GTP Cool Wall: 1998-2002 Mercury / Ford Cougar

  • Thread starter Wiegert
  • 33 comments
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1998-2002 Mercury / Ford Cougar

  • Total voters
    98
  • Poll closed .
Wiegert

Wiegert

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United Kingdom
1998-2002 Mercury / Ford Cougar nominated by @ThrasherDBS

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Body Style: 3-door liftback coupe
Engines: 2.0L Zetec I4, 2.5L Duratec V6
Power: 125-170 hp
Torque: 130-165 lb-ft
Weight: 1312 kg
Transmission: 4-speed automatic, 5-speed manual
Drivetrain: Front-engine, Front-wheel drive
Additional Information:
This was the swan song for the Cougar nameplate, a car which had shared a platform with the Ford Mustang, the Gran Torino, the Thunderbird, Fairmont, and was even a station wagon at two points in its 34-years of production (one year pause in 1998 in North America). The Cougar ended its run as a sport compact, oddly enough not having a directly rebadged cousin. This was meant to be a replacement for the Ford Probe and also took some underpinnings from the Ford Contour/Mondeo. Ford's restructuring plan in 2002 made this a casualty, as well as the Ford Escort, Lincoln Continental, and Mercury Villager.​

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I'd take this over an equivalent Cavalier or Neon, but I'd still take a Civic, which is much cooler than all of the American offerings simply for not being and looking cheap-o.
 
I loved these car when they came out and they are still sort of a guilty pleasure of mine today, unfortunately they're a Mercury and the last cool Mercury's were from the Lead Sled era.
 
Proof that a Mondeo skinning a Ford Puma and parading around in its stretched hide could look better than some of the other also-ran coupes at the time, like Hyundai's offering.

Too bad that skin ended up going rotten so soon after sales ended. Dreadfully outdated compared to other New Edge designs. The few that are left now seemingly at the mercy of the Boys from Barry.

Seriously Uncool.
 
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It's rare when a car ages so poorly that you can date it within a couple years of when it was designed.


And while I know that the market was essentially dead by the time this came out, it's awfully amusing that Ford put this brand new car together based on underlying bones that were derived from those the 7 year old Probe already sitting on. Why not just market the thing as a Probe to begin with?
 
Isn't this one based off the European spec Puma though? Or am I remembering wrong?

Nevertheless, seriously uncool. The rally spec Pumas are cool as hell though.
 
I think it's cool, hence i voted it, I'll say that, personally always had a soft spot for the Ford Cougar, despite it's humble Modeo underpinnings, bit of a guilt pleasure of mine.

Silver Arrows
Isn't this one based off the European spec Puma though?
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No, believe both are based off the Mondeo, which is decent car in itself tbh. Agree about the Puma though, in Racing spec, or just standard, it's a cracking little car.
 
Dennisch
The Puma is a Fiesta 4. This is a dismembered Mondeo. Both started to rot before the paint was dry though.

Uncool.
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Was on about both the Mercury and Ford Cougars, since the Ford variant was in made Koln in Germany and the Mercury in Michigan, should have made myself clear, my bad.

About the Puma, yea its based of the Mk4 Fiesta platform, along with the Ka, were (and still are) great little cars to drive. Shame about the rotting that plagued all Fords of that era tho...
 
The nameplate wasn't all that respected before this thing, and now it's all people remember. The V6 wasn't god-awful but it wasn't that great either. It was notably quick and some called it comfortable, but the build quality was bad, materials were cheap, the aluminum wheels had a tendency to bend if you ran over a toothpick, and for what they were they cost too much to buy and way too much to repair. My cousin had one less than 6 months and traded for a Lincoln LS he said was better in every way. Add to that Zetec/Duratec engines are reaching a point now where the engines are now wanting to self destruct and even the best kept cars look dated, it's a dissapointment of a car and I believe this is where Mercury's fate was sealed in NA.

Seriously Uncool.
 
But Kudos to Ford for only producing this Cougar for four years. If this was GM, I'm sure it would be in production until 2005, looking even more dated.
 
Turbo
But Kudos to Ford for only producing this Cougar for four years. If this was GM, I'm sure it would be in production until 2005, looking even more dated.
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Or just imagine Chrysler. We'd be seeing it until 2008 probably
 
I have a Mercury Cougar. It's a 1968 model in desperate need of restoring, but it's from back when it shared a platform with the Ford Mustang. Over the years, this nameplate filled all sorts of roles, the most surprising of which was a station wagon. To think that it died as a sport compact coupe makes me shake my head.

Uncool.
 
Uncool, looks like a fat Puma, shoddy build quality and very dated looking. A poor way for the Cougar name to die.
 
Never as good as the first two Probes (which is saying something), only men-of-a-certain-age were ever persuaded it was cool. Which it isn't. Super-uncool.
 
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It's like someone from HW tried to pull off what people did to Civics and Corollas to a Cougar and sadly it only makes me dislike it even more.

Seriously Uncool.
 
-Fred-
Hyundai somehow made that exact same car in late 2001 and somehow it sold better and lasted 7 more years.

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No, it wasn't a platform- or body-share. Admittedly the Hyundai was a far better car, but then it wasn't related to the Ford/Mercury Probe/Cougar.
 
Had an instant dislike for these when they came out and, personally speaking, they were one of the worst expressions of Ford's Edge design philosophy from the 90s. Even now they give me an inward shudder when I see them.

Which is rare.

Which is good.

SU.
 
The only thing this car has going for it is being substantially better than a Cavalier coupe.
 

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