Can't say I would be surprised if this occured or if a combination of US and Chinese manufacture is employed here with a significant portion of Chrysler's U.S. resources eliminated instead of U.S. operations as a whole.

 

As a previous and current owner of 3 Mustangs (74 Mustang II, 90 5.0 LX convert, 05 GT), 1 previous 82 Capri 5.0 HO and a former Cougar, I'd love to see a new Cougar!

(some chops I've done)

 

The AAR Cuda was a production model which Plymouth scrounged the AAR from Dan Gurneys "All American Racing" team.
The AAR COugar was a racing only Cougar fielded by Gurneys All American Racing.
So in fact both are correct.

 

You guys do make sense with what you are saying to a certain extent but if you guys are right don't you agree ford should just disband Mercury since the entire lineup threatens Ford sales? I dont see how a Cougar would be any different from say the Fusion/Milan Taurus/Sable and so on....

 

I don't get all this talk about Chysler being done or prepairing to be disbanded. chysler has more new product in 08' Than Ford by a long shot. If you look at most segments Chysler is more of an enthusiast brand than Ford. In the compact area i'd take the new avenger over the new focus any day of the week same can be said with the charger over the taurus in full size and the durango over the explorer. Of all the American brands I think Ford is in the worst shape, in big part because they have no b*lls! A cougar from Mercury would be a bold move that this boring manufactuerer needs. While Chysler and GM pour money into their respective SRT and SS divisons Ford sits back and makes boring cars and the few vehicals that do have a following take forever to be upgraded, like the 05' Mustang. Think about it what is really different between a 05 GT with an 08'?

 

COUGAR - Y-E-S! PLEASE!!!! I have always loved the Cougar (have owned 3), well not always - they did make that nasty looking 1980 "Cou-mount" on the fairmont chassis. and then there was that last generation of Mistuwannabe styling

But a retro Cougar, with style (Like the silver one above) and geddyup, oh yea! .
Just make the interior comfortable to drive and give us a TILT wheel!!!

Just please, please don't call it some MXL-KTQ-Z or whatever euro. crap letter type name is pop. today! (You know like the Lincoln lineup) XR-7 is the only combo like that I want to see. And for God's sake don't use the chunky new style Mrec. grill - Whoooft! Make an American car with real style, no cookie cutter pin on any nameplate it don't matter their all UGLY modern crap car! (Modern Mustang excepted of course - exterior anyway, the interior is way uncomfortable to me, looks nice, but don't like to drive one more than about 15 min.). BTW - the cookie cutter Ford Fivehundred listed to the left is the wifes car, bought it 'cause Merc. quit making the Cougar and could not replace her 1991 Cougar LS with a good looking car!

But will they do it - prob. not.

 

Thank you! That foot in my mouth was starting to taste pretty bad!

 

I think that talk is floating around because of Daimler Benz unloading it on the Cereberus group which has a reputation of buying companies and dismantling then selling off their most valuable parts. It's less a passion thing and more a business thing.

A whole lot of Daimler engineering has gone into recent Chrysler products like the Viper V10 and the new HEMI which shared more with Mercedes than Chrysler engineering teams. The new HEMI is not even remotely related to the Hemi's of the 50's and 60's from what I've read.

Losing that engineering could be what people are gloomy about. Everybody remembers the 80's and the humdrum offerings Chrysler was pushing then. Iacocca came along and started selling K cars and mini-vans and suddenly Chrysler was profitable again but boring..I think that's where it's coming from.

I have see a whole lot less Dodge and Chrysler commercials lately too. At least where I live.

 

Chrysler is more of an enthusisast brand than Ford ??? You have got to be joking..First of all, I don't care if the Charger R/T or whatever they call it, provided 600 RWHP..As far as I'm concerned, the former Daimler/Chrysler ruined the Charger, by turning it into a 4 door sedan..Then they turn around and bring back the Magnum, as a freakin station wagon..

The point is..Muscle cars, are supposed to be 2 door sports coupes, and not family oriented sedans/wagons..

Say what you will about Ford, but I'll tell you this..At least they listen to their customers, and thank goodness for that..Otherwise, we would all be driving around in 4 door Mustangs..

And perhaps your sick of the current S-197 ! in which I can't even understand why..Being the fact, that you don't even own one..You really aren't in a position to criticise to begin with..

And it seems, that ever since you began this thread..All we've read about, is how everyone finds the current S-197 so dull, and so boring..

Meanwhile, I haven't read a single complaint from anyone else, other than yourself..And why is it, that you've never complained about your 2003 SVT.Cobra, or 1997 GT as being dull, or boring ? I'll tell you why..it's because you own them..

So just where are all these people, who claim the S-197 is so dull and boring ? As I sure haven't seen them anywhere..

Hell, my Mustang is almost 3 years old, and I still get compliments and the thumbs up, from other motorists almost on a daily basis..

Perhaps, if you had actually owned a S-197..You wouldn't be here criticising the car, in the first place..

Then you make it seem as though the S-197, has been around for over 10 years or something..

Sheez, the car itself.. is only 3 years old, and just going into it's 3rd-4th model year..

As for those alleged other people ! who cares about their opinions.. when all that should really matter.. is your own.

That being said ! learn to be a bit more patient, as the 2010 re-style/re-designed S-197..is just a year away, from this upcoming May/June

Hopefully, will all get to see a preview at the upcoming.. North American International Car Show, in 2 months..

 

Ok, Y'all are gonna jump on me for this but...

That is one great looking car....

With all due respect, however, the first one looks a whole lot like a 69 Camaro....
The front end (from the side), the roofline...

Just my twisted observation...

 

Well your right..The greenhouse is pretty much, a 68-69 Camaro..In fact, when I first looked at the photoshop..There was also a very strong resemblance, to the Camaro concept as well..

 

Honestly Rocky, I don't get why you jump all over what I say. I have never bashed the S197 for being boring, I said the rest of Ford's lineup is. all I am saying is that they are very common now, I will fully admit that they had the same mistake with the pervious generation looking almost identical every year too. If your in the market for a new Mustang why spend $30,000 for an 08' GT is you can buy a low mileage 05' or 06'? Even if the outer appearence is the same they should make some tweaks to give the current GT 20-30 more HP to keep people interested in a brand new Mustang like GM did with the 08' Corvette. On a personal opinion I liked the 99-04 special additions better than the new bullit, Shelby GT... I know that the s197 platform is superior to the sn95 in every way. I will admit that my 97' GT is a slow boring car with decent looks but not a very fun car to drive compaired to the 03' or the 05' for that matter. My major gripe with the GT is I feel its underpowered (F-bodies have been making 320 since 99') I think a Cougar would give Ford fans an alternative to the Mustang. Perhaps thats why I have such an interest in the original cougars too, I like the fact that its not a car that everyone has. Ford listens to their customers? what about SVT? I want my lightning! What about the fan support for bringing European Ford's Falcon stateside or the Euro Focus? Ford should be credited with starting a performance divison of car companys but now SVT doesnt exsist while Chysler and GM have performance versions of basically everything they make. The Trailblazer SS has a vette motor in it! Ford should turn around and use the solid 3V 4.6 from the Mustang and start putting it in other vehicals! And Yes Ford has the most boring car lineup of all the american cars. I think your bias for Ford is so strong you refuse to see what the others offer. You bash the Charger but what is the ford alternative? The slow, boring taurus. As far as Muscle cars go back in the day many of the Muscle cars did offer 4-door varients. The new Charger fits the formula of a muscle car very well it's a powerful, full size car with sporty looks. It may be a 4-door but i'd rather drive the family to church in it compaired to the Taurus. I think the biggest mistake Chysler did was name this awesome RWD sedan the Charger, which can hold it's own against your 05' despite being a large 4-door sedan. It's a beautiful car but all the old Muscle car fans jump all over the name.With the Challenger on the way they have a car to compete with the Mustang and have an SRT version of every other vehical including Trucks (with a Viper V10), SUVs and even little pocket rockets for the youth market. As far as excitiment goes besides the Mustang, Ford has nothing else no Lighning, SVT focus, fusion SHO Taurus.....

 

Mercury is not a luxury line-up, don't think it ever will be. Lincoln is closer, but still doesn't hold a candle to the Infinity/Nissan line-up. Why do you think GM killed Olsmobile. They are reducing their cross line-up competition. The Charger-300 comparison is also flawed. While they are based on the same platform, they are not only entirely different looking (dont even have the same green house), they also compete in different categories. I agree tho, there is some cross competition there also.

You are hitting my point exactly and the point of others who have posted. Mercury's entire line up is nothing other then Ford Rebadges. They are competing with ford. Lincoln moves upscale a little so the cross competition is less. Many have said it, that ford needs to eliminate Mercury much the same way GM killed off Ols.

Now if ford wanted to produce a Sports coupe based off of the S197 platform that was completely redesigned (including Greenhouse) and market it as a luxury coupe to compete with the G37, then that would be fine, but Mercury doesn't fit that discription.

 

not to pour fuel to the fire, but in reality, if he truly doesn't own one, then he is the perfect critic. a critic by definition has to be someone who is not bias. You being and owner counts you out of that category. If I were ford i would listen to him more then a returning customer, because he represents someone that we havent convinced to buy our product. You and I have already been caught. Just my 2 cents.

 

Okay, why would a Cougar (Like that bottom one above) not sell? The Cougar has a following that Ford turned off when they made that last rolling egg on wheels looking style trying to get the younger crowd who were mostly too busy buying the Toy-onda-subitsti-whatevers. Most of the young "Jap-tuners" want a Japanese car to tune and the last Cougar Maz-cury just didn't cross that line for most of them, but it sure did for the traditional Cougar lover's - ergo, the concept went SPLAT.

Cougar used to lead the lineup for Merc. and the market for that type car didn't go away as much as the manufacturers just didn't offer one that worked for the public.

If that bottom car above, (the one without the ugly '69 style swoop in the side panel and door) had a good looking front end (Didn't like the front shot above) a more luxury comfortable interior than Mustang, and the 4.6 3V... SOLD!

There was a reason why you once bought your Mercury AND your Lincoln, "At the sign of the CAT".

My only real complaint about the Charger issue is that front end - "4 section signature" - Looks more to me like a four nostriled pig. As for four doors, well they did do a nice job of making it look good with them and hey, if the Cougar were four door and they did that good a job with it, I still would not mind owning one, and my wife would probably like it better than the Fivehundred she has settled for.

...If only the 3.8 V6 in her 1991 Cougar had just lasted, but it only made it 287,000+ miles....

 

Right on!

I don't own a NEW Mustang either. I rented 3, one in each year '05,'06,'07 and drove each one for a week. I did not buy one because as good as they look outside and as nice as they drive, each was VERY uncomfortable for me to drive, I just did not like the interior layout. Liked the '04 interior when we rented that one, like the new exterior, hopefully Ford will get it right in '09. - Unfortunatly for Ford and myself, it will now be some years before I buy another car 'cause the wife settled for the "Cookie Cutter - Looks like ever other car" Fivehundred. Oh, and we bought it used, so Ford didn't even get our money from it. I can a least drive it, but hate riding in it - What ever happened to power pass. seats? Thay don't even have one avail. - STUPID! Iv'e said it before but am still hoping someday Ford will listen - TILT wheel, TILT wheel, TILT wheel!!!!! The new drop 1/2" column, don't change the angle of the wheel to the driver JUNK is disgusting! - I'll take my chances with the air bag, just give me my T-I-L-T!!! (I know, the Gov. made them do it - but don't go cheap, design a wheel that tilts and keeps the airbag in line with the driver - it could be done).

 

I did the chop in 05 before I saw the Camaro show car. I was doing a tunnel back/notch back/formal roof. Since the Camaro is not a fastback, it would look similar. Same goes for the Challenger BTW.

Interior chop:

 

I agree with getting rid of Mercury (But! they must keep the Mercury girl to put in Ford commercials) but once again I still think the Cougar has a market! Use the same proven platform and a new greenhouse, like the Charger/300 comparison. I think that a Cougar would be a great car in the lineup for people who want a high-end alternative to the Mustang. There are rumors of Chysler bringing back either the "cuda" or "roadrunner" names in the near future. Why couldnt Ford make the "Mercury Cougar by Ford" or even go as far as to call the car a Ford Cougar, Chysler and GM did it with some of their models when Plymouth and Geo were dissolved. In fact all GM vehicals now carry a "GM" sheild somewhere on the car to identify it as a member of the GM car family. Though the Cougar can be based off the Mustang it can have a unique personality like the future Camaro and GTOs. I understand the argument for making such a car as part of Lincoln's lineup but I think the Cougar name has more value than the MKZ or whatever alphebet soup name the next Lincoln coupe is gonna have. I know some will be upset when I say this but Ford did a great job promoting the car's heritage with the 05' launch, they could do the same with the Cougar but not with the Lincoln name.

 

Make mine a 6 speed and we got a deal

 

Mercury is doing OK with the Milan and Mariner. Just OK enough to keep the brand alive. They need to keep THAT GIRL in the commercials! She even made a mention in Parade in the Sunday papers LOL.

The priorities are Ford first, Lincoln second....Mercury later.

I guess that IF there is another Cougar it'll be in 2010 or whenever the next generation Mustang is out.