Technically there were two, spanning two generations and each lasting only a year. The '77 above debuted with the rest of the fourth generation. Then in '80 the Fox-body fifth generation rolled around and a wagon was included in the lineup for its final year in 1982. Both deserve prominent asterisks because they relied on existing architecture from other nameplates.
Edit:
It occurs to me that you could probably put a fifth generation Cougar front end onto a Fox-body Mustang without too many headaches. The Mustang front end is a direct swap onto the wagon shell which is shared wih the Ford Fairmont wagon and Mercury Marquis. Years ago I saw a Cougar front end on a Zephyr coupe and it...worked? But the Zephyr and Mustang have very different rear arches so it would look odd.
One year only and effectively a previous generation Montego Villager with new-for-'77 Cougar front sheetmetal, the nameplate would be replaced in '78 with the Zephyr, only two-door coupe and four-door sedan Cougars continuing for the remainder of the brief fourth generation. This one's a great color but it desperately need the turbine wheels that would have been on offer.
Technically there were two, spanning two generations and each lasting only a year. The '77 above debuted with the rest of the fourth generation. Then in '80 the Fox-body fifth generation rolled around and a wagon was included in the lineup for its final year in 1982. Both deserve prominent asterisks because they relied on existing architecture from other nameplates.
Edit:
It occurs to me that you could probably put a fifth generation Cougar front end onto a Fox-body Mustang without too many headaches. The Mustang front end is a direct swap onto the wagon shell which is shared wih the Ford Fairmont wagon and Mercury Marquis. Years ago I saw a Cougar front end on a Zephyr coupe and it...worked? But the Zephyr and Mustang have very different rear arches so it would look odd.
Now that you mention it, I do remember that Fox-body Cougar wagon. My parent’s first new car was a 1965 Mercury Commuter wagon they bought in 1966. By 1979, my dad decided to replace it and get my mom something a little smaller and more efficient. He asked me what I thought he should buy (which surprised me as I was only 16 at the time.) I suggested the Mercury Zephyr. So he went out and bought a medium blue Z-7 with a light blue vinyl roof. (And then, when my mom went back to Kentucky to visit her mom, he secretly had an aftermarket sunroof installed to her surprise.) This whole story is just to say I was paying attention to all things Fox-body at the time. It’s just been years since I’ve seen (or even thought of) that Cougar wagon.
As for mixing and matching Fox-body pieces, that would be fun to do. And let’s face it, by the early ‘80s, roughly 75% of FoMoCo products were Fox based.
Not actually my mom’s car, but it’s the same color combination.
