[Logan]

Let us all suspend disbelief for a moment and think about the concept.

IF Ford/Mercury were to produce a Retro-designed, Rear wheel drive Cougar based on the Mustang platform, would this be a car that you could see yourself buying?

I know I would in a heartbeat, and I'd trade in my Taurus too!

Check out the poll on the main page and let us know what you think! Is the idea of a RWD, Retro Cougar a brilliant idea or a dud?

Who knows, someone just may be listening to YOU!

 

[modifiedmark]

Logan, I think fomoco should have never split the cougar from the mustang platform to begin with but its too late to think they could sell it again. The mustangs are almost to the point of cult status ala Harley Davidson and I dont think the 5.0 ( and now 4.6 ) punks would shell out the extra dough that Lincoln Mercury would ask for a luxuary version of the Mustang. I read someware the other day that the mustangs were outselling cameros 3 to 1. I never thought I would see that. I could be wrong but thats how I see it, even through all the wishfull thinking.mm

 

[Paul Selby]

RWD Cougar

I would love to see a new rear drive Cougar, but the reality is not enough people will buy it. Everyone wants trucks/SUV's. Look at current Cougar and GM F-body sales. Two door cars seem to be dead, muscle cars are about dead it seems. The younger guys are,for reasons I can't understand, trying to hot rod fwd Honda's with fart mufflers. Wouldn't it be easyer/smarter to buy a Mustang/ Camaro with a V8 to start with instead of spending thousands just to keep up with a stock V8? Maybe I am just too old to understand. Bottom line, I love the idea and I would like to see it but Mercury does not need another sales flop. Thats my opinion.

 

[TheRktmn]

New RWD Cougar

I think that it's a great idea, but like MM said, will people buy it? I own 2 late model FWD Cougars and I really do like them. I did think about the Mustang, but let's face it - they "create a vacuum" in the snow. The Cats are great daily drivers and there are some options to pep up the Duratec V6. I would at least test drive one a few times, and most likely end up with one - especially if it had the 4.6. But in all honesty I do not think that there is enough market to warrant it. Remember, Ford is also unveiling their new T-Bird, not exactly a street screamer, but one more bite out of an already limited market. Personally, I like the new platform.
There, thats my 3 cents.....

 

[Logan]

What happened to suspending disbelief?

The FWD Cats were cancelled due to poor sales. Mercury keeps screwing up the Cougar by "Reinventing" it... Problem is, every time it get's reinvented, it's a POS.

Life would've been alot simpler if they just left the darn thing as a RWD in the first place, and stuck to the same market segment rather than flipping from targeting at 50+ age bracket then switching to target the 20+ age bracket. Nothing like confusing the heck out of the marketplace.

Can't we just return to our RWD roots and pretend it never happened?

 

[TheRktmn]

When were the FWDs cancelled? I have to get out more often!
I agree though, if they would build one successful platform and stick with it things would be a whole lot better. I just hope that the next version doesn't have a hood ornament or a Pinto engine (Mustang II) or worse, they may dust off the old Bobcat plans!

 

[cougarguy]

love the idea

My wife is counting on them building this new cougar because i wont buy another new car ever if they dont! There is no car out there i like and will plunk down good hard change for and i have to agree mercury has had its head up its butt to many times. The market that buys cougars are the 35 to 45 age groups why do they coninually try to change it to market retirees or street punks who want hondas? I just hope that they make it true to form a little larger than its cousin the mustang if the are truly doing retro. the pictures i have seen of the supposed design concept are some rather well done forgeries but doctored pictures none the less. Should L&M start putting out a new convertable cougar they will get my 30 grand but otherwise ford can keep producing sedans and station wagons (SUV) and they will never see another dime from me. Its getting to the point its cheaper to do a full restoration than buy a new car anyways. 30 grand for a new car shoot i can go get a 428cj convertable for less than that!

 

[tlchaffin]

It isn't a dumb idea at all. Have you seen the Ford concept car called "49"? It is an updated version of the 49 Ford and it really looks cool. I understand that Ford is thinking about building it. Why wouldn't a great car like the Cougar be a winner too?

 

[Cougrrcj]

Hot Rod Lincoln/Mercury

Remember the Marauder of the late 60s and early 70s? *hint* Remember Steve MacGarret's black full-size two door car in Hawaii Five-O? Well, the Marauder is making a comeback next year.

If I had the wherewithall, I'd be plunking down a deposit on the new Marauder they're introducing next spring. For those who haven't heard, the new Marauder will be a Grand Marquis done up with suspension and engine mods, with a few cosmetic stying goodies thrown in.

It will have a unique front facia with driving lights and front spoiler/air dam, all chrome will be blacked out, the rear bumper facia will have 'Marauder' on it (like the Mustang GT does now) with cutouts for the dual chrome exhaust tips. It will have 18 inch wheels with all the latest handling goodies, and the best thing is that it will have the DOHC 4.6 engine of the Mustang Cobra pumping out well over 300hp! The interior will be leather bucket seats, a console and and a floor shift! The windows are to be lightly tinted black, and the headlight and taillight lenses will also get some sort of blackout treatment.

About the only 'wrong' thing about the new Marauder is that it comes in a four door only.

Supposedly, Ford saw the near cult status that the mid-90s Impala SS has achieved and decided to 'out SS the Impala SS.'

 

[Logan]

Spoo

Chicken.

 

[Farside]

Ford needs to do something, sales of the 2001 Cougar are on a pace to sell just 35000 units http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/08-01-2001/0001546585. Down 37% from last year. I've already contacted Ford requesting a sports car that pays homage to the late 60's Cougar and Mustang. My idea was to pitch the untapped market for the classic styling on modern drive-trains. They could keep producing the current Cougar and Mustang and bundle the 60's designed Cougar|Mustang under a "Classic Ford" Banner. I would imagine they would move more than a lousy 35000 units! And alot of these sales might go to people who would of otherwise had no intention of buying from Ford's current lineup - like me. Maybe if enough people make similiar requests Ford would at least entertain the idea.
eric

 

[Mark]

Is the 'new' T-Bird rear wheel drive???


Too bad they aren't making it to chase down Corvettes like the original.

 

[Logan]

Yeah, it's a 4 valve, 3.9L V8, rear wheel drive config... Making like 220hp or so...

 

[Cougar_22]

Let's face it, we are all big ford motor company fans, though, somewhere along the line, ford lost their guts. They need to go back to the performance image if just a little. People would go nuts for a retro styled 67 Cougar XR7. Come on Ford! Help us out!

 

[Dsprint]

Come on Ford - DO IT!

Why not build our new "dream" Cougar off the new T-bird platform, but have them beef it up a bit and drop in at least a 6-banger if not more??? Beyond that, not many platforms left to "drive" off from. As stated earlier, probably count out the Stang, we don't want another "yacht" so strike out the Crown, which pretty much leaves the T-bird or Taurus (Hmmmmmmmmmmm).

 

[Lee67XR7]

I'm with Cougar 22

Let's face it, we are all big ford motor company fans, though, somewhere along the line, ford lost their guts. They need to go back to the performance image if just a little. People would go nuts for a retro styled 67 Cougar XR7. Come on Ford! Help us out!

The new Cougar is only a name only a name plate on a Casey's bodied car. It's almost an insult to Call such a great car a Cougar when we (me and Cougar 22 and a few more) know what it looked like in the begining. Didn't take but 2 years to start heading for it's downfall. Sorry to all you other Mercury lovers!
67-68 Awsome 69-71 ect. downhillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.:1poke:

 

[b0nes421]

Voice from GenX... 24 years old...

I think that it would be awesome if Mercury brought back the Cougar and let the "Cat" run with the "Big Dogs". I was raised on muscle cars. While I was raised on Chevy's, I have an appreciation for many classics. I have a special love for Cougars though. I think it would be great to be able buy a "New 2004 Eliminator" and hunt down some WS6's or Z28's! Why not bring back the Cat... unless the "Big Dogs" are afraid of getting scratched!

Oh, and let me shed some light in that whole Import Racing thing that some people are having trouble with. I was part of an Import Racing team for a couple of years. Granted, it does take money to built these "Rice Rockets" and we very well could have bought a "Muscle" car, one of the reasons for building Imports is the amount of modification options you can make so you stand out in a crowd. There are so many options for the Import scene. Do you want show or go? Or do you want both? We could maintain 20+ MPG and still make 11 second passes. A lot of factors come into play for us younger guys. We don't have the money to build multiple cars. Are daily drivers are usually our racers, so eventually we end up sinking ungodly amounts of money into them, but that's what a lot of us have to do. A lot of kid’s wonder why you older guys dump tens of thousands of dollars into "Trailer Queens"... why build a car you refuse to drive? It all comes down to preference... and of course budget!

Anyway, I personally would prefer an "Old School" to an Import... and would love to see the "Cat" back on the block!

 

[kirkm76]

Hear me out!

I think there is a platform out there that Ford could reasonably adapt to be a rear drive musclecar type of thing that could sell. The big emphasis in both Detroit and Tokyo right now is "Crossover vehicles". Now I am not saying build a cougar truck, but what about something off the "gasp" Ranger platform. I know, I know, but once again, I am not talking about a truck here. You could build some sort of squarish car in the spitit of the original Cougar or the 70 model. GM has come up with some attractive retro looking concept cars off the S-10 platform. Some advantages, first the platform is already here and cheap. Second, powrtrain choices. People have been stuffing windsor blocks in Rangers for some time now. Ford even had SVT build a prototype back in 98 I think it was. The current generation could accomidate the 4.6 as is in the Explorer. You could achieve a reasonably low hoodline since the twin I beams of the early Rangers are outta here. You could build a very attractive straight line RWD performer that could be made to handle reasonably well. Also, Ford would not have to meet the stricter emissions and fuel economy standards of cars if it was on a truck frame.

Ideally, I'd like to see a Mustang platform Cougar, but I don't see it happening. Lincoln/Mercury customers don't buy Mustangs. But everyone is buying these car/truck/suv thingies, and it could be done tastefully. And if they did this in sort of a limited run they could make a lot of money off of them since they'd be cheap to build as are all truck/suv things. Profit is always a good motive for Detroit. The negative here...The 2 door market is not so hot. I'd hate to see it evolve in to some sort of 4 door sport Explorer thing to boost sales.

 

[kirkm76]

Another possibility

Just another thought...Ford has been doing this living legends Mustang thing. We had the Bullitt Mustang, next comes the Mach 1 and supposedly a boss 302 to follow (rumor). Whan if they did a Cougar Eliminator as one of this series. We would be talking a limited run here, but as with any limited run Stang, I'm sure it would sell out. I see this as the only real way to get the Cougar back on the Mustang platform. If demand was really strong then maybe it could become permenant with some more entry level engine choices. For a limited run however, take a mustang, give it the Cobra's engine, some unique front and rear fascias, or maybe even the stretched wheelbase of the FR-500 concept mustang if we wanted to be really true to the original, and you would have a sure fire limited run winner. As to a long term production run...Well, I'm not sure, but with a new Mustang platform coming out, who knows...It may be viable.

 

[bowl]

2003 Cobra is a 390 (advertised) HP, Vette eater. It spanked the Camero SS in a head to head show-down. MMFF claims its closer to 425 HP
and with the GT-40 coming out soon. Ford is kickin some ass right now.