Mercury Cougar

Start with what the Mercury Cougar is: a 2-door hardtop / 2-door convertible (1969–1970) with 289 cuin Windsor V8, built from 1967, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. What it meant takes a little longer.

Where it came from

The Mercury Cougar is a series of automobiles that was sold by Mercury from 1967 to 2002. The model line is a diverse series of vehicles; though the Cougar nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various stages in its production, the model also was offered as a convertible and a hatchback. During its production as the mid-size Mercury line, the Cougar was also offered as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon. In production for 34 years across eight generations (skipping the 1998 model year), the Cougar is second only to the Grand Marquis (36 years) in the Mercury line for production longevity.

2,972,784 examples were produced, making it the highest-selling Mercury vehicle. During the 1970s and 1980s, the marketing of the Mercury division was closely associated with the Cougar, with promotional materials advertising Mercury dealers as "The Sign of the Cat" with big cats atop Lincoln-Mercury dealer signs. Cat-related nameplates were adopted by other Mercury lines, including the Bobcat and Lynx. During its production, the Cougar was assembled at the Dearborn Assembly Plant (part of the Ford River Rouge Complex) in Dearborn, Michigan from 1967 until 1973, San Jose Assembly (Milpitas, California) from 1968 into early 1969, Lorain Assembly (Lorain, Ohio) from 1974 until 1997, and at Flat Rock Assembly (Flat Rock, Michigan) from 1999 through 2002.

Under the skin

The engine is 289 cuin Windsor V8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual / 4-speed manual / 3-speed automatic. The wheelbase is 111 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

In context

In the Mercury line-up the Mercury Cougar has a clear place: the factory was Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Pontiac Firebird, the Toyota Hilux, the Alfa Romeo Spider. Nearby in the Mercury catalogue sit the Mercury Bobcat and the Mercury Capri.

Owning one today

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Mercury Cougar has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.