Ford may have dropped its traditional passenger cars in the United States, where its main focus is on crossovers, SUVs, and trucks, with the occasional electric recipe. However, its lineup still has one low-slung model: the new-gen Mustang.
That is something GM cannot brag about anymore, as it has pulled the plug on the Chevrolet Camaro without announcing when its successor is due. Meanwhile, Dodge enjoys a lot of fame these days with the new-gen Charger, a brand-new muscle car offered with both EV and ICE power in two- and four-door body styles.
Things haven't always been this sad for the Dearborn company, as there was a time when low-slung vehicles made up a good chunk of their portfolio and revenue. The Blue Oval also had some minivans in its lineup, and we are not only talking about rides such as the C-Max and S-Max, but also the Flex.
The styling may have tricked some into thinking it was a crossover/SUV, but it was nothing more than a people carrier. It was based on the same platform as the fifth and sixth-gen Tauris, the previous Explorer, and the Lincoln MKS and MKT, packing V6 firepower with a six-speed automatic transmission.
Photo: Ford
Ford kept the Flex in production from 2008 to 2019, with a mid-cycle refresh introduced for the 2013 model year, and eventually decided to drop it altogether. Thus, the Flex has no direct replacement, and given the company's ambitions to expand its crossover lineup, chances are it never will – not as a minivan, anyway.
Mind you, since its demise, there have been rumors about a possible comeback, and while it is clear that it won't happen, these have been constantly fueled by the occasional rendering. We've seen fresh takes on a hypothetically new Ford Flex several times, and while the one pictured above falls into the CGI category, it has nothing to do with a future generation.
Instead, Jlord8, which is the rendering artist that recently shared this digital illustration on social media, gave it a WRC-like vibe by fitting it with additional lights at the front, attached to the hood and bumper. The five-spoke alloys are also new, and the entire vehicle sits closer to the asphalt compared to the real thing.
But this isn't where the pixel manipulator drew the line. Not by far, as the imagined Flex has a three-door body style, with reshaped rear quarter panels and three-quarter windows and longer front doors to facilitate ingress and egress. There are a few other bits and bobs that you will spot by comparing this rendering with real images of the car, and we've added them to the picture gallery above. So, what's your take on this overenthusiastic Flex?
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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