To put the success of the 1977-79 Cougar XR7 in perspective, its sales in 1978-79 exceeded the Cougar’s previous high of 150,893 in its debut year of 1967, which fell to 113,720 in 1968 and 100,060 in 1969. Cougar XR7 sales leaped even higher in 1978-79 while sales of lesser Cougars collapsed, with XR7 sales of 166,508 in 1978 and 163,716 in 1979, and others at only 46,762 in 1978 and 8,436 in 1979. Mercury sold 124,799 Cougar XR7s and 70,024 “regular” Cougars in 1977, with Cougar XR7 sales alone being 50% higher than for the 1976 Cougar. Although none of these choices was especially exciting, whatever was under the hood, on top of it the driver got to look at one of the greatest hood ornaments of all time.Īlthough not widely or well remembered today, the 1977-79 Cougar XR7 was by far the best selling car to bear the Cougar name. In 1979, the 400 was dropped, leaving only the 302 and 351. Under the hood, the base engine in 1977 was a 302 2 barrel with 134 horsepower, with a 351 two barrel with 149 horsepower and a 400 two barrel with 173 horsepower as options. (This photograph is not of the featured car, whose interior was entirely dark green.) The same sport instrument package that included a large speedometer and tachometer and five small dials for fuel and engine monitoring gauges was an option. ![]() The interior of the Cougar XR7 imitated the Thunderbird closely, with the same instrument panels and corporate Ford steering wheel. “Broughamois” has not entered into car lexicon yet (not even in Francophone Canada), having exactly zero Google hits as of 12:00 AM today, but if this option package had become more popular, it might have. Mercury further highlighted the trunk lid hump in 1978-79 with the Midnight/Chamois Decor Option, which covered the hump with Chamois colored padded vinyl and continued the color scheme on the half vinyl roof, wheels, and side moldings, with the interior also in Midnight Blue and Chamois. Obviously derived from the “Continental” simulated spare tire humps on Lincolns, it no doubt seemed to be a good idea to the marketing department, but it said heavy-handedly that the car was trying to be like a Lincoln, but was not quite one. Quite noticeable but also quite questionable was the trapezoidal simulated spare tire hump on the trunk lid, added to rear styling that otherwise was reminiscent of the contemporary Mercury Marquis. A half vinyl roof with simulated louvers at the front edge of the rear opera windows was an XR7-only feature that only the most fanatical car spotters would have noticed. Mercury gave the Cougar XR7 some unique styling details to separate it from the ordinary Cougar coupe, but unlike the Thunderbird’s distinctive basket handle B-pillar, the Cougar XR7’s were barely noticeable from most angles and seem to highlight Mercury’s muddled position among Ford’s divisions more than they identify the car as a distinct product. The Cougar XR7, like the Thunderbird, was the higher positioned personal luxury car version of the Cougar/LTD II. They were Mercury’s version of the Ford LTD II, which similarly took a formerly upmarket name and applied it to a full lineup of ordinary intermediates on the old Torino chassis. Thus in 1977-79 the sedans, coupes, and station wagons formerly badged as Montegos became the Cougar sedan, Cougar coupe, and Cougar Villager. In 1977 Mercury changed the Cougar’s purpose in its model lineup, applying the name to its entire lineup of intermediates and creating a Cougar XR7 with some distinguishing styling features to fill the personal luxury car role of the Thunderbird and the previous generation Cougar. ![]() This sighting of a well preserved example, which I believe is the same car that I saw regularly in the same parking lot over 30 years ago, prompted this look back at a largely forgotten Mercury. The 1977-79 Cougar XR7 shared the chassis, body and most of the styling of the contemporary Thunderbird, differing mostly in lacking the Thunderbird’s most distinctive details, its hidden headlights and basket handle B-pillar with inset opera window.įar removed from the Cougar’s luxury pony car origins in 1967, this mid-size offering of Ford’s middle division suffered from classic middle-child syndrome, which continues to afflict it today, starved for attention among Ford personal luxury cars between the Thunderbird and the top-of-the-line Lincoln Mark V. (first posted ) After a recent week of Ford Thunderbirds with a healthy dose of the intermediate-sized 1977-79 generation, a profile of the Mercury Cougar XR7 of the same years will create feelings of déjà vu.
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