Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
Mercury, the American automobile brand, not the first planet from the Sun or the chemical element with the atomic number 80 (Hg), was a company owned by Ford between 1938 and 2011.
It was created by none other than Edsel Ford in 1938 as a way to easily bridge the gap between the lower-cost, mainstream Ford models and the luxurious Lincoln model lines at Ford Motor Company. Since 1945 and until its demise, it always formed half of the Lincoln-Mercury Division at FoMoCo, but the brand was sent to the greener pastures of car Valhalla at the end of 2010 following major sales declines and market share slumps.
However, despite the passing of more than a decade since its demise, not everyone has forgotten Mercury – including across the parallel universes of vehicular CGI. More precisely, a member of the imaginative guild of digital car content creators is busy with, improbably, Detroit Three revivals. Jim, a virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, loves messing around with all things CGI from the automotive realm, and he dreams of a new CGI revival in the form of the return of the 2025 Mercury Mountaineer mid-size premium crossover SUV.
Previously, he has jumped back and forth between GM, Ford, and Stellantis with projects like the Buick LaCrosse GSX featuring sweeping looks and a supercharged V8 under the hood plus RWD; a Lincoln Zephyr Avant premium sporty station wagon that could rival the Audi RS 6 Avant; a big Impala-based Chevrolet Biscayne estate model; a feisty Dodge Magnum using the Hornet looks but with Mercedes-AMG E 63-rivaling power; an edgy Buick Skylark; or even a Ford Country Squire looking all woody like a Maverick.
Now, he's continuing along the FoMoCo crossover SUV line of CGI thought, and the pixel master has imagined an alternative universe where the Mercury brand still exists, and the Mountaineer mid-size premium crossover SUV just got updated for the 2025 model year alongside its sibling, the real world’s 2025 Ford Explorer. It's easy to notice that, if it existed, this Mercury Mountaineer would be treated as another case of badge engineering, right?
However, fans are supportive of the CGI expert's vision because they loved Mercury for being rebadged Fords – it was "easy maintenance but with Lincoln levels of luxury." Aside from the telltale of 'the best of both worlds,' someone also noticed this unofficial, hypothetical Mercury Mountaineer has significant front-end differences compared to the 2025 Ford Explorer via the restyled hood, fenders, LED headlights, radiator grille, and the "lower jaw strength!"
So, what do you think? Would you still buy the 2025 Ford Explorer if you had the option of this Mercury Mountaineer in the real world – or jump directly to an equally refreshed but significantly more expensive 2025 Lincoln Aviator?
However, despite the passing of more than a decade since its demise, not everyone has forgotten Mercury – including across the parallel universes of vehicular CGI. More precisely, a member of the imaginative guild of digital car content creators is busy with, improbably, Detroit Three revivals. Jim, a virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, loves messing around with all things CGI from the automotive realm, and he dreams of a new CGI revival in the form of the return of the 2025 Mercury Mountaineer mid-size premium crossover SUV.
Previously, he has jumped back and forth between GM, Ford, and Stellantis with projects like the Buick LaCrosse GSX featuring sweeping looks and a supercharged V8 under the hood plus RWD; a Lincoln Zephyr Avant premium sporty station wagon that could rival the Audi RS 6 Avant; a big Impala-based Chevrolet Biscayne estate model; a feisty Dodge Magnum using the Hornet looks but with Mercedes-AMG E 63-rivaling power; an edgy Buick Skylark; or even a Ford Country Squire looking all woody like a Maverick.
Now, he's continuing along the FoMoCo crossover SUV line of CGI thought, and the pixel master has imagined an alternative universe where the Mercury brand still exists, and the Mountaineer mid-size premium crossover SUV just got updated for the 2025 model year alongside its sibling, the real world’s 2025 Ford Explorer. It's easy to notice that, if it existed, this Mercury Mountaineer would be treated as another case of badge engineering, right?
However, fans are supportive of the CGI expert's vision because they loved Mercury for being rebadged Fords – it was "easy maintenance but with Lincoln levels of luxury." Aside from the telltale of 'the best of both worlds,' someone also noticed this unofficial, hypothetical Mercury Mountaineer has significant front-end differences compared to the 2025 Ford Explorer via the restyled hood, fenders, LED headlights, radiator grille, and the "lower jaw strength!"
So, what do you think? Would you still buy the 2025 Ford Explorer if you had the option of this Mercury Mountaineer in the real world – or jump directly to an equally refreshed but significantly more expensive 2025 Lincoln Aviator?
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