The Mercury Cougar began in 1967 as a second FOMOCO entry in the new “pony car” market. It was an upscale version of the Ford Mustang, but its direction would change in the 1970s. Years later, the seventh generation (1989 to 1997) of the Cougar was a personal luxury car like the Ford Thunderbird. The seller’s 1992 Mercury needs a tune-up but could otherwise be a decent driver and/or second car at $4,000 OBO here on craigslist. To see it in person, you’ll need to be near Milwaukie, Oregon.
A trio of cars (Cougar, Thunderbird, and Lincoln’s Mark VIII) was based on Ford’s new MN12 platform. It was developed specifically for their use, with Europe’s best luxury and handling sedans in mind. The Cougar would go through one more design iteration before being retired in 2002 after 35 years as the “Sign of the Cat” at Mercury dealers. When the seller’s car was built, two engines were available: a 3.8-liter V6 or a 4.9-liter V8 (we don’t know which is in play here).
Mercury produced nearly 50,000 Cougars in 1992, so the car was still very popular. This one has 75,000 miles, and the seller has too many automobiles and is starting to purge. Other than needing a tune-up, the seller doesn’t otherwise discuss the mechanical health of this Cougar. Whether it has the V6 or V8, a 4-speed automatic transmission should be along for the ride.
There is no visible rust on this Mercury, and the paint may be okay, though it’s faded quite a bit on the cover over the rear bumper. But the seller says the interior is excellent, and the photos provided support that. This Mercury is priced in cheap-wheels territory, so if it doesn’t need much besides TLC, you might have a solid car for occasional use by family members. Thanks for the tip, “Curvette”.
Its the 3.8L according to carfax
If this were closer I’d give it a look as long as the AC worked. Same color as my 1990 Thunderbird and similar drivetrain.