In 1980 the Cougar was smaller, now being based on the Fox platform. This 1982 Mercury Cougar has a smaller price, too: $2,950. The seller has dropped the price and this sure looks like a lot of car for a bit less than three grand. It’s on Craigslist and if the listing goes away the photos and text can be found here. It’s in the Fremont, California area and it sure looks like you could drive it home.
The fifth-generation Cougar and Thunderbird (and Fairmont, Zephyr, etc.) don’t seem to get that much love for some reason. Maybe it’s the slightly-awkward styling, the long overhangs, the bumpers, and short wheelbase, the inset wheels, who knows. I don’t know if there were a lot of early-80s cars that we all went gaga over, were there? At least looking back at that era now. I love a slightly-awkward looking vehicle being a slightly-awkward human and there are a lot of cars that I like from the early-1980s today but I wonder how much of that is wanting to relive those memories and how much is really liking the cars.
Now that’s an overhang! This car looks perfect but it can’t be, there have to be a few issues with it but I sure don’t see any. I don’t see a flaw in the body anywhere and the seller doesn’t say a word about the body of the car at all. I don’t see any rust anywhere and that color looks fantastic. You know that you had several shirts that color and most likely even a pair of pants in the 1980s.
There are no engine photos but they have it listed as being a 6-cylinder so this car must have the 3.8L V6 which for 1982 would have had 112 hp. They say that it “runs strong”. The interior looks good but the carpets could use a deep cleaning as is usually the case, even with our own cars. The steering wheel has a couple of cracks in it but it doesn’t look bad for being 36 years old. Does anyone remember the horn “stalk” on the left side of the steering wheel?! It took a long time to get used to that. There appears to be a pad on the driver’s seat which isn’t a good sign and the passenger seat shows some wear. The seller doesn’t say too much about this car in general but they say that the “Headliner was taken out due to sagging” but there are no photos, and none of the back seat or trunk, either. Sigh.. Are there any fans of these Foxy Cougars? (that didn’t sound right, but you know what I mean)
What a long,slow,sad demise the Cougar name plate endured. The last body style especially sorry.Wasn’t it just a rebadged Probe? This site has taught me so many useful new phrases,one of which was “Crumpet Catcher”,thanks to our British friends for this one. I’m not sure how much was caught with either one of the last two styles. My high school car was a 75 Cougar,jade green,white leather interior. No problem attracting crumpet.
Agree with the demise, but no it wasn’t the same as the Probe. Whole different car.
Last Cougar was CDW27 platform, which was the Ford Contour / Mercury Mystique. The last Probe was a Mazda GE platform.
Yep, I own four (yeah that’s right…I wrote four) of the last generation Cougars–the Cougars based on the Contour/Mystique platform. The last generation only lasted four years (1999 to 2002). All of my four Cougars are stick shift, so I get my kicks.
Oldsmobile did the same thing with the Cutlass nameplate. Watered it down by putting it on all it’s crappiest cars.
Interesting to see a 77 Sportabout selling for 9,995 on the same page as an 82 Cougar selling for $2,950. To appreciate the Cougar you have to squint and try not to see that someone called the Cougar a Cougar. Waste of a nameplate.
If it had a 302. I’d consider the car sold to me for 2200 or so. I couldn’t see myself buying it for more than 2400. Though that is a dream since the car has a crap v6.
Maybe a first car for a new driver. So you know its going to get crashed or dented up. who cares its a ’82 box on wheels.
Who cares? I do.
I am glad to see a clean car for sale in the low 4 digits. I thought those days were over.
If it does have the 3.8 V6 I would avoid it like the plague.
Yawn. 🙄
Those engines were not so hot with low HP compared to today’s V6
Isn’t that just a Grand Marquis with 2 doors cut off? I don’t remember these cars at all.
Nope, the Grand Marquis was based on the Panther platform shared with the Crown Vic, LTD, and Lincoln Town Car, among others. There was, however, a Mercury called the Marquis, based on the Fox platform from 1983-86.
Oh Cougar, you were once so proud, ran with Mustangs, you did, and look what they reduced you to. The only thing worse was the Cougar wagon. This particular car is pretty nice, considering it’s limited appeal. These were good cars, but a mere shred of what the mighty Cougar once was.
I am, as far as I’m aware, the only person in the world who wants a Cougar wagon. And not the LTD based one, but the Fox body based one.
I owned one of these “Fairmont” Cougars. It was a four-door hand-me-down from a relative. At some point (prior to my relative getting her hands on the car) someone had given the car a terrible repaint, so any attempt to retain the car in presentable condition was a money-losing proposition. Thus, I loved this beater. Air conditioning blew ice-cold air, which is rare for a beater. Vinyl rear bench seats worked just fine for hauling firewood. I kept a screwdriver in the glove box and told my friends that if the car breaks down, I would just remove the license plates and abandon it. Eventually gave it away for free to someone who needed cheap transportation.
nope.. sad demise for the cougar
I agree the Cougars and Thunderbirds went soft during this period, but help was on the way. The 1983s were a MAJOR improvement.
https://www.auctiondeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemID=4&acctID=10818
Here’s one for a lot less (at this point) that doesn’t look bad…$525 at the moment.
The cool thing about these is that all the trick aftermarket suspension goodies for the Fox body Mustang bolt right on. If it was a 302, it’d be simple to drop in a built 351 and surprise the hell out of a lot of ” tuner ” drivers……
A couple of years ago there was a Fairmont that made it to the invitational of the Optima Ultimate Street Car challenge @ SEMA. Take off the stickers, and it looked like Granny’s grocery getter.
Yeah…if it were mine, it would be one hell of a sleeper. NIce small block, few brake/suspension upgrades. But nothing noticeable. I’d even keep the hubcaps!
I had forgotten about these cars. I loved the first Cougars, but they got weirder and less pretty over the years. This one is an exception in my book. Another plus for me is here in the Midwest it’s not at all unusual to see a Fairmont of this vintage still cruising around town as a survivor. Some cars of all makes just seem to keep on ticking while others seem to be driving themselves right to the salvage yard. Fairmonts and their stablemates seem to have gotten it right.
Older women that we call cougars are now my age at the most or, gulp, younger than me!? Oh wait, were talking cars here, darn it!
Nothing special about this car here except the fact it is in such good shape. I agree with the above comments on making it the ultimate unsuspecting sleeper with a later 5.0 driveline or even a 347 stroker/Tremec 5 speed, but it seems like a waste of time with so many other cars to choose from for that route. Only the low price is good about it, but what are you really getting in return?🐢
My friends step father had anew one of these, all black and equipped with the V6. one of the most underwhelming cars I ever rode in… but a 351 Windsor and fox body suspension pieces with some big tires but keep the hubcaps and you could have some sleeper fun with this!
I never really noticed until now that it carries almost the same proportions as the Mustang ll coupe, albeit bigger, more squared-off and formal. If I had the means and the money, I’d strongly consider it.
I love this car. I love everything about it. Who cares about power the V6 was reliable and I’d drive this like the blvd cruiser it is. The weirdness of it only makes it more attractive. Certainly better looking than anything made today,
Back in the day, the saying was put a tiger in your tank, I guess, Be happy with a Cougar in your Driveway. By the way the HP for that engine was 88 hp. Grandma could run faster.