Ford Cougar
No not the Kuga – that’s the current SUV. The Ford Cougar was a coupé, and an attempt to rediscover the appeal that made the Capri such a success. Actually, it was the second attempt – the first had been the Probe, built for nine years between 1989 and 1997, and a sister to the Mazda MX-6 coupé, which itself used the mechanical bits of the Mazda 626 saloon.
The Cougar was effectively the third-generation Probe, and based on the Mondeo saloon – but then again the iconic Capri was based on a Cortina… Like its predecessor, the Cougar was built in America and was front-wheel-drive, which did not endear it to enthusiastic drivers. They didn’t like the sharp new styling treatment either, dubbed New Edge and soon to spread across the Ford line-up. The Cougar lasted just two years on UK sale with reputedly only 12,000 finding owners.
Next page: Not that smart
