Car produced by
Ford subsidiary Mercury almost continuously from
1967 until
today. The original
Cougars were built on a
Ford Mustang chassis, and proved to be just as
popular as the car they were based on. The early Cougars were popular for various cool features such as its flip-out
headlights and sequential
turn signals (the
brake lights would
flash in sequence outward in the direction of your turn, something found in no other car). The evolution of the Cougar turned it away from
performance and more towards a "
luxury coupe", and it became based on more and more different types of
Fords, from the
Thunderbird to the
Fairmont.
The present-day Cougars are front wheel drive, and have undergone major design changes -- no longer is the Cougar a huge, boxy relic, but a sharp, curvaceous import-eater, and is sort of a spiritual successor to the Ford Probe GT. Powering the Cat is a Zetec 2.0-liter I4 engine producing 120 hp, but the preferred engine is a 2.5-liter Duratec V6 with a respectable 170 hp. Though a far cry from the 429 Cobra Jets of yore, it's still quite enough to give most of the imports a run for their money.
In the United States at least, the Cougar has been discontinued. It is still selling as the Ford Cougar in Europe and Australia.