The 7 Best Years for a Used Mercury Cougar

71973 Mercury Cougar

Good Years

Despite the fact that it was a strong performing vehicle for its time, it provided a very pleasant ride. For the 1971 new year, there really is no longer an option for the modest capacity V8 engine that had been offered in the first edition Cougar, which served to demonstrate that now the Cougar seems to be a more upmarket vehicle than some of its rivals. It was the kind of vehicle that you might look forward to driving on lengthy journeys. It had the extra benefit of having a large trunk that could accommodate a large amount of baggage.

The information has clearly gotten around, and rates for 1971-1973 Cougars have been steadily rising in the latest decades of the vehicle's growing popularity. This Mercury Cougar, which was produced from 1971 to 1973 and had excellent velocity as well as elegance, was the perfect combo.

61972 Mercury Cougar

Good Years

There were two body styles for the Cougar: a 2-door sedan and a 2-door retractable. The GT was really only available for purchase well during 1971 and 1972 vehicle season cycles. Although it seemed strange at the time that a vehicle with such a conventional front-end could have such a revolutionary rear layout, Mercury architects nevertheless were able to get it done; the appearance was attractive and has held up well over the years. In 1971, Mercury's advertising material described a Cougar XR7 as "a greater luxury sports vehicle" due to its sumptuous inside and external look, which was a result of the XR7's sumptuous structural and decorative look.

The Cougar was only starting its transformation into a vehicle that was pleasant on the freeway and in other driving situations. Especially in the XR7, the imitation wood dash paneling added a sumptuous touch to the Cougar's four huge instruments and general creative arrangement of the console area, which was highly contemporary but elegant. The inside of the Cougar shared many of the same concept designs as the cabin of all 1971-1973 Mustangs, although the Cougar's inside was much more premium in appearance. The inside of the Cougar was of a reasonable size, and it easily accommodated four persons.

51971 Mercury Cougar

Good Years

On the facade, this Cougar presently featured more structured Lincoln design cues, particularly from the front, which featured a hierarchical front bumper, very discernible squared-off edges, particularly where the pay and display lights were located, and a Lincoln-style front braking system, among other things. The eventual result of this transition was the 1971 Cougar, which retained its athletic and very appealing overall look while becoming more formal in its overall design. For the years 1971-1973, the Cougar was also still constructed on the Mustang's chassis.

When such 1971 Cougar debuted flooding the streets, individuals who viewed the back of the automobile must have assumed it was a daring contemporary sports car, because they could see the extremely formal and conventional front aspect of the vehicle. The fascinating element was that Mercury's designing staff offered the Cougar a really handsome yet radical rear-end design, which made for an interesting contrast. It had a fairly futuristic appearance, with a huge chrome bumper and enormous rear taillights, among other features.

The Cougar, on the other hand, featured a longer chassis of 111 inches, compared to the Mustang's wheelbase of 109 inches. The original version of Cougar's concealed headlight front-end innovation, which was very contemporary in appearance, was no longer in use. The center of the Cougar was designed to look like the 1971-1973 Mustang, while the windshield of both the 1971-1973 Mustang convertible was employed, giving the Cougar a dynamic image. The Cougar did not come with the additional fastback windshield that was offered just on 1971-1973 Mustangs.

41970 Mercury Cougar

Best Years

These factory Eliminators were available in only four colors: orange, blue, yellow, and white and they shared many of the external cues that produced this same Dan Gurney XR-7 so appealing, though they were distinguished by Eliminator emblems, smudging, ram-air balaclavas, spoiler warnings, and other brand names in relation to the four-color schemes. In conclusion, the total number of Cougars produced between 1969 and 1970 was 172,412 vehicles. After the triumph of the great Don Nicholson's first and only flipped top hilarious cars called "Eliminator," which made their debut even during 1966 speed track season, initially with a Comet's chassis and subsequently with Cougar bodies, the "Eliminator" moniker was coined. When it comes to the Removers from these years, only 2,411 1969 Eliminators as well, as 2,200 1970 Eliminators had ever been manufactured, according to the NHRA.

31969 Mercury Cougar

Best Years

A GT-bred 390-V8, 428 Cobra Jet or the Boss 302 were available as options. It was one of the numerous engines available for the 1969 Cougar Eliminator, which could be found under the hood. The 351-V8 Windsor through the use of a trapezoidal cylinder head was the basic engine, producing 290 horsepower. In addition, two highly unique Cougar Eliminators were created for racing cars alone and fueled with Boss 429 Hemi V8 for such legendary "Dyno" Don plus his arch motorsports opponent and other Mercury squad driver "Fast Eddie" Schartman, both of whom competed in the same year.

21968 Mercury Cougar

Best Years

These Cougar GTs were equipped with strong 390-V8 motors under chassis, and they were also attractive vehicles. A 427, 390 horsepower V8 or just a 428 Cobra Jet 335 horsepower engine were available inside the 1968 GT-E edition, which is the most sought-after of the GT-E models. Only 264 GT-E cars were ever produced, the vast majority of which were equipped with the 427 engine, however, no official documents exist about the engines used. The 1968 Cougar GTs are even more difficult to come by, with just 11,959 cars produced during those seasons.

Although it is very valuable, it is still considered to be a member of the GT genus. Taking this into consideration, coupled with the fact that such 1968 GT and 1968 elevated GT-E Cougars accounted for just 12,223 Cougars all constructed, these automobiles get an exceedingly uncommon mention in this analysis. However, since I believe the GT-E is a part of something like the GT Cougar world, I do not see it as a separate vehicle and do not categorize it in the same way that I do an L88 Corvette.

11967 Mercury Cougar

Best Years

The Ford Motor Company intended the first edition Mercury Cougar to draw younger shoppers itself into the Lincoln-Mercury dealers, and it succeeded admirably in this endeavor. The first-generation Mercury Cougar, which ran from 1967 to 1970, was a resounding hit. Designed to be a luxury-oriented athletic pony vehicle, it was based just on Ford Mustang's basis but featured its own distinctive appearance. Pony auto sales were in decline by the moment the first model Cougar reached the end of its manufacturing run in the year 2000, particularly for premium pony cars.

Ford also observed that Cougar purchasers, despite the fact that they were still young, inclined to be cleverer than Mustang buyers, would have more discretionary cash, and desired vehicles with more amenities, choices, and luxury goods. High insurance prices, particularly for younger customers, were having a devastating effect on the sales of these high-performance pony cars. As a result, Ford decided to make the Cougar another more upmarket vehicle for the 1971 generation year.