Interesting commentary.

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Remember the Cougar? Not the oddly-shaped front-wheel drive Cougar of
2000 nor the big-bodied Thunderbird clone, nor even, God forbid, the
huge sedans and wagons wearing "the sign of the cat," but the 1967
original? Motor Trend's Car of the Year was created from the Mustang.
While it shared the Pony Car's platform, it was NOT a
badge-engineering model. Sales of the luxurious new coupe helped to
lead the Blue Oval to some of the most profitable years in the
company's history. Hello? Ford? Anyone home?

It's been a couple of years since the latest generation Mustang hit
the streets. The retro modern two-door is a runaway success, easily
out-selling the nondescript sedans that have become Ford's standard
bearers. At the same time, the Mercury brand languishes, offering
customers nothing more than thinly-disguised Ford sedans and trucks.
It's time, past time, for the new Mercury Cougar. Stretch the new
Mustang platform, drape it with drop-dead gorgeous sheetmetal, stuff it
full of luxury (and a hundred pounds more sound insulation) and there
you have it: a slam dunk sales winner and a halo car for a moribund
brand.

In fact, there's only one way a new Cougar wouldn't work: if Ford
re-sculpts the 'Stang's front and rear, tacks on some brightwork
and badges the Mustang as a Cougar. That Milanese-style product would
dilute the Mustang's appeal AND fail to create a compelling reason
for luxury car buyers to darken Mercury's already dim door. An ersatz
Cougar would drag the brand's street cred even lower-- if such a
thing was possible. No; while a new Cougar would bring glory to a
deeply wounded brand, it must be done right, or not at all.

A Cougar absolutely demands arresting styling. Since Ford's hometown
designers seem singularly incapable of creating anything other than
boring and innocuous cars, why not call in Aston Design Director Marek
Reichman, the man who penned the sublime Aston Martin Rapide? As PETA
and other animal rights activists have made it virtually impossible for
a big cat to work in the ad business, Mercury could make the Brit-born
designer the brand's official spokesman. "Aston Martin elegance
made in America" would be a winning slogan.

Anyone who's been fortunate enough to spend some quality seat time in
a Land Rover, or a top-spec F150, knows that Ford can make great
interiors. To produce a suitably luxurious Cougar, Ford could add
luxury touches to the Mustang's cockpit that aren't available in
the 'Stang: automatic temperature control, twilight sentinel
headlights, memory seats, sat nav and all the other luxury car
necessities. Ford knows exactly how to do all these things, and I'm
sure that they have the hardware on the Lincoln shelf to boot. If the
new Cougar wants a "killer ap," they could even fit it with a
Borg-Warner dual-clutch paddle-shift transmission (a.k.a. Audi's
DSG).

A new Cougar could be Mercury's re-entry into racing. If the Ford
Fusion and a Toyota Camry can be NASCAR racers, surely the Cougar could
be as well. Perhaps LeMans would be a better venue. After all, that's
where Aston Martin made their reputation. If Corvettes and Vipers can
make a credible attempt, surely a Cougar, with the right preparation,
could at least make a showing. The combination of a stunning design and
the hype of a [properly promoted] racing effort would ramp up the
excitement at Mercury dealerships to unseen levels.

Equally important, a "real" Cougar wouldn't be a horrifically
expensive endeavor for the cash-strapped domestic automaker. There's
nothing wrong with the Mustang platform that a little refinement
couldn't cure. Adding the aforementioned four inches to the wheel
base would give the coupe passable rear seat room. The Mustang GT
already has a two-piece driveshaft, so lengthening drive shafts
shouldn't pose a problem. Ford's 4.6-liter, 300-horse, 24-valve V8
would be more than adequate. (The new Shelby GT500 powerplant would be
a bonus.) All the engine really needs is a little more muffler, a
little less intake and a lot more purr. And there's plenty of room at
the new AutoAlliance International assembly plant in Flat Rock,
Michigan to build a "real" Cougar.

If Mercury had a Cougar, it might begin to look like the brand has a
future, instead of simply surviving on life-support from Ford. It's
not a question of whether or not there's a market for a "proper"
American luxury coupe; there are more than enough foreign players in
this niche to prove its potential viability. It's not a question of
money; a new Cougar needn't start from scratch. It's a question of
will. When a brand loses its luster within the Ford Empire, it lacks
champions to snatch back the resources it needs to grow. In car
manufacture as in life, everything either grows or dies. Over to you
Mr. Bill.
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Your thoughts?

Patrick