Ford forever struggled to differentiate the Mercury nameplate. But time and again they wound up selling lightly rebadged Fords with a little extra trim until their death in 2011. But there was one Mercury name that stood out: Cougar. The Cougar name was put on a bewildering array of cars over its life, probably too many, but it was one of the few that we can remember. Here’s the history of this cat.
1967-1970
The Cougar, in its first iteration, was meant to be a more luxurious version of the Mustang. But it was more than just a ‘Stang with a wood dashboard and power windows. It had entirely new sheetmetal, including hidden headlights, and a wheelbase that was 3 inches longer. The top trim Cougar was called the XR-7 and included a 6.4 liter V8. The base engine was a 4.7.
The Cougar got a famous movie role in the 1969 Bond flick On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as the car owned by Bond Girl Tracy Di Vicenzo. It was an appropriate product placement, even if it was somewhat dishonest about the car’s winter handling capabilities.
1971-1973
For 1971, the Cougar was redesigned with an extra inch in wheelbase and a much less aggressive design with the loss of hidden headlights. The engine options were pared down to just a 5.8 liter V8 and a 7 liter, with the latter being only offered for 1971. Sales were puttering along at around 60,000 annually.
1974-1976
With the Mustang being moved to a subcompact platform, the Cougar could no longer share a platform. And it went from being a pony car to being a relaxed personal luxury car. It was now a companion to the Ford Torino Elite. This helped sales a little, but still it was far behind the class leading Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and even the Chrysler Cordoba.
1977-1979
For 1977, Ford reshuffled its midsized lineup. The Torino, Montego, and Elite all were rebodied and renamed. The Torino became the LTD II, the Elite became the Thunderbird, and the Cougar now took over for Montego as Mercury’s midsized offering. This meant the storied Cougar name was now being put on wood-panelled station wagons! Sales in 1978 hit their all time high, 213,000, but that was at the expense of all the equity of the Cougar name.
1980-1982
The Cougar name was moved once again. This time it was now grafted on the car previously known as the Mercury Monarch, sharing a platform with the hateful Ford Granada. With this type of phone-it-in-management, is it any wonder that Ford was on the brink of bankruptcy at this time?
1983-1988
For 1983, the Cougar name was finally taken out of the gutter and put on a car deserving of the moniker. It was Mercury’s version of the Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark VII and it was, thankfully, a 2 door coupe only. Styling was distinguished by a nearly vertical rear window that made it look very traditional and upright. Power came from a 2.3 liter turbo 4, a 3.8 liter V6, or a 5 liter V8. Sales were consistently above 100,000.
1989-1997
For 1989, the Cougar and Thunderbird were redesigned. It was lower, wider, and had a much longer wheelbase but overall length was barely changed. Sales slid as the market for large coupes vanished in the 90s. The last Cougar left the line on September 4, 1997.
1999-2002
But for 1999, the Cougar name was revived. This time it was put on a small front drive sports coupe based on the Ford Contour (Mondeo to everyone in Europe). And for the first time, it was exported, being sold abroad as the Ford Cougar. It was very good, but it was a case of right car, wrong time. The market for front drive sports coupes had evaporated and the Cougar died for good in 2002. This was the last Mercury ever that did not have a Ford counterpart.
The Cougar was one of the few Mercuries that could be called iconic. It was overused on everything from sports coupes to station wagons. But it could not prop up a brand that many people forgot about.