Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. While the nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various times during its production, the Cougar was also marketed as a convertible, four-door sedan, station wagon, and hatchback. With 2,972,784 examples produced, the Cougar is the highest-selling vehicle ever produced by the Mercury brand; its 34-year production is second only to the Grand Marquis in the Mercury model line (produced for 36 years). During the 1970s and 1980s, the Cougar was closely tied to the marketing of the Mercury division; Mercury advertised its dealers as "The Sign of the Cat" with big cats atop Lincoln-Mercury dealer signs. In line with the Cougar, several animal-related nameplates were adopted by the division, including the Bobcat, Lynx, and Sable. During its production, the Cougar was assembled at the Dearborn Assembly Plant (part of the Ford River Rouge Complex) in Dearborn, Michigan from 1967 to 1973, San Jose Assembly (Milpitas, California) from 1968 into early 1969, Lorain Assembly (Lorain, Ohio) from 1974 to 1997, and at Flat Rock Assembly (Flat Rock, Michigan) from 1999 to 2002.
Overview
During much of its production life, the Cougar followed tradition within the Mercury division, marketed as a Mercury counterpart of a Ford vehicle. Distinguished by a distinct exterior (ranging in degree from grilles and lighting components to nearly the entire exterior), to streamline its production, the Cougar shared its chassis underpinnings with Ford vehicles throughout its production life. For its first two generations, the Cougar was derived from the Ford Mustang; initially developed as a pony car, it replaced the Cyclone muscle car in the Mercury model line. For its third and fourth generations, the Cougar adopted the chassis of the Ford Torino intermediate. Initially the counterpart of the Ford (Gran Torino) Elite, the fourth generation was split into two model lines, replacing the Montego as the Mercury intermediate (alongside the Ford LTD II), with the Cougar XR7 becoming the counterpart of the Ford Thunderbird. For its fifth and sixth generations, the Cougar adopted the compact Fox platform. For the fifth generation, the Cougar was again two model lines, with the Cougar XR7 derived from the Thunderbird and the standard Cougar replacing the Monarch as the counterpart of the Ford Granada. The sixth generation Cougar, derived from the Thunderbird, reverted to the two-door coupe body style. For its seventh generation, the Cougar introduced the MN12 platform, developed for the Cougar, Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark VIII. After 1997, the Cougar and Thunderbird were discontinued (the Mark VIII was discontinued after 1998). For its eighth generation, the Cougar returned for 1999 as a sports compact hatchback. Sharing a chassis with the Ford Contour, the model line began development as a third generation of the Ford Probe, shifting to Mercury as its development neared completion. Sold only under the Mercury brand, this generation is the only version of the Cougar with no direct Ford counterpart (though export examples were badged as Ford Cougars).
Fifth generation (1980-1982)
For the 1980 model year, Mercury downsized the Cougar XR-7. Alongside its Thunderbird counterpart, the XR-7 entered the mid-size segment for the first time, shedding 15 inches in length, 4 inches of width, and approximately 900 pounds of curb weight (depending on powertrain). In a strategy similar to 1977, the standard Cougar returned for 1981 in place of the Monarch in the Mercury product line (sharing its body with the redesigned Ford Granada). The first Cougar not to offer a V8 as standard equipment, the standard Cougar was produced as a two-door and four-door sedan, adopting the five-door station wagon from the Zephyr from 1982; the model line was repackaged as the Marquis for 1983 as Ford revised its full-size and mid-size product branding.
Chassis
Both the Cougar XR-7 and mid-size Cougar were produced using the Ford Fox platform. The Cougar XR-7 was produced upon an extended-wheelbase Fox chassis (to 108.5 inches), shared with the 1980–1982 Ford Thunderbird, 1982–1987 Lincoln Continental, 1984–1985 Continental Mark VII and 1986–1992 Lincoln Mark VII. The mid-size Cougar shared its 105.5 wheelbase with the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr, the launch vehicles of the Fox platform.
Powertrain
The Cougar XR7 was offered with two V8 engines. Shared with the Mercury Marquis/Colony Park, a 4.2L V8 was standard, with a 4.9L V8 offered as an option; both engines were paired with a 4-speed Ford AOD overdrive automatic. The mid-size Cougar was offered with its own powertrain lineup. Shared with the Fairmont/Zephyr and Mustang/Capri, a 2.3L inline-4 was the standard engine, with a 3.3L inline-6 and a 4.2L V8 offered as options; the four and six-cylinder engines were paired with a 3-speed automatic transmission. For 1982, an all-new 3.8L V6 replaced the inline-6; in various forms, the engine would be used by the Cougar and Thunderbird through their 1997 discontinuation. The 4.9L V8 option was withdrawn from the Fox platform, leaving the 4.2L engine as the sole V8 offering for both the Cougar and Cougar XR-7.
Body
In its development, many design elements of the 1977–1979 Cougar XR-7 were carried forward in the fifth-generation redesign, including its Continental-style trunklid, louvered opera windows, and sharp-edged fender lines. While the fourth-generation Cougar XR-7 had proven highly successful in the marketplace, the design elements fell out of proportion on a radically smaller car, leading to a highly negative reception. In what would prove disastrous, the Cougar saw little to no differentiation from its Ford Thunderbird and Ford Granada counterparts, with the XR-7 externally distinguished only by its grille, exposed headlamps, taillamps, and trunklid.
During the production of the fifth-generation Cougar, the Cougar XR-7 was produced solely as a two-door coupe, with the mid-size Cougar produced as a two-door notchback coupe and four-door sedan. For 1982 only, the mid-size Cougar was offered as a station wagon replacing the Zephyr station wagon. For the first time, Cougar two-door models featured a fixed "B" pillar and a fixed steel frame around front door windows, as in the sedan.
In what would become a long-running tradition for the Mercury brand, 1981 marked the debut of GS and LS trim lines for both the mid-size and XR-7 Cougars. Both trim packages were largely similar, though the LS was exclusive to four-doors. The GS package focused on appearance, while the LS package offered luxury touches such as power windows, keyless entry external number pad, and other luxury trim touches. The Cougar station wagon was offered in either GS trim or woodgrained Villager trim (the Mercury equivalent of a Ford Squire station wagon).
Ford of Venezuela marketed the Fox-platform Cougar from 1983 to 1986 as the Ford Cougar Brougham four-door sedan. Derived from the fifth-generation Cougar sedan, the Ford-badged Cougar Brougham was produced with the front and rear fascias of the 1983–1986 Mercury Marquis.
Source: Wikipedia
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