Peterson Automotive Museum to welcome pieces of Bortz Collection
The Peterson Automotive Museum will feature the 2001 Lincoln Mark 9 and 2003 Mercury Messenger concepts, courtesy of the Bortz Auto Collection, through April of 2023.
Highland Park, IL - The Bortz Auto Collection announced that once again it will be sending two of its concept cars to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles for a one year display. Joe Bortz made special note that this will be the fourth time concept cars from the Bortz Auto Collection have been displayed at the Petersen Museum in the last 25 years.
The previous showings of the Bortz Auto Collection at the Petersen Museum were 1997/98, 2005 and 2015/16. The new display will start in March 2022 and go through April 2023 and will present the fabulous turn of the century 2001 Lincoln Mark 9 and the stillborn 2003 Mercury Messenger that symbolizes the advanced design work of Gerry McGovern, the then design director for Lincoln-Mercury.
The 2001 Lincoln Mark 9 is a fully running concept car mounted on a then standard Lincoln chassis and running gear. It is interesting to note that this car was the sensation of the New York Auto Show in 2001. Some thought that this was the return of the Lincoln (Continental) personal luxury car but unfortunately it never went into production. You can view the video link to the 2001 Lincoln MK9 at was shown at the Coffee & Classics 2015 show in Winnetka, IL. https://youtu.be/ik4P6e5tJro
The second concept car is the 2003 Mercury Messenger. The 2003 Mercury Messenger was going to be the 2-seater sportscar that was going to save the Mercury car division for Ford Motor Company but was stillborn after it was shown to the press at Cobalt Hall. You can view the video link to thethe Mercury Messenger when it was lowered from the Cobalt Hall stage ceiling for the press viewing. (You skip ahead to the 2003 Mercury Messenger’s presentation by fast forwarding to 5:58 minutes)https://youtu.be/Db8FgUQa3Jk
In the designer Gerry McGovern’s own words, “The body surface reflects the car’s power and grace, with flowing body lines that are accented with purposeful air intakes and outlets. The dynamic fluidity of the Messenger’s lean and taut form is expressed at rest as much as it is in movement.”
Some automotive designers that have seen this car have likened it to a Corvette split window on steroids. Many have said that if the 2003 Mercury Messenger came out today as a 2023 model it would certainly still be well received for its fabulous design.
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