’re allowed to dream further because the car is supposed to pack the 2020 Ford F-150 Raptor’s powerplant.

This would entail the presence of a 3.5-liter, twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 cranking out 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of twist. Naturally, the transmission of choice would be a 10-speed automatic, but purists could also be offered an optional manual ‘box.

That said, we’d also like to see a V-8 powering a would-be modern Mercury Cougar. Perhaps as the powertrain choice of a Cougar GT version? After all, the first-gen Cougar was offered exclusively with V-8 engines with power ranging from 200 horsepower all the way up to 390 horsepower. In that sense, a V-8 would do a lot of justice to a present-day iteration of Mercury’s pony car, don’t you think?