Mercury another casualty?

Was'nt there some talk on the forum not long ago that Ford was dropping those lines of cars (RWD Cars) ?

 

Like the demise of the models we knew and loved, I think the RWD cars are doomed. The Mustang may hang on but as soon as the sales figures begin to drop it will probably fade away too. I hate what has happened to the American car industry. And don't EVEN get me started as to the reason WHY it happened! IF the Mustang sales would jump after the other RWD cars are gone we COULD see a revival of the RWD's for awhile. These observations are only my own and I hope I'm way wrong.

 

I got to thinking that if they were to ressurect the Cougar, and contracted it out to Opel, they could call it the Krugger.

No? Oh, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time

Yeah, so I am a bit sleep deprived, how did you guess?

 

Nope. I think 2010 is the last year for the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis. The new Ford Police Interceptor is based on the front wheel drive Ford Taurus (with AWD available)

 

Mopar seams to think theirs still room for RWD and I'm not sure why Folks I've talked to DO say that the new Challenger iz ah way better 2door then the new Camero regardless of what the test is tho'. Personally I'd like to see the Couger reborn in it's updated 1968 guise. Loved those sequential tail lites 'n tipup headlites! I ordered a '71 Mach 1 back in the fall of '70 with so many options they ran out of lines on the order form. Bloody thing came to the dealer with a Couger Rimblow steering wheel and they refused to deliver the car 'til it had been replaced with the 'Stang wheel:banghead3: That's when I found out them two came down the same assembly line. Took all of 24 hours to deliver my new 'Stang with the proper Rimblow Wheel. Somebody made a trip to Detroit Ida ordered the Couger but I thought the new nose had been going in the wrong direction I DO still like tipup headlites tho':2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Interesting story about the Cougar. I bought one the first year they came out. I, too, loved the hide-away headlights and sequential tail light blinkers. A buddy and I were heading to a wild party one night in a rather remote area and we noticed a car following us closely down all these back roads. When we finally arrived at the party I went back to the car that had been following us to see what was up. Turns out it was 2 girls that were turned on by those binkers and were following us just to see them go on. I invited them into the party and later ended up marrying one of them.

 

Thats a cool story Fox, and I can relate. My first car is a 67 Cougar (still have it) and it got the most attention ( especially the tail lites) from the girls over all of my friends cars.

 

As a young lad I thought that Cougars were the coolest car out there.
They were like a luxury sports car.

 

Thats how they were marketed Andy. In 67 the biggest mill was the 390 and then in 68 a handfull were made with the side oiler 427 to then be replaced with the 428. The XR7's were full luxury and then there was the rare XR7"G" cougars. There was a" Dan Gurney" dealer instaled option also. Full Leather seats, powere sun roofs, A/C, and many more options that the mustang never got.

Here is a pic of What DID'nt happen, would have been nice IMO


The above pic is a photo shop BUT Ford did make a Prototype exactly like this pic.

 

68 Cougar XR7 "G"

http://www.theclassiccougarnetwork.com/xr7g/

 

Dan Gurney Cougars

 

One of the yards we were at this week said he was going to be getting FOUR Cougars in.
Or was it five? Some guy had a bunch of them apparently.

 

now guys...lets not get to vaklempt over this..

whilst you guys are waxing philisophic over the possible loss of Mercury..
...Im thinking to myself...."who cares??"

Its not like its the 60's !!!.... when Merc actually built a different car than Ford !!
since the late 70's or so...(picturing cars in my mind).....
the differences between the 2 have been negligible
....so....whats the loss???.....everything looks like a 1/2 used bar of soap anyhoo.....

 

I was reading an article in a British American car magazine that the new Taurus Interceptor is going to be of little use to the (Chicago in this case) police, due to the fact that it's a V6 and front-wheel-drive. Evidently, they tried similarly-configured Chevy Impalas some years ago and they couldn't hack it, with disintegrating front ends and automatic transmissions that didn't last five minutes. They decry the dropping of the sturdy Crown Victoria with its RWD and V8 set-up which has an excellent service record with them.
There was a suggestion in the article that GM will be importing a version of the Australian Holden Statesman/Caprice to offer to US police forces. This is RWD, has the 6.2 V8 and a six-speed automatic; specifications which greatly pleased the Chicago Police spokesman. It will even be adapted to have the much-loved column-shift so the police can store their gear between the front seats as they do with the Crown Victoria.

 

Aha! Gotcha! So Cougarize the Wagon!

Take the hideaway headlights from a 1979-81 Fox TBird, the chrome bands behind the rear doors that go over the roof, the T-Roof from that 1979 Capri, and a SVO Mustang Turbo setup. Bucket seats, Cruise, a Console with cupholders and a floor shifter, with one of my Mustang instrument panels. Man! You have to love these Fox-bodied babies!:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

Of course some kind of radar defeater device would be nice too...