The last Cougar convertible from this run, a light blue/white '73 XR-7, was the final convertible Ford Motor Company built for over a decade.
Lead trim: Cougar 351 Cleveland V8 two-barrel (166 hp net, 1972) · up to 370 hp
Mercury Cougar1971–1973
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mercury Cougar yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe last Cougar convertible from this run, a light blue/white '73 XR-7, was the final convertible Ford Motor Company built for over a decade.
For 1971 Lincoln-Mercury released the second-generation Cougar (1971–1973): Ford benchmarked its design against the quartet of GM A-body coupes, placing it in competition with the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and again sharing much of its bodyshell with the Ford Mustang the Cougar shifted away from a "plush pony car" toward both sporty and luxury cars (112.1 in wheelbase, 196.7 in long and 199.5 in in 1973, 75.8 in wide, 50.8 in high; hardtop and convertible). The intermediate Mercury Cyclone was integrated into the Montego line and quietly retired during 1972, and the imported Capri (not badged as a Mercury) gave the division a compact sporty car. In the powertrain revision the Cougar dropped the two-barrel 351 Windsor, the Boss 302 and the 428 Cobra Jet: a 351 Cleveland was standard in two-barrel form (240 hp) or optional four-barrel (285 hp), with a 370 hp 429 Cobra Jet (with or without Ram Air) the top option. For 1972 Ford adopted SAE net ratings: the 429 was dropped, leaving three versions of the 351C, a 166 hp two-barrel standard and an optional 262 hp four-barrel Cobra Jet 351 (Q code), plus an optional Cobra-Jet Performance Package producing 266 hp; for 1973 the package became standard on all four-barrel engines, leaving the two-barrel 351C (retuned to 168 hp) and the 264 hp 351CJ. This generation is the final version of the Cougar to share its body with the Mustang.
Collectors Spotted in the Mercury Cougar Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Mercury Cougar yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cougar 351 Cleveland V8 four-barrel (285 hp, 1971) | 1971–1971 | 5.8 L V8 | 285 hp | 370 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 351 Cleveland V8 two-barrel (166 hp net, 1972) | 1972–1972 | 5.8 L V8 | 166 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 351 Cleveland V8 two-barrel (240 hp, 1971) | 1971–1971 | 5.8 L V8 | 240 hp | 350 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 351 Cobra Jet V8 (264 hp, 1973) | 1973–1973 | 5.8 L V8 | 264 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 351 Cobra Jet V8 four-barrel (262 hp net, 1972) | 1972–1972 | 5.8 L V8 | 262 hp | 299 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 429 Cobra Jet V8 (370 hp, 1971) | 1971–1971 | 7.0 L V8 | 370 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This Cougar was never meant to be a Cougar — it started life as the next Ford Probe, and only got rebadged to Mercury after Ford pulled the plug on the Probe nameplate.
Redesigned for 1989, the Cougar's wheelbase grew nine inches to 113 — longer than the Mercedes-Benz 560SEC it was secretly benchmarked against.
This Cougar was a genuine milestone for Ford: the first Ford vehicle ever developed using computer-aided design, helping slash its drag coefficient from a boxy 0.50 to a sleek 0.40.
This Cougar XR-7 was so close to its Thunderbird cousin that only the grille, taillamps, trunklid and exposed headlamps told them apart.
The Cougar's signature "cat's head" emblem debuted right here in 1977 — a badge the model line would keep using for the next 25 years.
Moving upmarket for 1974, the Cougar XR-7 abandoned its unibody for a Torino-based body-on-frame chassis — the only time any Cougar was built that way.
The last Cougar convertible from this run, a light blue/white '73 XR-7, was the final convertible Ford Motor Company built for over a decade.
Want a Boss 302 in your Cougar? You had to buy the Eliminator — Mercury made the engine exclusive to that one trim.
Mercury's GT-E launched with a 427 V8 bolted only to an automatic — the 428 Cobra Jet that replaced it mid-year was the only GT-E engine ever offered with a manual, and just 37 of the 394 GT-Es built got that combination.
In its debut year, the Cougar won the 1967 Motor Trend Car of the Year award — the only time any Mercury-badged car would ever take that honor.
For 1968, Mercury handed a Cougar performance package to Carroll Shelby's own shop to build — the XR7-G, just 619 made, the only time Shelby's name touched a Mercury.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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