Mercury Cougar XR-7 (1977-1979)

Mercury
	Mercury Cougar XR-7 (1977)
Cougar XR-7
Production period:	1977-1979
Class :	upper middle class
Body versions :	Coupe
Engines:	; Petrol engines : 4.9–6.6 liters ; (98.5–122 kW)
Length:	5474 mm
Width:	1920 mm
Height:	1336 mm
Wheelbase :	2896 mm
Empty weight :	1897 kg
Previous model	Mercury Cougar XR-7 (1974-1976)
successor	Mercury Cougar XR-7 (1980-1982)

The Mercury Cougar XR-7 built from 1977 to 1979 was a Personal Luxury Coupé offered by the Ford Group's Mercury division . Technically, it was based on Ford's mid-range models, but had a modified design and higher-quality equipment. The Cougar XR-7 was a luxury version of the mid-range Cougar model and also represented the Mercury counterpart to the largely identical Ford Thunderbird .

background

Technically related: Ford Thunderbird ("Torino Birds")

The Mercury Cougar was a model introduced in 1967 that was to be regarded as the Mercury version of the Ford Mustang until 1973 . During this time, the term XR-7 was an addition to the name that denoted one of several equipment versions of the Cougar. With the introduction of the compact Mustang II , the Cougar parted with the development of the Mustang; from 1974 the car was positioned in a higher market segment than personal luxury cars. It received the uniform model designation Cougar XR-7; Cougars without the addition of XR-7 did not exist from 1974 to 1976. Ford's counterpart to the Cougar XR-7 was the Ford Elite , which was a luxury coupe below the big Thunderbird. A Mercury version of the Thunderbird did not exist at the time.

With the downsizing of the Ford Thunderbird carried out for the 1977 model year, a restructuring of the Ford and Mercury model ranges became necessary.

In view of the effects of the oil crisis , the sixth generation Thunderbird , the so-called "Big Birds", proved to be uneconomical; sales of large and heavy cars fell noticeably in the mid-1970s. Ford recognized the need to downsize the next generation Thunderbird and decided to derive the Thunderbird from the mid-range Ford LTD II in the future . The Thunderbird thus became a stylistically modified and significantly better equipped version of the LTD II Coupé. The seventh generation Thunderbird then shrank to the dimensions of the previous Elite and the Mercury Cougar XR-7 in the form produced from 1974 to 1976.

Mercury replaced the Cougar XR-7 in the 1977 model year with a successor with mid-range technology, which thus relied on the same technology as the Ford Thunderbird.

Model history

The Cougar XR-7 from model years 1977 to 1979 was based on the chassis of the Ford LTD II, the second largest model in the Ford program, which was offered as a sedan, coupe and station wagon. Mercury developed its own version of the LTD II, which was given the model name Mercury Cougar. The regular Cougars did not have the suffix XR-7; it was reserved for a particularly high-quality and stylistically modified version of the Cougar Two Door .

technology

Technically, the Cougar XR-7 was identical to the Ford Thunderbird and to the two-door versions of the Cougar and Ford LTD II. They all used a separate box frame , which had already been developed in 1972 for the Ford Torino and its twin Mercury Montego and was adopted largely unchanged for the 1977 models. The front wheels were suspended individually ; at the rear all variants had a rigid axle with leaf springs . Ford presented the use of a box frame in advertising as the best means of filtering out road influences and increasing driving comfort for passengers, while critics pointed out that a vehicle with a separate chassis is above all cheaper to construct and easier to modify. A special feature of the Cougar XR-7, with which it distinguished itself from the Thunderbird, was the standard equipment with four disc brakes.

The Cougar XR-7 was powered by eight-cylinder engines with a displacement of 4.9 and 5.8 liters; In 1977 and 1978 a 6.6 liter eight-cylinder was also available.

body

Front section with classic grille: Mercury Cougar XR-7

The style of the Cougar XR-7 was based on the Cougar Two Door Saloon. The front section, the flanks and the roof were identical on both models. Both vehicles had a vertical, chrome-plated radiator grille, the shape and dimensions of which were reminiscent of a Bentley grill. It was framed by a pair of horizontally arranged, rectangular headlights.

There were stylistic differences between the Cougar Two Door Saloon and the Cougar XR-7 especially in the area of the rear end: While the Cougar Two Door Saloon had narrow horizontal rear lights that corresponded to those of the Ford LTD II, the rear lights of the Cougar XR were 7 arranged vertically. A special feature of the Cougar XR-7 was the trunk lid, which was advertised as the Continental Type Trunk Lid : It contained an angular bulge, the design of which was intended to be reminiscent of the Continental Mark IV and its successor, the Mark V. In the expensive luxury coupes of the Lincoln Mark Series , it was customary to design the trunk lid in such a way that the impression is created as if it were covering a spare wheel attached in a standing position.

The roof over the rear part of the passenger cell was covered with vinyl that either matched the color of the body or was kept in a clear color contrast.

A special equipment variant of the 1979 model year was the Midnight Chamois package. The vehicle was painted black and had a hard top covered with cream-colored vinyl. The stylized spare wheel cover in the trunk lid was also covered with vinyl in the same color. The model for this design was the Diamond Jubilee Edition of the much more expensive Continental Mark V.

Prices

The Cougar XR-7 was $ 5,274 in 1977, $ 5,720 in 1978, and $ 6,430 in 1979. It was between US $ 500 (1977) and US $ 900 (1979) above the regular Cougar Two Door Saloon and was the most expensive version of the Cougar family.

In all three years, the Cougar XR-7 was around US $ 100 more expensive than the base version of the Ford Thunderbird. However, the price of the Thunderbird could almost be doubled in 1978 and 1979 with exclusive equipment packages such as the Town Landau, Diamond Jubilee or Heritage.

production

Within the Cougar family from model years 1977 to 1979, the Cougar XR-7 was by far the most successful variant. In three years, 455,023 copies of the XR-7 were made. There are 115,222 sedans, coupes and station wagons from the regular Cougar series. The production of the Cougar XR-7, however, lagged far behind that of the Ford Thunderbird in the same period.

Comparison of production figures for the Mercury Cougar XR-7 and parallel models
Model year	Mercury Cougar XR-7	Mercury Cougar Two Door	Mercury Cougar Four Door Sedan	Mercury Cougar Wagon	Ford Thunderbird
1977	124,799	14.302	32.202	13,520	318.140
1978	166.508	21,398	25,364	-	352.751
1979	163.716	2,831	5,605	-	284.141
total	455.023	38,531	63.171	13,520	954.032

Technical specifications

	5.0 liter V8	5.8 liter V8	6.6 liter V8
Technical data Mercury Cougar XR-7
construction time	1977-1979		1977-1978
Engine:	Eight-cylinder V-engine
Displacement:	4,942 cc	5,766 cc	6,590 cm³
Bore × stroke:	101.62 x 76.2 mm	101.62 x 88.9 mm	101.6 x 101.6 mm
Performance at 1 / min:	134 hp at 3,400	152 at 3,600	166 at 3,800
Compression:	8.4: 1
Mixture preparation:	Ford twin carburetor
Valve control:	hanging valves side camshaft
Cooling:	Water cooling
Transmission:	Automatic three-speed transmission
Front suspension:	Wishbone coil springs
Rear suspension:	Rigid axle leaf springs
Brakes:	front disc brakes and rear drum brakes
Body:	Box frame steel construction
Wheelbase:	2896 mm
Dimensions (length × width × height):	5474 × 1920 × 1336 mm
Empty weight:	1803 kg	1868 kg	1897 kg
Top speed:	160 km / h	165 km / h	170 km / h
Consumption per 100 km:	18.0 liters	18.8 liters	21.6 liters

literature

Albert R. Bochroch: American Cars of the Seventies . Warne's Transport Library, London 1982. ISBN 0-7232-2870-1 .
Flammang, James M./Kowalke, Ron: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1976-1999 , Krause Publications, Iola 1999. ISBN 0-87341-755-0 .
Gunnell, John: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 , Krause Publications, Iola 2002. ISBN 0-87349-461-X .
Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 .

Web links

Commons : Mercury Cougar - collection of images, videos and audio files

Sales brochure Mercury Cougar with Cougar XR-7 from 1977

Individual evidence

↑ According to current standards, American vehicles were marketed in the 1970s on the basis of their wheelbase: a wheelbase of up to 2,814 mm (111 inches) was a so-called compact car , whereas a wheelbase of up to 3,084 mm was not from an intermediate , d. H. Mid-range vehicle. Cars with longer wheelbases are called full-size cars . See Bochroch, American Cars of the 1970s, p. 4.
↑ See e.g. B. the advertising statements in a sales brochure for the structurally identical LTD II from 1977 .
↑ See Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980, p. 317.
↑ Illustration and description in the sales prospectus from 1979
↑ The Continental Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition was priced at US $ 20,529.
↑ An exception was the station wagon Villager Wagon, which was only offered in 1977, which this year was US $ 600 more expensive than the XR-7.
↑ For prices see Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980, p. 465 f. and 351.
↑ Information from Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980, p. 463 ff.
↑ The technical data was taken from the car catalog No. 22 (1978/79); the engine outputs and speeds in other years deviate slightly from the data given here.

[1] According to current standards, American vehicles were marketed in the 1970s on the basis of their wheelbase: a wheelbase of up to 2,814 mm (111 inches) was a so-called compact car , whereas a wheelbase of up to 3,084 mm was not from an intermediate , d. H. Mid-range vehicle. Cars with longer wheelbases are called full-size cars . See Bochroch, American Cars of the 1970s, p. 4.

[2] See e.g. B. the advertising statements in a sales brochure for the structurally identical LTD II from 1977 .

[3] See Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980, p. 317.

[4] Illustration and description in the sales prospectus from 1979

[5] The Continental Mark V Diamond Jubilee Edition was priced at US $ 20,529.

[6] An exception was the station wagon Villager Wagon, which was only offered in 1977, which this year was US $ 600 more expensive than the XR-7.

[7] For prices see Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980, p. 465 f. and 351.

[8] Information from Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980, p. 463 ff.

[9] The technical data was taken from the car catalog No. 22 (1978/79); the engine outputs and speeds in other years deviate slightly from the data given here.