Quick: If it was 1995, what person do you picture as the driver of this car? We’ll let the answer go unsaid, but if you’re like me, you wanted a V8 Cougar in spite of the car’s image.
I went so far as to test drive a few V8 Cougars and Thunderbirds, and I liked them quite a bit more than the concurrent Mustang GT. The Cougar had a more natural driving position than the Mustang, and I liked that it wasn’t viewed as a performance car even though they shared quite a bit of powertrain DNA.
By 1993, all Cougars were XR7s.
For the era, this nose isn’t bad compared to all the ovoid, flavorless dumplings being produced at the time–I like crisp lines and a bit of starch in my shirts.
Though I never had a Cougar or T-Bird on the highway long enough to verify it, I always imagined these would be a good highway tourer, and I do know they handled decently around town. However, I found ride comfort to be poor, and while the body felt tight enough, I always got the sense that the all-independent MN12 suspension was not as well-designed in practice as it looked on paper.
It's a pity the only illuminated parts of this huge expanse of red plastic are the outermost corners.
In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t buy one, but I still wonder what owning one for a while would’ve been like. The typical transmission issues of this era’s Ford products are enough to keep me from getting too interested now, even for the tiny prices these bring today.
I’ll close in saying the 60-year-old woman who still owns this car has quit driving it in favor of a 2000-ish Buick Century that her father left her.
I guess she didn’t like the ride either.
I always thought the upright roofline on the Cougar looked ridiculous; the phony 6-series look of MN-12 Thunderbird works much better.
Also, I never noticed this before, but the short dash-to-axle ratio and substantial overhang makes the car look like it has front wheel drive. What gives?
Yeah, that front axle could be kicked out there a couple more inches, but go much further and they’d have to raise the hood. The ’89-90 hoods were even lower, I think.
I did like the weird back window, personally.
Lol, I always thought the front-side proportions made them (and the MN-12 T-Bird) look like they were front-wheel-drive too. Glad I’m not the only one! Wasn’t the MKVIII Continental based on this shape too? Its styling I really liked.
Another odd fact is that the wheels on the MN-12 use the same offset as the front wheel drive Taurus/Sable and not other RWD Fords. You can even run Taurus or Windstar wheels on a MN-12.
Either “Car and Driver” or “Road & Track” commented on this. They said something like, “Don’t like the look of the notchback Cougar, neither do we, but the sell more than 2:1 compared to the Thunderbird.”
Much preferred the Thunderbird Super Coupe if we’re talking strictly MN-12s. At least you could get a manual. And I’m a sucker for forced induction, especially since the first Romeo V-8s were weak.
I had a V-8 Cougar XR-7 rental soon after them came out and I liked it in most respects. It felt like a a traditional American Sled, which is not a bad thing at all. But driving the car it seemed obvious Ford were targeting the beehive hair-doo crowd, which had one foot in the grave at the time.
The fuel injected 302 made good power, the AOD sucked and the suspension was way too soft. The traditional no-feel Ford power steering was there and the all independent suspension was wasted on a car that had such soft springs and shocks. The worst part was the seats, which were unbearable after an hour or so.
On the whole, a totally forgettable ride. I would not have remembered it except for today’s article!
Now here is a car that brings back fond memories for me! For such a large car, it drove in a way that defied it’s dimensions. When I was a teen I had the chance to spend a day driving a friends 1991 T-Bird down in FL. It was a six cylinder model. I knew this car was something special when we were heading out to Fort Island beach near Crystal River, a road that has lots of twists and turns. I looked down and we were approaching 90 mph, and you couldn’t tell it, it just hugged the road!
Moving on..When I was 21 I got a job at Sesi L-M. Cougars were everywhere. I drooled everytime one pulled up. I got to drive a lot of them. I came really close to acquiring a 1993 XR7 with the MX Brougham treatment. What a car.
I better stop, I don’t need another car…
I’m a fan of the Cougar roofline more than the T-bird but the suspension and seats of the regular 6 and 8 cylinder cars leaves me wanting. The SuperCoupe and Super Cougar were an improvement.
Ford really tried with the MN12 platform. 4 wheel IRS, 4 wheel disk brakes and a fairly attractive interior after the 94 refresh (earlier interiors were a bit generic).
It’s too bad the whole package wound up being as bulky as it did. It lost the tossability of the Fox chassis cars.
Really, thanks to the aftermarket support of the Fox Mustang, I figure I’d rather get an 87 or 88 Turbo Coupe or XR7 and swap in a 99-01 Cobra IRS to build a really nice grand tourer.
The comments here are a perfect illustration that the ’83-’97 Thunderbird/Cougar were about the only models on which Ford got the Ford/Mercury differentiation right (or did any differentiation at all, really). As soon as the 83’s were introduced I noticed that people who liked the Bird disliked the Cougar, and vice versa. Great, I thought, we’re actually hitting two different markets. And not coincidentally, the Cougar did the best sales-wise against the Bird of any Mercury against its facing Ford model other than the Grand Marquis versus the Crown Vic. Now really, did anyone have a strong preference for a Topaz rather than a Tempo, or a Milan rather than a Fusion? The only thing most Mercuries had was a reputation for higher prices. Totally undeserved, by the way. If a Ford model had three trim/equipment levels, the facing Merc had two, that exactly mimicked the top two Fords in equipment and available options, for within $50 or so of the Ford price.
Ah… if only Ford had learned the T-bird/Cougar lesson and applied it to the other Mercury models, they could have had a brand that had a reason for being.
BTW, I was a T-bird kind of guy in these years. The Cougar looked too GM to me, and I detested the formal roof/vertical rear window look of the GM mid-size coupes of the 80’s.
In a number of cases the Mercury was the better buy. Case in point when my wife decided she didn’t want to be driving the minivan and wanted a SUV we looked at, drove and priced out the Explorer, Mountaineer, and the one I wanted for it’s Marauder 302hp 4.6 the Aviator. Equipped as desired the Explorer was smack dab in the middle of the Aviator’s price range while loading up the Mountaineer with every available option was only $205 more than the base Aviator. For that extra $4500 the Explorer did have the stability and traction control and that was it. Needless to say it was the Mountaineer we took home because I couldn’t see spending $9k for the Marauder engine, Lincoln badges and a year longer warranty. In the case of some of the other cars the Merc often had extra sound deadening insulation like the “hush” panel under the rear shelf that was standard on many Mercs and not available at any price on the comparable Ford.
In regards to this era Cougar I think they pulled off the formal roofline better on the MN’s than on the Foxes but that grille just is flat out bad in my opinion.
My mom actually had a 1990 Thunderbird – it was a base model with 3.8L. Actually a quite durable car, even though it got the snot kicked out of it. T-boned in ’94, rear ended in ’96, gave it to my cousin in ’98 in favor of a 3.8L Mustang.
About the suspension, as far as I can remember, I thought the Mustang had quite a harsh ride compared to the ‘Bird. So maybe in 1990 the suspensions were buttoned down a bit better than later on (as with the Panther cars – rented a 2011 Crown Vic just last week, and it had quite an unsettled ride compared to earlier Panthers I’ve been in).
I still see quite a few of these on the road. Glad there are as many survivors as there are, because even if Ford neglected them and didn’t develop them as much as they should have, this car was still well ahead of its time for a Detroit product, IMO.
A very pretty neighbor (30 or so, I’m old enough to be her Dad, maybe Grandad) who lives down the street had a green Cougar of around that vintage. She kept it in immaculate shape. A couple years ago, she stopped to chat. I was out putsing around with my 76 Royal Monaco. She was driving a new Dodge sedan, maybe a Caliber.
Anyhow, she commented how good my Dodge looked, etc. I asked her about the Cougar. She said she sold it, was still in excellent condition, but she needed something better in snow. I told her I always admired the car, knew it was older, but really nice. We talked a few more minutes. Happily, she always waves when she sees me.
I liked the look of this Cougar better than the fox version. The funky C pillar on the old one never worked for me. So I was in the pro Bird/anti Cougar camp that DonK refers to. I remember reading at the time that the 91 TBird (and probably Cougar too) went way over budget in development, and went through some very late cost cutting that showed up in the interiors. This probably explains the single taillight bulb behind that great expanse of red plastic across the back of the cars.
I have never actually driven one of these. I guess I never paid attention and had always assumed that these were an improvement on the Fox platform, but it appears this is not so. I do not see many of these around in my area any more. These were fairly susceptible to rust in the rockers and lower bodies in the midwest and have not survived in really big numbers. I see more box panthers and Cutlass Cieras than these.
PD projects that ran over budget (and PD projects that resulted in variable costs too high for the car to be profitable) weren’t unknown at Ford in this period. Recall the major cheapening of the Contour/Mystique interior for the ’97 model year. This was because the damned thing was so expensive to build that the variable cost was actually greater than the dealer cost net of incentives. In the ’95 and ’96 model years, Ford actually lost more money the more they built, and the cars were unavailable on A-Plan for ’96.
Virtually every FoMoCo product in my experience got a major cost-whacking in 96 or 97. The Club Wagon van and the Town Car never fully recovered, in my opinion. The Mustang got hit as well. I would imagine that the rest of them did too. Fords from the first half of the 90s were nicely contented cars that were attractive both inside and out. From the second half of the 90s, they made you think that the cars were made by GM and picked up at the rental counter.
The cars also came in way over their initial weight target. They were intended to deliver BMW type driving characteristics, but the weight ballooned up and it affected every aspect of the handling.
If I find a nice ’86 TBird Turbo Coupe, I’m gonna be very tempted………
I always liked this generation of Thunderbird and Cougar, the driver centered cockpit with the stereo angled toward the driver always caught my eye. Never driven one but I’m strongly attracted to the “grand tourer” idea of the loaded models.
I’m guessing the demographic that would have bought these is now buying Premium package Mustangs with heated leather seats and automatic trans.
I would swap the crappy automatic for a built C4 or a manual. That would solve most of the driveline issues.
These cars were heavy though,a 351W/C4 combination would be the ticket.
There is nothing wrong with the trans in these cars they will routinely go 200K w/o touching them. If you change the fluid every 100K or so they can go 300K or more, that can not be said about the C4, a C6 yes.
Awesome post! I special ordered a ’96 Thunderbird brand new in March of ’96. Since the Super Coupe’s last year was in ’95, the SC suspension was now an option for $450 and included a rear spoiler and the 4.6 liter. Mine was black, with the upgraded suspension, and gray leather interior. It remains the only new car I have ever purchased; I was 23 at the time.
Driving it was great. Being a passenger up front stunk due to the angle of the seat cushion. With the SC suspension, it handled great and was awesome on the highway. On any pavement that wasn’t quite smooth, it would shake your kidneys loose.
My T-Bird routinely got 24+ mpg, better than the ’89 Mustang 2.3 I traded.
Mechanically all was well. The MAF sensor began going bad after a few years and kept popping oxygen sensors. The a/c was always weak; one day the wife took it to the Ford dealer where they discovered the system had not been fully charged from the factory.
In ’02 I sold it for a Ford Tortoise, uh, Taurus. I still hang my head in shame over that.
I’ve been lurking this site for months, I was wondering when someone would do an MN12!
Personally, I’ve always been in the Cougar camp. The roofline, even though it evokes brougham, somehow looks more streamlined with the rest of the body than the 83-97 Thunderbird rooflines ever did for me, particularly the ridiculously symmetrical MN12 roofline. The Fox Cars in this style I’m a little more middle of the road on.
Important note regarding the senior car factor is that in 1993 Ford and Mercury began one price shopping the Thunderbird and Cougar and essentially left no performance traits available to the XR7 package. Prior to this the 1989 and 1990 XR7s were clones of the Thunderbird SC from the motor to the tuned suspension and even had the Mazda derived 5 speed. Externally they were devoid of all chrome minus the emblems, everything was body color and used 16″ 7 spoke wheels with 225s. 1991s and 1992s were similar but dropped the blown 3.8 for the 5.0 H.O/AOD.
To really judge the true merits of these cars it takes one of those SCs or early XR7s to do so. The interiors are better equipped with much more comfortable and supportive seats and the handling is very good considering the ~3700lb average weight and skinny tires. Biggest problem is they’re all underpowered. The 3.8 has excellent torque but runs out of breath just as quick as the choked 5.0 and 4.6s to come, and the 3.8 really shouldn’t have even been an option.
Regarding the FWD like proportions, the MN12s lengthened wheelbase and heavily raked windshield are what give them that effect, in reality they’re laid out very similarly to the Fox cars when looked at side by side(they’re actually a tad shorter too)
And yes I am incredibly biased and have an unhealthy love for MN12s 🙂
Nothing unhealthy about MN love!
My brother and I got one of these as a rental once. The guy in the counter initially offered us Mustangs, we were elated. Then he found out from our license that we were under 25. So we get these instead. Oh well…. Not bad as far as transportation go, but Mustangs were legendary… Funny that Mercury Cougars started life as Mustang’s direct sisters, by then they’re completely different kind of car.
I always liked these Cougars–they seemed to represent the ‘Personal Coupe’ finally hitting its logical equilibrium in the ’90s, being neither as grotesquely oversized as ’70s expressions of the genre, nor as apologetically stubby as ’80s ones (’86 Riviera, etc).
I remember putting together a model of a 1990 XR-7 as a kid. I was too excited to paint the parts before gluing them together, so it ended up being all blank white plastic. As I recall, my little brother lit it on fire…
I have owned a fox platform Bird from 86 v8 powered, and the MN-12 Cougar and Bird had 5.0 h.o. in a 93 cat and a 4.6 in a 95 cat and now own a last of the line 97 bird 4.6, it’s hard to go wrong with a Ford v8, it’s not overpowered or underpowered, more like adequate, it handles better than it’s American counterparts of the same time frame, 96 has the best of everything with speed sensitive steering and the refinements in the 4.6 making it identical to the Mustang GT’S engine in every way. It can be upgraded using aftermarket parts from the Mustang and Cobra as well as suspension parts from the SC and Mark VIII, and Cobra of similar time frame can be done to improve what is already there if you have the money and ability. It’s a fun car to build and drive and has no where to go but up, see a lot of Stang’s, but seeing one of these with a body kit, and aftermarket hood all built up, it turns heads all the time and draws conversation, but if your heart ain’t into it, better not attempt it, it is nothing cheap to build or make fast, but is rewarding if you do, can’t buy many car’s with the same potential and difference from the Mustang and probably never will. I love the v8 versions of these cars. Also the automatic transmission on these cars will suprise you if you ad a shift kit and a nice converter to it, out shifts a manual transmission pretty easy. It has a great foundation but few know about it.
I bought a 94 cougar v8 brand new. Loved the styling, interior, and mod v8. Traded it in at about 30k because I couldn’t keep it out of the shop. The worst issue was body integrity – squeaks, groans, rattles. Even the fixed glass windows on the rear sides had to be replaced as they were moving around!
I bought my 1995 Cougar XR-7 new and I am still driving it today. I originally ordered it with just about everything: power seats on both sides.. a sun roof.. upgraded radio with extra speakers.. I had a blue cloth top put on with opera lights.. and blue pin stripes down the sides.
I have looked at new cars.. but I haven’t been able to find anything I like as much as my Cougar. It is super comfortable and rides like a luxury car.. and I can still pass everyone else going up a hill. It only has 87,000 miles and I have kept it in excellent condition.
Before I bought it I drove the Thunderbird as well.. but the Cougar was more comfortable and I liked the body style much better. I didn’t care for the huge slanted back window in the Thunderbird. It let the hot sun beat in.. and it did not lend itself well to having the cloth top put on.. nor did it offer as many optional upgrades.
I get offers all the time from people who want to buy my Cougar.. but what would I replace it with? I have never had a car that didn’t have 8 cylinders and they are getting more and more difficult to find.