Finally, a Cougar With Some Bite
The old Mercury Cougar was an untruth in advertising, the tease of a predatory name and the fib of a feral logo--a jungle cat, fangs unsheathed and slimy, poised to lunge and lunch on something warm and furry.
What we got was Bugs Bunny: a bland coupe that loped, a Ford Thunderbird in a different dress. Same size, same engine, all padded vinyl and plastic bits with the quality heft of picnic ware. And the Cougar went away a year ago without requiem.
The 1999 Mercury Cougar, however, couldn’t be truer to its name and image as something feline and frisky. Styling is cautiously outlandish with sharp edges and creases--Mercury calls it “New Edge”--to offset rounds of a roof line that suggest a passenger cupola. This angular, space-tech look is further dramatized by triangular rear-light lenses, door handles shaped like chromed arrowheads, a grille that’s a grimace and a pair of Heathcliff headlights you wouldn’t want staring you down on Halloween.
The millennium look continues inside the car with fabrics and plastics favoring Kevlar blacks and gunmetal grays. The dashboard and ducts, steering wheel and instrument hood are deeply sloped and well-rounded. A styling line flows from the center console, around the dashboard and through the door panel to provide a sense of encirclement. Rather like a jet fighter cockpit.
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Cougar provides a roomy, comfortable, friendly interior for the driver and front-seat passenger but is a tighter squeeze for back-seat riders. Access--despite a fumble-free release mounted high on the seat back--also presumes an ability to move while in the fetal position. Remember, this is not a family sedan but a compact coupe dedicated to singles and younger couples with an affinity for summer romps along playful roads.
“It’s certainly not a ‘me-too’ car resembling anything else in the Ford line. . . . And [it is] the strongest indication to date of Mercury’s independence from Ford,” says John Clinard, Ford-Lincoln-Mercury’s lead spokesman for the Western region. “The new Cougar is Mercury going after the import market, the Generation X market, with a vehicle that is fun and has flair.”
Much of that flair is in precise handling allowed by a stiff and superior Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique chassis (originating in Europe, where it appears on Ford’s Mondeo) and a firm but absorbent suspension biased toward flat, fast cornering. Fun comes from a 2.5-liter, 170-horsepower V-6 (a milder 125-horsepower four is available on base models), a naughty and noisy exhaust growl and a notchy five-speed (a four-speed automatic is available) that’s as much fun as a barrel-load of Miatas.
And for the larger kitty--with leather, air, 16-inch aluminum wheels, sport seats, anti-lock brakes and an endless list of goodies--expect to pay only $20,000.
Prodding the front-drive Cougar into full snarl during some helmet laps at Willow Springs International Raceway revealed a racy nature and unprotesting mechanicals. Although the car was hopelessly mis-geared for both circuit and purpose, brakes were tolerant of late entry into the tight bits, fourth gear developed 115 mph at the end of the pit straight (with top speed tapping 137 mph in fifth), and the only response to ugly steering and throttle inputs was a mild and quite predictable under-steer.
Flair? You bet. Fun? Absolutely. A Mercury mouse that roars.
