Glorious era.
In this new installment of great cars that did not succeed, we find a coupé that arrived at a time when this type of car was widely accepted. The Volvo C70 was a known rival in this segment, not to mention the Mercedes CLK or the Alfa Romeo GTV. The Peugeot 406 Coupé were also popular among those mentioned, leaving our protagonist relieved in the background. This is the story of the Ford Cougar.
Although, the Ford Cougar was born after the retirement of the Ford Probe. The Ford brand wanted to renew this coupe that already had two generations behind it. This model of the oval brand had been well received, a car that managed to give its buyers what they were looking for. But then came the Ford Cougar, which was launched in Europe in 1998 and in the United States in 1999, although it would be marketed there as the Mercury Cougar.
As we said, the brand wanted to launch a new generation of the Probe, but they decided to give this new model a new identity, a coupé based on the Mondeo. The design was inspired by the new “New Edge” style, a language that left the Cougar with smooth, rounded lines. It had large bumpers, bulky protections that strengthened the sporty character of the model.
But despite the efforts of the brand, the Cougar did not work. Unlike the Ford Probe, which had a great number of sales, the Ford Cougar never reached the numbers set by the manufacturer. The units that were sold in Europe finished being manufactured at the Köln plant in Germany, since the first phase of the assembly of the Ford coupé was carried out in the United States. But few, very few would arrive.
The coupé was then available with two different engines, the 2.0 Zetec 16-valve block with 131 hp and 178 Nm of torque, and the 2.5 Duratec 24-valve V6 that offered 170 hp and 220 Nm of torque. Of course, both sent power to the front end, no propulsion. A car that had all the necessary arguments to convince, because its price was also lower than the competition, but it did not succeed.
In the UK it was withdrawn in February 2001 with only 12,000 units sold. Some 18 months later Ford coupés would leave Europe to date. In the United States, its production came to an end in 2002 and it never saw a successor. Coupés, or at least this current of models, gradually ceased to be sold, and only the most premium brands in this segment remained. Something similar happened with the more compact coupes, which would see their end sooner than expected.
