1989-1997 Mercury Cougar

Life number 7 of 9. Best kitty in the litter?

Red is the color of this cat.

This, folks, is the best Cougar ever made, in my opinion. Maybe it doesn't have the most horsepower or the most exciting looks, but functionally it was superior to all previous and subsequent Cougars. The performance was easily accessible and simple to exploit while rustproofing became an actual thing at the factory.

Think of it as a much larger, less athletic, luxury-oriented Mustang GT of the era.

The claws come out...finally.

Once again basically a rebodied Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark VIII, the platform was updated and stretched, which made it a real full-sized luxury coupe at around 200 inches long. This thing was made for hauling golf clubs. Also of great wonder, there was now a real suspension in the front and back, though it wasn't set up to carve corners. But then, owners never bought these cars for that purpose. Weight was an expected 3600 pounds-ish.

At first, engine options ranged from 140-hp 3.8 Essex V6 up to a 210-hp supercharged version of that same motor. Ford quickly realized its mistake in assuming that buyers would accept the lack of a V8 and fixed the situation in 1991, when they began offering the 200-hp 5.0 Windsor, then switching to the corporate 4.6 in 1994.

Transmissions choices were limited and a majority of all Cougars were fitted with a 4-speed slushbox. The rare 5-speed manual was the Mazda M5OD. Finding one of those means you've got a supercharged V6 XR-7 or somebody swapped it in.

Once again, there's plenty of support and access to parts via online enthusiast communities and model-focused companies. Upgrading the V8s is similar to what you'd experience with the 'Stang and the supercharged engines are fully customizable too, though you're looking at nothing more than changing the pulleys and addressing engine breathing if you're interested in easy horsepower gains.

Thankfully, Ford ditched the digital dash crapola. While it took away some of the techno-dazzle, the straightforward gauges were a welcome relief. There were two facelifts along the way, but unless you really know what you're looking at, they're unremarkable.

It only turns left - no rights!

MSRP (WD40!!!) ranged from $15.5K for a 1988 base LS model all the way up to around $19K for a 1997 XR-7. That's notably not much of an increase in price over a time span like that. Sales slowly slipped away, from a record high in 1989 of 97,246 down to 35,267 cars in the final year. Still not bad, especially considering the other two cars in the mix (Mark VIII and T-bird) adding to the corporate bottom dollar. It's interesting to note that while the T-bird and Cougar were built in the same plant, the Lincoln was built elsewhere.

Once again, several special editions were created, including 25th and 30th Anniversary Editions from the factory. Most if not all were cosmetic upgrades (I use that term loosely here because it's debatable) and some familiar ones returned, including the Blue Max, Night Cat and regional versions like the Bostonian, Coloradian and Houstonian Edition. Don't get too excited by the Predator SS Edition, which was mainly just a body kit slapped on.

Period reviewers noted the excellent overall performance and practicality, ABS, cockpit-adjustable suspension, while being a bit disappointed in the size, dashboard design, difficult three-quarter visibility caused by the large C-pillars and rather poor fuel mileage. Supercharged Cougars could zip 0-60 in 7.4 seconds (Road & Track).

The S/C Cougar is my pick. Since it was only available in 1989 and 1990, it makes it easy to chose it over the naturally aspirated V8s. There are quite a few still around and you can find clean ones if you take your time. While most owners drove them enthusiastically, they also had a tendency to take proper care of them too and these were pretty well-built cars in the first place.

NADA for a 1990 S/C is under $2.4K. Forget finding a good one at that price. There were none for sale on eBay and Hemmings (S/C or otherwise) as of this writing. Here's a pristine example with only 10K miles on it that sold for somewhere around $10K back in 2013. That's high, but probably right on for a car of that condition. I'd think that somewhere around $5-$6K would net you a great one with more miles on it. For example, here's a 1990 5-speed S/C XR-7 with only 75K miles on it that looks like it could use a little touch-up while you drive the catsuit off of it for just $3.8K.

Photos: Craigslist

 

Meeow!