Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

Early into the designing stages, it was decided to further differentiate the Cougar from the Thunderbird. Since the Cougar's controversial formal roofline was so successful, designers decided to keep it, and give the T-Bird an even more swept back back window than the Fox T-Bird. Also, since profit margins were higher, the two cars now did not have to share front and rear bumpers, headlight configurations, or hoods. The Cougar was also to retain a grille (while the T-Bird went grille-less), and the vertical bar theme in the taillights that started with the 1987 Cougar went a little further, with Mercury's signature black faded-bar look of the late-80's. The "C"-pillar window was now squared off. The flanks were more slab-sided, with a tasteful body line running along the bottom section of the car. The short deck, long hood look also carried over. The rear taillight section gently curved around now. The cowl height was significantly decreased as well, resulting in greater sight from the windshield. Visually, the sqaured off corners allowed the car to look much bigger than it actually was, and helped keep the Cougar's formal-looking shape.

The MN-12 chassis was stretched significantly to accomodate a larger rear seating area--from 104.2" (Fox Cougar) to an even 113". This extra 9" went primarily into rear leg room. The aforementioned independent rear suspension was the highlight of the car. In front, a new short/long arm suspension with modified MacPherson struts was in order. The whole underside of the car was carefully designed for the smallest possible driveshaft tunnel, and precise routing of the exhaust system, for an almost totally flat underside, minimizing aerodynamic lift. One fairly odd feature of the car, as a result, was that the fuel tank has a cutout so that the driveshaft has clearance around it.

Early into the design stages, differentiation of the Cougar from the Thunderbird was addressed. Since the Cougar's controversial formal roofline was so successful, designers decided to continue the theme. The Thunderbird was to include an even more swept back rear window than the prior Fox-Chassis Thunderbird. Also, since profit margins were higher, the two cars now did not have to share front and rear bumpers, headlight configurations, or hoods. The Cougar was to retain a grille while the Thunderbird would go "grille-less". The vertical bar theme in the taillights that started with the 1987 Cougar, went a little further with Mercury's signature black faded-bar look of the late-80's. The "C"-pillar window was now squared off. The flanks were more slab-sided with a tasteful body line running along the bottom section of the car. The short deck, long hood look also carried over. The rear taillight section gently curved around now. The cowl height was significantly decreased as well, resulting in greater sight from the windshield. Visually, the squared off corners allowed the car to look much bigger than it actually was and helped keep the Cougar's formal-looking shape.

The MN-12 chassis was stretched significantly to accommodate a larger rear seating area from the previous 104.2" to an even 113". This extra 9" went primarily into rear leg room. The independent rear suspension was the highlight of the car. In front, a new short and long arm suspension with modified MacPherson struts were in order. The entire underside of the car was carefully designed for the smallest possible driveshaft tunnel and precise routing of the exhaust system, yielding an almost totally flat underside, minimizing aerodynamic lift. As a result, one fairly odd feature of the car was that fuel tank cutout that accommodated the driveshaft.

owever, the deviation from true Cougar origins has left performance enthusiasts knowing the most exciting Cougars ever made were produced from 67-71, 84-86, and 89-90.