The story of the Mercury Cougar includes even more story spins as well as unanticipated variations than that of practically any kind of various other Detroit vehicle, with succeeding Cougar generations based upon the Ford Mustang (1967-1973), the Ford Torino and/or Thunderbird (1974-1979), various Fox Fords consisting of the Thunderbird (1980-1988), the MN12 Thunderbird/Lincoln Mark VIII (1989-1997), as well as the Ford Mondeo (1999-2002). There were wagon as well as sedan Cougars for short durations, simply to perplex everyone, as well as the rakish XR-7 Cougars often survived various systems from their common non-XR-7 equivalents. I assume the Late Malaise Era Fox XR-7s are amongst the most interesting of the bunch, so I was fairly thrilled to identify this tan-over-gold ’81 in a Denver lawn.
As soon as I struck a loads,
I attempted to count the number of screaming-cat badges on as well as in this vehicle as well as offered up.
The guiding wheel, door panels, C columns, facility console, as well as– certainly– the hood accessory all brag snarling felines. Previously Cougars had symbols revealing full side views of stalking catamounts, yet the Cougar logo design for the 1980 s revealed just the head.
This vehicle obtained the optional facility console, which I listen to is fairly a rarity.
You needed to pay $174 additional (that’s around $513 in 2020 bucks) for an AM/FM/cassette stereo in the ’81 Cougar, yet a minimum of the cooling was common devices. Think it or otherwise, burglars utilized to take these radios.
Kumpf Lincoln-Mercury still exists in Englewood (as Landmark Lincoln), as well as the yard that now houses this car can be located simply 15 miles up Broadway on the north side of Denver.
The cushioned landau roof covering hasn’t got on so well underneath the intense Colorado sunlight, yet on the whole this vehicle appears extremely strong. Regretfully, just the Mustangs as well as (as soon as in a lengthy while) Fairmonts obtain much love from the Fox Ford crowd nowadays.
3 Mercury “cable wheel” hubcaps as well as one from a Lincoln.
The base engine in the 1981 XR-7 was the “Thriftmaster” 200- cubic-inch (3.3-liter) straight-six, yet extremely couple of XR-7 customers would certainly have avoided monitoring the box for among both optionalWindsor V8s I can not inform if we’re considering the 255- cubic-inch (4.2-liter) variation or the 302- cubic-inch (5.0-liter) one right here, yet real-world motorists could not have actually seen the distinction in between the 120- equine 255 as well as the 130- equine 302, anyhow. The non-XR-7 Fox Cougars had five-speed hands-on transmissions as base devices (which no one desired), yet all 1981 XR-7s had automatics.
Silver-faced determines had a quick duration of trendiness throughout the late 1970 s as well as very early 1980 s, after that went away.
COMPLEXITY!