1999-2002 Mercury Cougar

The eighth of nine lives, a new direction and the end of the line…?

2001 Mercury Cougar Zn Edition

1997 Mercury MC2 Concept...near production.

Weirdly, Ford decided to turn away from the tradition of the past 30 years and redesigned the RWD personal luxury coupe into a FWD sport compact, similar to cars like the Acura Integra/RSX. At the time, the thinking had merit; utilize the Ford CDW27 platform that had been so successful in Europe under the Mondeo (Contour/Mystique here in the States) to draw in younger buyers. That’s always been a tough nut to crack for car manufacturers, even when they survey the target audience. What seems like valuable input from the very folks you want to draw into dealerships often results in cars like the Pontiac Aztek. Remember, the same people can’t identify actual talent on television shows that are supposed to find the next big musical star. You get my drift.

There was another motive, too; Ford wanted a replacement for the Ford Probe, which was a surprise hit, especially with female buyers. Outside the States, the Cougar was actually sold with Ford Cougar badges (which lived on overseas until 2004) but here it was always a Mercury, sitting right next to antiquated Grand Marquis sedans in the showrooms.

During the short life of this gen Cougar, Ford enticed the public with several intriguing concepts that included more powerful motors and even AWD. None of the good stuff made it to production, sadly. Instead, we got paint and trim packages, including the 35^th Anniversary Edition (which had an utterly idiotic non-functional hood scoop) and Roush Edition (only 112 of those were produced). There were some minor upgrades in 2001, but once again unless you’re uber observant, they are of little to no consequence. Once again, there were regional special editions that were created by dealerships. And once again, they were none too exciting.

Two engines were available, the 2.0 Zetec DOHC inline-4 with 125 hp and the 2.5 Duratec 24-valve V6 with 170 hp. The MTX-75 5-speed manual transmissions were standard on either engine and the CD4E 4-speed automatic was optional on the V6. Supposedly, there were some very limited I-4/automatic combos produced, but I’ve never been able to track down actual proof. Length shrank to 185 inches (the 1999 Integra was 172.4 inches) and weight went way down to 2,900 pounds. MSRP in 1999 ranged from $16.6K for a 4-banger up to $17.1K for the far more desirable V6. Amazingly, things weren’t much different by the end of the generation run in 2002 with prices being about the same as where they started, with the exception of the addition of a Sport Premium package (which was mainly a leather interior) for an additional $1K.

Unfortunately, Ford forgot to make their snappy new sports compact actually…sporty. Period reviewers noted that even with the V6, power was unexceptional, as was the handling. Visibility out past the C-pillars also served to be somewhat disconcerting and the ergonomics in the cockpit didn’t seem to have been designed with humans in mind (a case of form over function, in this case).

But that wasn’t the biggest problem. I must admit, I’ve had my hands on more 8^th generation Cougar rear bumpers than any car that I can remember since the 70s, pushing them to the side of the hood where we can pop the hood and try to figure out what the heck is wrong NOW. Mechanical and electrical problems were rife…really, really bad. We’re talking Yugo and early 80s Korean car bad. I have spoken to some owners that had positive experiences, but I could count them on one hand while I don’t have enough digits to count the ones that had massive, brand-hating for life, problems. To this day, I know folks who won’t buy a Ford product because of the Euro “New Edge” Cougar.

But if you have a garage full of tools that you like to wield and you’re brave, this gen Cougar isn’t a bad car because parts are still available and it’s a pretty easy car to work on. Just have a backup driver and you’ll be set. Upgrades are a bit more mystical and less straightforward, but as always there’s a rabid online community that can address any issue you may have and help you get to 400 hp with the V6 via forced air. So find a really clean, well taken care of car with full documentation and take advantage of the KBB private party value of $2.1K for a loaded 2002 Xr. Yes, that’s correct; the XR-7 designation was never used again, discarded like an unwanted hairball. Realistically, I’d say that you’re looking at $2.5K to $5K for a nice one with decent miles. There are scads available online.

The eight generation Cougar was an interesting but ultimately failed attempt. Sales in 1999 almost reached 90K, but I think the poor ownership experience and less than exciting driving experience caused many buyers to look elsewhere. By the second year of production, sales had dropped to just under 45, almost half that in 2001 and 2002 saw only 18,321 go out the door. Game over.

But the story doesn't end there...