Mercury Cougar

W

willeaper

Well-known user
Mar 24, 2014
596
438
UK
I bought a USA Mercury Cougar brochure off fleabay recently, it details some great optional extras that were available in the States.

The Cougar XR looks fabulous with 17inch 6-spoke aluminium wheels, would like to get hold of some of those!
Also amazing range of paint/interior colours and trim options.
 
Can`t help thinking if Ford UK had a few more colour options at the time, some optional extras and pushed the car more in the media it might have done much better, a high performance S model, 3 litre, 4x4, Cosworth etc as a range leader to get its profile up.
 
Wil Leaper said:
Definately,
Does anyone know how USA sales compared to UK ?
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Wil, according to Wikipedia, the U.S. production figures were:

1999.........88,288
2000.........44,935
2001.........25,044
2002.........18,321


(As they were all built in the States the figures might not be a true indication of how many were actually sold there.)
 
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Quicksilver said:
Wil, according to Wikipedia, the U.S. production figures were:

1999.........88,288
2000.........44,935
2001.........25,044
2002.........18,321


(As they were all built in the States the figures might not be a true indication of how many were actually sold there.)
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So over 176000 produced then in four years, not that bad then for a car thought of as a flop.
 
Well i spotted a 2002 Mercury Cougar brochure on Ebay and had to have it, came yesterday from across the pond, mint condition and some lovely pics and nice info.
 
True perhaps but the cougar is not like say the F100 pick up that every one seems to own in the US and comes off the line every 30 seconds or so, it was never going to be as popular as the 60`70` cougars, no v8 and front wheel drive.
 
F7OUD said:
That is actually very poor when you think about how many people live in America compared to here.
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I don't disagree on any fundamental level, but I do want to point something out.

::Edit:: I grew up in Miami so my take on this might be skewed. Your mileage may vary.

Now here's the thing. I can only talk about Florida, but by the time the 5th generation came out the Mercury Cougar had lost its way. It didn't know what it was anymore and so was just a K-car with nicer equipment. By the early 80s it was a freaking joke and it didn't help that it was utterly neutered. No one aspired to owning one. Its core buyers had mostly abandoned it (and were old enough to buy Lincolns by then anyway) and the new generation of affluent 30-somethings couldn't see the point.

The 6th and 7th generation cars were better in terms of fulfilling the mission of "personal luxury sports" but by that time Ford had brought the Thunderbird in line with it from one direction, and the Mustang from the other. Ford themselves killed the car by removing the niche. Those Cougs were successful in a way, but only through what loyalty they had left.

Now the 8th generation - what we own - is a different kettle of fish. It should've been a stonking success; parts commonality and a shared chassis with Ford's CDW27 or "World Platform". What's not to like, other than the fact we get called "A Mondeo in a dress"? After all, the earlier ones were just a "Thunderbird in a dress".

In this country, the answer seems to be pricing. It was way too expensive for what it was. See also: Probe.

In the States, they were owned very briefly by their core fans, then sold with inherently low residuals - it's just a Mondeo/Contour/Mystique after all - to what people saw as an undesirable demographic. If you want me to spell it out, they were popular with black 20-somethings. Ford didn't see a future in that demographic shift *cough-cough* so cancelled the C9.

And that, gentlemen, is what leads us to where we are today.
 
Yes the model lost its way by the mid 70`s as did a lot of US cars, brands ended up competing with one another with the same type of model from the same parent company, dodge with plymouth out of the chrysler, pontiac with oldsmobile etc and these went to the wall, Lincoln has struggled to regain its position and only scrapped by because its luxury SUV were popular, our cougars were nothing like the most popular models of the 60`s and 70`, no rear wheel drive, no v8 etc, as far as using the mondeo platform well the mustang started out as reboot of the falcon, the cougar as a reboot of the mustang, every one is doing that now, just look at how much kit is on the market bassed on a golf, the snob factor rears its ugly head when it comes to expensive range leaders from Ford, Vauxhall etc, if its a BMW,Jag,Audi Merc then a big price tag does not seem to hold them back but a Ford no, most expensive Fords have been flops as far as sales go, hind sight is a wonderful thing, the cougar was a good product with very little wrong with it and a lot better than most of the same era, pricing a side it never had a chance because the company that made it never had any faith in it or tried to push it.
 
dakota1112001 said:
Yes the model lost its way by the mid 70`s as did a lot of US cars, brands ended up competing with one another with the same type of model from the same parent company, dodge with plymouth out of the chrysler, pontiac with oldsmobile etc and these went to the wall, Lincoln has struggled to regain its position and only scrapped by because its luxury SUV were popular, our cougars were nothing like the most popular models of the 60`s and 70`, no rear wheel drive, no v8 etc, as far as using the mondeo platform well the mustang started out as reboot of the falcon, the cougar as a reboot of the mustang, every one is doing that now, just look at how much kit is on the market bassed on a golf, the snob factor rears its ugly head when it comes to expensive range leaders from Ford, Vauxhall etc, if its a BMW,Jag,Audi Merc then a big price tag does not seem to hold them back but a Ford no, most expensive Fords have been flops as far as sales go, hind sight is a wonderful thing, the cougar was a good product with very little wrong with it and a lot better than most of the same era, pricing a side it never had a chance because the company that made it never had any faith in it or tried to push it.
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absolutly agree that ford had very little faith in the car ,i also think they loved there new focus models(which was a perfect replacment for the poor old escort) too much and pushed that out far more and just wanted rid of cars like the cougar.
they did the same with the scorpio ,they released it to try and compete with the luxury merc's and beemers and(obviously) failed miserably ,and so because of that they threw all there toys out the pram and finished it. forgetting all about the scorpio fans that had stayed loyal with the car throughout the years and loved them.
my scorpio turns more heads than my cougar(something my missus loves to point out as its her car)..not bad for a car classed as the ugliest car at the time.
in short ford dumped there luxury/ sport cars in favor of cheap economical patern cars(cmon can you really tell the difference between a focus and a fiesta at a distance) that will sell cheap and well and thats how ford are now looked upon.
i dont like what ford are anymore..something i told a ford sales man when he told me to trade in my scorpio for an smax....
 
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