Ford Cougar (Europe)

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Ford Cougar (Europe)
A 1999 Ford Cougar
Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company
Production	1998-2002
Assembly	USA/Germany
Predecessor	Ford Probe
Class	Coupé
Body style(s)	3-door hatchback
Engine(s)	2.0 L Zetec 2.5 L Duratec V6
Transmission(s)	5-speed manual 4-speed automatic (V6 only)
Fuel capacity	60 litres
Related	Ford Puma, Ford Mondeo

The Ford Cougar was a mid-sized coupé car sold in the European market between 1998 and 2002. The car was named after a famous American muscle car from the Ford stable, the Mercury Cougar. It was originally intended to be the third generation Probe, but after a rationalisation of the three coupés available in the United States, the Probe name was dropped in favour of the Cougar.

Contents 1 History 2 Technical 2.1 Mechanical 2.2 Handling 2.3 Extras 2.4 Safety and security 2.5 Colour options 3 Retirement 4 References

[edit] History

The Cougar was Ford's second attempt to reintroduce a sports coupé in Europe, in the same vein as the successful but long-absent Capri – the first attempt having been the Mazda MX-6-based Probe. Just as the Capri had been based on the Cortina, the Cougar was based on the large family car available at the time, the Mondeo. It premiered in December 1998 to mixed reviews, partly due to the then-new and controversial New Edge styling^[1] - a crisp style which was subsequently applied to most of the Ford range. Unlike its famous forebear the Capri, Cougar sales were never brisk, despite good reports of the model as a "driver's car".

Like its (indirect) predecessor, the Ford Probe, the 1998 Cougar was sold and built in the United States in addition to Europe, but in the US it had different branding; in this case being branded as the Mercury Cougar while in Europe it was known as the Ford Cougar.

In the United Kingdom, Ford unveiled the car at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1998.

The television advertisements featured the silver model driven by Dennis Hopper.^[2]

[edit] Technical

[edit] Mechanical

The Cougar came equipped with the 2.0 litre (16v) Zetec and 2.5 litre (24v) Duratec V6 engines with two specification levels, largely equivalent to a Mondeo Ghia (standard) and Ghia X (simply X).^[3] Manual and automatic transmissions were available for the 2.5 model. All variants came with 16" alloy wheels as standard.

The 2.0 litre version had 130bhp as standard, while the 2.5 was rated at 170bhp.^[4]

[edit] Handling

The car has been described by critics as "[putting] its power down effectively and [tackling] twisty roads with confidence."^[5] The standard wheels had 215mm width tyres which greatly contributed towards its cornering abilities.

[edit] Extras

An "X pack" was available on the larger engine, this included leather upholstered & heated front seats with 6 way electric adjustment for the drivers seat and a Ford RDS6000 6-Speaker CD Radio with 6-CD autochanger.^[6]

Available at an extra cost and not included in the "X pack" were heated windscreen, electric tilt and slide sunroof and metallic paint.^[6]

[edit] Safety and security

Standard safety kit includes driver, passenger and side airbags, plus ABS brakes and seat belts that reduce chest injuries. The Cougar is well-protected against theft and break-in due to an engine immobiliser, remote-control central and double locking systems, as well as an alarm.^[7]

[edit] Colour options

Five colours were available in the UK, these were:^[6]

• Ebony black
• Silver frost
• Melina blue (1998-1999 only)
• Amazon green (1998-1999 only)
• Dark tourmaline

[edit] Retirement

When the Mk. 2 Mondeo was replaced with a new Mondeo, the Cougar was dropped in Europe in 2002.^[8] The car's cost and lack of a prestigious badge were amongst the problems; the success of the BMW 3-Series coupe proved there was a market for this kind of car.

After the first two years of production it was reported that only 12,000 units had been sold in the United Kingdom.^[9]

[edit] References