Mercury Cougar

The Mercury Cougar was an automobile sold under the Mercury brand of the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln-Mercury Division. The name was first used in 1967 and was carried by a diverse series of bodies over the next three decades. As is common with Mercury vehicles, the Cougar shared basic platforms with Ford models. Originally this was the Mustang, but most later versions of the Cougar were based on the Thunderbird, and the last was a version of the Contour. The Cougar was important to Mercury Division's image for many years, and advertising often identified its dealers as being "at the sign of the cat." Glamorous models leading big cats on leashes were a feature of Cougar and Mercury ads.

Contents

1 1967-1973 2 1974-1979 3 1980-1988 4 1989-1997 5 1999-2002 6 See also 7 External links

1967-1973

The 1967 Cougar was based on that year's new second-generation Mustang, but with a 3 in (76 mm) longer wheelbase and new sheetmetal. A full-width divided grille with hidden headlamps and vertical bars defined the front-end look—it was sometimes called the electric shaver grille. At the rear a similar treatment saw the license plate surrounded on both sides with vertically slatted grillework concealing sequential taillights, a styling touch taken from the Thunderbird. Aside from the base model, two trim packages were available: the luxury XR-7 and sporting GT, which could be ordered together if desired. The XR-7 package brought a wood-grained steering wheel, a simulated wood-grained dash with a full set of black-faced competition instruments and toggle switches, an overhead console, a T-type center automatic transmission shifter, and leather/vinyl seats. The GT package, meanwhile, supplied a much larger engine, Ford's 390 in³ (6.4 L) FE-series big block to replace the small-block 289 in³ (4.7 L) standard powerplant. Along with this came an uprated suspension to handle the extra weight of the big engine and give better handling, more powerful brakes, better tires and a low-restriction exhaust system. The Cougar was Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year for 1967.

The Cougar continued to be a Mustang twin for seven years, and could be optioned as a genuine muscle car. Nevertheless, it gradually tended to shift away from performance and toward luxury, evolving into something new in the market—a plush pony car. The signs were becoming clear as early as 1970, when a special edition styled by fashion designer Pauline Trigere appeared, complete with a houndstooth pattern vinyl roof. A reskinning in 1971 saw the hidden headlights vanish for good, although hidden wipers were adopted. Between 1969 and 1973, Cougar convertibles were offered.

1974-1979

For 1974, the Cougar was shifted onto a new platform and into a new market as a personal luxury car. It now shared a chassis with the larger Mercury Montego/Ford Torino intermediates and was twinned up with the new Ford Elite. The Cougar thus became practically the only car to be upsized during the downsizing decade of the '70s.

The move was a sign that Ford was getting serious about the intermediate personal luxury market, which Pontiac had created in 1969 with its radical smaller Grand Prix. Every GM division had an entry here by '74 and the market was too large to ignore. The new Cougar paid homage to its smaller predecessor with a three-piece grille up front, topped by a new cougar-head-profile standup hood ornament, a touch which would last through '83. The car's Montego heritage was fairly evident from the back, however. In between, it had acquired that sine qua non of the personal luxury car in the '70s, opera windows. This body ran unchanged for three years, and during this period all Cougars were XR-7's.

In 1977, radical marketing change came to Ford's intermediate lineup, although under the skin mechanical changes were few. The Montego name was discontinued, and all the intermediate Mercury vehicles became Cougars. There were now Cougar sedans, complete with opera windows, a lower-line coupe, and even a station wagon, which however lasted only one year. The XR-7 continued as the top of the line, with unusual simulated louvers applied in front of its opera windows and a new rear style that was meant to evoke the larger Lincoln Mark coupe. This year the Elite name vanished from the Ford lineup and the Thunderbird was downsized onto its chassis to became the XR-7's corporate twin. This association between the two cars would continue for two decades. In keeping with the general trend of the times, the old Torino chassis was discontinued in 1979 and all Ford and Mercury intermediates went over to the smaller, lighter Ford Fox platform the next year.

1980-1988

For 1980, the XR-7 was again the only Cougar. Opera windows became optional, although the louvered style of the old opera window was applied to the standard-window coupes. Wipers were no longer hidden, and for the first time, the Cougar had sedan frames around its windows. Inside, there was a turn to flashy electronics, considered ultramodern at the time, with digital instrumentation and trip computer functions available. A smaller 255 cubic inch (4.2 L) V-8 was the base power, but this engine was considered weak and did not last long. Like the downsized Thunderbird, this generation of XR-7 was poorly received by the market. For 1981, the line broadened again, with a Cougar sedan. Six cylinder engines appeared for the first time, and then in 1982 another Cougar station wagon appeared.

1983 brought substantial change. Lower-line intermediate Mercury models were subsumed under the Mercury Marquis badge, leaving Cougar once again as a personal coupe only. The XR-7 badge went away for this one year. The car was completely rebodied, along with the equivalent Thunderbird, the two becoming the first examples of the new flowing "aero-look" design, which would eventually spread throughout the Ford line and influence the entire industry. Wipers were hidden again, and the Cougar differed from the 'Bird mainly in having a very sharply-raked, almost vertical rear window similar to that on GM coupes such as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Some critics considered that this went oddly with the smooth, organic curves of the rest of the car, but buyers responded positively and this Cougar was a success.

Power options were very diverse in this generation, ranging from a turbocharged 2.3 liter inline four to a 3.8 liter V-6 and the perennial 302 cubic inch (4.9 L) V-8. Somewhat oddly, the revived XR-7 was now only available with the turbo four and was trimmed more to suggest performance than its traditional luxury image. In 1984, the Lincoln Mark adopted this bodyshell and for the first time became a design cousin of the Cougar. For 1987, a partial Cougar reskinning occurred, bringing flush headlamps and better aerodynamics. The turbomotor disappeared, and two models were sold, LS with V-6 or V-8, and XR-7 with standard V-8 and luxury amenities as of old.

1989-1997

The car was rebodied again for 1989. The flowing lines and extreme notchback roofline were still there, but this generation integrated the two much more successfully. Rather shockingly, the car had no V-8 available when introduced. Instead the base LS had a naturally aspirated V-6 and the XR-7 had a new supercharged version of the same unit. Such traditional Cougar touches as digital instruments continued to be available. The supercharged engine did not find favor with buyers, and the 302 V-8 came back to replace it in 1991. In 1993, the LS disappeared and the XR-7 was once again the only model. For 1994, Ford’s new overhead cam 4.6 liter V-8 replaced the old pushrod 302 as the optional engine. Anniversary editions were issued for the model’s 25th year (1992) and 30th year (1997). Nevertheless, the market for two-door models was declining across the board and in 1997 Ford ended its trio of personal luxury cars, Mark, Cougar, and Thunderbird.

1999-2002

Of the three names, only Cougar returned almost immediately. It became a much smaller coupe based on the Ford Contour, known outside North America as the Ford Mondeo. As such, it was a far more contemporary package, with 4 cylinder or V-6 engines and front-wheel drive. This was the first hatchback Cougar, and the first to have its own body, unshared by any Ford. It was advertised as showing a "New Edge" style that would influence future products, a combination of organic upper body lines with sharp, concave creases in the lower areas. An upmarket model was identified by the XR (not XR-7) badge. A higher-performance Cougar S was discussed in the press but apparently never produced.

Also unusually for a Mercury, this generation of Cougar was exported to Europe and Australia as the Ford Cougar, but was not a sales success—surprising given that the Mondeo did sell well in many countries outside North America.

This generation never sold well. Admittedly, demand for all two-doors continued to dwindle, but the sedan versions also languished in North America, suggesting that the Mondeo platform was simply not well suited there—though there is a theory that Ford did not market the Contour and its Mercury Mystique twin properly while the market for the similarly sized BMW 3-series grew. Little further was heard of either the New Edge slogan or style, the Ford Focus being the principal exception. In its final year, the car offered an anniversary edition commemorating 35 years of Cougars.

See also

• Ford Cougar

External links

• Pictures and some specs of the first Cougars (http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/mercury-cougar/mercury-cougar-history.shtml)
• Cougar Club of America (http://www.cougarclub.org/)
• Consumer Guide on the last Cougars (http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/used/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/2388)
• Cougars Unlimited (http://www.thuntek.net/cougars_unlimited/)
• Delmarva Cougar Club (http://www.dcconline.org)