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.
Median 138 hp across 74 similar cars
Lead trim: Cougar 302 cu in V8 (134 hp, 1977) · up to 173 hp
Mercury Cougar / Cougar XR-71977–1979
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mercury Cougar / Cougar XR-7 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 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.
For 1977 Lincoln-Mercury released the fourth-generation Cougar (1977–1979) in two versions: the standard Cougar replaced the Mercury Montego intermediate range (matching the Ford LTD II) and added three more body styles (a two-door coupe, a four-door sedan and a five-door station wagon), while the XR-7 remained the personal luxury coupe, now the direct Mercury equivalent of the Ford Thunderbird. The increased number of body styles and market segments made these Cougars more popular than any since its 1967 debut. Wheelbase 114.0 in for the coupe and 118 in for the sedan and wagon (215.5 in, 219.5 in and 223.1 in long; 75.2 in wide, 52.6 in high). The powertrain was revised largely in the interest of fuel economy: the 460 was withdrawn from Torino-chassis intermediates, leaving a 173 hp 400 cubic-inch V8 as the highest-displacement engine; for non-XR-7 Cougars the standard engine was the 302 cu in (4.9 L) V8 producing 134 hp (the first version of the engine since 1970), station wagons received a standard 351W V8 (149 hp) and a 161 hp 351M V8 was offered as an option in coupes and sedans, all with a 3-speed automatic.
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
4 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 302 cu in V8 (134 hp, 1977) | 1977–1977 | 4.9 L V8 | 134 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 351M V8 (161 hp, 1977 option) | 1977–1977 | 5.8 L V8 | 161 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar 400 cu in V8 (173 hp, 1977) | 1977–1977 | 6.6 L V8 | 173 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cougar wagon 351W V8 (149 hp, 1977) | 1977–1977 | 5.8 L V8 | 149 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Cougar 302 cu in V8 (134 hp, 1977) trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
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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