I sometimes watch the humorous reviews on this channel, and when I saw the title I immediately thought to myself - it only cost $1B to develop the original LS400, and the W140 development cost was also around $1B. The guy actually mentions the Lexus LS400 in his video. Short of corruption and huge bonuses between CEOs and union reps, I just can't see how it was even remotely possible to spend $2B developing such POS. It was more or less a 2 door version of the Grand Marquis, there aren't many original parts on it at all, most everything came from the Ford's parts bin, while the LS400 and W140 were all new and far superior to anything Ford has ever created. It is little wonder Mercury is no more.

Never the less, great review, and interesting retrospect on a car of the bygone era.

 

This isn't even remotely true. The Cougar was on a bespoke platform called MN12 that was developed from the ground up for--and only ever used in--the Cougar, Ford Thunderbird, and Lincoln Mark VIII. It was a unibody platform with 4-wheel independent suspension and disc brakes, while the Grand marquis was body-on-frame with a live rear axle and drums in the rear. Even the engines were different, with the Cougar using either a supercharged 3.8L V6 or the 5.0L V8 from the Mustang GT, while the Grand Marquis had the 4.6L modular V8. The Cougar even had a manual transmission available for the first two years. Short of making the Cougar FWD, it literally could not be any different than the Grand Marquis.

I didn't have a ton of direct contact with the Cougar, but when I was growing up one of my friends' parents had the related Thunderbird LX with the 5.0, and it was a great car. I nearly bought a used Mark VIII for my first car.

 

Bill's style isn't my cup of tea, but I really like the well preserved older cars that he chooses to review. They bring back memories.

 

As far as platforms go, it depends on which Cougar you are talking about. The original Late-60s and Early-70s versions shared a platform with the Mustang. Later versions shared a platform with the Thunderbird. The last Cougar was from the Mondeo/Contour/Mystique platform.

Just opinion, not necessarily fact, but my personal favorite Cougar was the 1970 XR-7. It was nicer than the base models, the sister Cougar Eliminator was too much of a Boy-Racer for something with the Mercury nameplate, and later Cougar models were compromised in materials, engine-drivability, and build-quality.

 

The $1B development cost figure is misleading because the Japanese Yen had a very favorable exchange rate back then. That's also how the LS400 was able to significantly undercut the competition in price when it came out.

 

Japanese auto workers, in general, back then, did not make the kind of money workers did in Germany. That also helped Lexus keep production-costs down in relation to the Mercedes S-Class.

 

His channel is my favorite. His off topic tangents and rants are hilarious that I can totally relate to. My better half loves him too and she could care less about cars.

 

Not sure if this was the case back then, but now a lot of R&D cost can be used as a tax credit. That's how a lot of companies make money, but reduce what they have to pay in taxes.

 

It did look very similar to the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, so even if they developed a unibody chassis, the design, powertrains, etc were all shared with other fords. Either way, pathetic effort for $2B.

 

I haven't watched that video yet but I will...but I agree, $2B?!?

 

If the Cougar on original first pic was built on the same platform as Thunderbird of that era (I think like 91-97) then it had a 4.6L V8, not 5.0. I had a 95 Thunderbird and that generation had only 3.8L V6 and 4.6L V8. Btw, driving dynamics of that Thunderbird were horrible.

 

My dad had one of these Mercury Cougars in the late 2000’s. It was solid car but I couldn’t imagine Ford spending so much to build it.

 

Lol, so even if it's completely different, the grilles are similar and they both have rub strips so it's actually the same. Got it. The X3 and the 2-series Gran Coupe are the same car.

But no, the overall vehicle design was not shared in any way with other Fords, there were totally bespoke powertrain options--the 3.8L Supercharged V6 and Mazda-sourced manual transmission were not used in any other Ford cars, ever. So again, more totally unfounded nonsense based solely on a single picture.

I will agree that they definitely did not get their money's worth though.

It was a mid-generational change. The 5.0L was a late-availability option for the first half (89-93) of the generation, the mid-cycle refresh (94-97) switched to the 4.6L.

 

I remember when thse cars were new, as I was there. I liked the earlier ('89-'91)xr 7's , stick or auto either or. Supercharged 38 was pretty smooth. There were a tad on the bigger side, but they handle pretty good for they're weight thou. Have fun dropping the fuel tank for a pump swap thou. Not really a whole lot of issues. I didn't care for the motorized shoulder belts on the early cars. IDK about a 2 billion dollar development costs thou.....'At the sign of the cat''

 

I actually really wanted one of these when I was a teenager.