Mercury Cougar

Mercury Cougar
Overview
Manufacturer	Mercury (Ford)
Model years	1967–1997 1999–2002
Body and chassis
Class	Pony car (1967–1973) Personal luxury car (1974–1997) Mid-size cars (1977–1979, 1981–1982) Sport compact (1999–2002)
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel drive (1967–1997) Transverse front-engine, front-wheel drive (1999–2002)

The Mercury Cougar is a series of automobiles that was sold by Mercury from 1967 to 2002. The model line is a diverse series of vehicles; though the Cougar nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various stages in its production, the model also was offered as a convertible and a hatchback. During its production as the mid-size Mercury line, the Cougar was also offered as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon.

In production for 34 years across eight generations (skipping the 1998 model year), the Cougar is second only to the Grand Marquis (36 years) in the Mercury line for production longevity. 2,972,784 examples were produced, making it the highest-selling Mercury vehicle. During the 1970s and 1980s, the marketing of the Mercury division was closely associated with the Cougar, with promotional materials advertising Mercury dealers as "The Sign of the Cat" with big cats atop Lincoln-Mercury dealer signs.^[1] Cat-related nameplates were adopted by other Mercury lines, including the Bobcat and Lynx.

During its production, the Cougar was assembled at the Dearborn Assembly Plant (part of the Ford River Rouge Complex) in Dearborn, Michigan from 1967 until 1973, San Jose Assembly (Milpitas, California) from 1968 into early 1969, Lorain Assembly (Lorain, Ohio) from 1974 until 1997, and at Flat Rock Assembly (Flat Rock, Michigan) from 1999 through 2002.