4th Generation Mercury Cougar proves that SEXY Sells Cars
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- Today we are going to look at the 4th Generation Mercury Cougar. Mercury had a completely different sales approach for the 1977 model year than the rest of Ford Motor Company. Even though this car was pretty much a redesigned LTD II the marketing team at Mercury was going to sell this car using sex appeal. They had Farah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, live Cougars, sexy music, and a deep voiced announcer for their commercial spots. Would this marketing approach work in the late 70’s?
For more Ford related content Subscribe here: www.youtube.co...
Find me on Facebook @ / rallynorthamericateamd...
Twitter @ / racertci
Or Instagram which I rarely check. / tonysfordsandmustangs
Never be in the dark! Get an Odelfi Head Lamp! Use the link and enter the code TonysFords to save 10% off your order
odelfi.com/?re...
Thanks for watching and a HUGE thank you to my subscribers. It's nice when someone appreciates your work!
When I was a teenager back in the 1970s a friend of mine's dad owned the local Lincoln/Mercury dealership. They always had the new cars to drive and these Cougars were one of the cars they had available. His dad seemed to like the Colony Park station wagons and they had a few of those in their driveway over the years.
Fun Fact: Jason Priestley's character, Brandon Walsh, drove a brown 1979 Mercury Cougar during the 1st season of Beverly Hills, 90210. He also drove a brown Chevy Chevette in the pilot episode. In the 2nd season, he switched to a beige 1965 Mustang convertible and was his ride for many seasons after. He then switched to a black SN95 Mustang GT convertible in later seasons.
My brother and I had twin Cougars. His was a 78 XR-7 with a 351w. Mine was a 79 XR-7 with a 302. For their length the back seat and trunk were tiny. Before he finally junked his I pulled the 351w and it lives on in my 66 Comet with AFR heads.
The two-door is still quite attractive, like its Thunderbird companion.
I liked this generation of Cougar and LTD II. They looked nice and I liked the over assisted power steering and power brakes. I don’t care about “road feel”. The station wagons only lasted for the 1977 model year. I guess people bought more of the full size wagons. The aluminum turbine spoke wheels are my favorite.
the disco cougar
Oh man!!! Thank you for this video! I absolutely loved my 1978 Mercury Cougar XR7. Me and my brother took the 351 Windsor out, and put a 429 thunder jet in it, and put 3.70 to 1 rear gears in the 9-in Ford rear end, and I drove that thing for 5 years like that!
That is awesome! Thank you for watching!
@@TonysFordsandMustangs You make some great videos sir. I love your channel.
@@jaydawg4065 Thank you very much! It's comments like yours that keep me going.
My dad has the 2 door version, but it had the more basic vertical tail lights from the sedan…it was a more basic 2 door, like the LTD II.
Find memories of that car. Great video!
Thank you for watching!
They are a sharp looking car.
Was a good looking car long wide good looking I just remember no power and cooling problems. Tony thank you very much for this video. I look forward to your next. You do an excellent job and I appreciate it.
Thank you very much watching and for the kind words. You memory seems pretty spot on.
Thank you for the video! By and far my favorite generation of Cougars. This was so in time with the era and it was no wonder they did so well.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love it, my first car a 78 xr7 with 351M motor, center console, 8 track stero. It was a boat but I loved it. Thank you !!!
Thank you Jim!
Great video. I loved these Cougars, but then I loved most Cougars. I remember when my dad was looking at the Cougar and the T-Bird, I was trying to influence him to buy the Cougar XR-7. I can probably blame Farrah for that! Anyway, he bought the '78 T-Bird Town Landau with the 351. It was also a gorgeous car.
Thanks for sharing!
I really appreciate and enjoy your videos. I have a friend who had a maroon '79 Cougar Brougham 4 dr.
Thank you for the kind words and I am glad to hear you like them!
love them cars.
I enjoyed the video. I appreciate it. I liked the generation of the Cougar. I knew it sold well. I recall many people owned them. I had no idea it was that loaded and the options offered as well. This car was close to the Thunderbird. You could see it. That continued for years to come in the 1980's and 1990's. They did manage to make them look different. I was told this generation Cougar was for people who want a Lincoln but could not afford the car. It fit the bill.
Well said!
@@TonysFordsandMustangs Thank you.
Weren’t there, almost, two Cougars for 1977?
Cougar 4-dr Sedan - LTD companion.
Cougars XR7 2-dr Coupe -
T-Bird companion?
Admittedly, they were all the same platform, but technically, was there a non-XR7 2-dr Sedan to serve as the LTD 2-dr companion?
I never owned a Cougar but I did own a 79 LTD II.
I'll cover the LTD II at some point!
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I'm looking forward to it.
Back in the mid 80's I owned a 78 Cougar XR7 w/the rare "sport package". Loved that car but blew a rod in the 351 after 1 year of owning. I was bummed as I babied that car.
Sorry to hear about your experience. That wasn't the norm back then.
Nice work Tony!! Trying to remember what year Mercury used the symbol with
three vertical lines.
Thank you and the 3 line logo kicked in 1984
@@TonysFordsandMustangs Right on!!! Thanks Tony!!😃
O sorry I was thinking diff cougar LOL
What? A Cougar wagon was available for 77? Never knew that.
Yes it was sort of. It was Montego with a Cougar front end. ;)
Muito lindo!
If anyone is seeing that Splash toilet bowl cleaner ad, I bought it. It doesn't work anywhere as well as it says. You still have to scrub.
I don't control the advertising RUclips rolls during the videos but thanks for the heads up!
Is that to say a “cougar in the back seat” is better than a “trunk monkey”? 😂
I never got why they added the Cougar name to the wagon and sedan for 77. They should have called them restyled Montegos. But hey, they sold so what do I know😅
They wanted to drop the Montego Nameplate but still sell Wagons. So you got a Montego wagon with a Cougar front end.
I think it was about 7500 dollars for the XR 7
Sounds about right.
When comparing the LTD II volumes to the Cougar, don’t you have to throw in the T-Bird volumes on the Ford side?
Not really as the T-bird while on the same platform wasn't the same car. The Cougar was Mercury's LTD II
@@TonysFordsandMustangs , canibalization? Would the T-Bird have eaten into LTD II 2-dr sales? A moot point, I guess.
@@michaeldemarco9950 The T-bird and Cougar both Sold well however they were different cars. Slightly different but different enough. The LTD II and Cougar are almost the same car.
Blech. These cars were totally forgettable. Though if you put one next to a similarly sized/ priced Monaco/Fury, they do actually benefit from squared up styling. The XR7 was peak disco. But the public loved that model - which was essentially a Thunderbird, and actually had a base price $200 above the T-Bird. You can't compare Cougar sales to the LTD II, as the XR7 (Thunderbird) was almost all of it. That said, there is a loaded Villager wagon that comes out to a local car show I wouldn't mind having just for its relative rarity. White with brown 'super soft vinyl' split bench. I think it even has the 400.
While not my favorite either they have their fans and they are reminiscent of times for sure.