Mercury Bobcat
The Ford Pinto is a well-known subcompact, but there was also a Mercury version of the car as well. The Bobcat was the Mercury variant that Ford sold during the 1970s and it was marketed as a luxury version. The signature waterfall grill and a lot of chrome accents were the most obvious improvements over the Pinto. The Bobcat isn’t as fondly remembered, but it is one car from the ’70s that never got a fair shake (via Motorcities).
With a little bit of work, the Bobcat is a great classic car that can be made into a cool-looking hot rod. The design of the car wasn’t ugly by any stretch of the word, especially when you compared it to cars like the Pacer. The Mercury brand was always the more upmarket version of Ford so the Bobcat had its place in the lineup.