Sort-of correct. The 1989-1997 cars were the same thing mechanically, electrically, dimensionally and structurally....The only issue I see in your info is that the Tbird and cougar arent the same thing. Tbird is an american ford badged car where as the cougar was mercury badged. In the 80s for certain and I'm pretty sure the early 90s they were different bodies.
The lower half of the interior interchanged. I BELIEVE the rear bumper, the doors and wings are iffy. And possibly the front bumper but not totally sure on that. The upper half of the body where glass is located is completely different...
Negative. 89-97 cougar was still a coupe. A rather ginormous one. However, 2 doors make it a coupe. Sedans in the US have 4 doors.Sort-of correct. The 1989-1997 cars were the same thing mechanically, electrically, dimensionally and structurally.
Cosmetic differences included the hood, front bumper and headlights (they shared fenders and indicator lights, doors and interiors), the trunklid, rear bumper and taillights, but the biggest difference was of course that the Tbird body was coupe whilst the Cougar was sedan, hence the rear side panels, roof and rear glass were different. Much less so than the difference between any three-door and five-door variant of the same car model. I'd bet the complete fronts of the two cars are interchangeable but not the rears.
A very similar relationship existed between the 1983-88 Cougar and Tbird.
OK fair enough; part language, part perception.Negative. 89-97 cougar was still a coupe. A rather ginormous one. However, 2 doors make it a coupe. Sedans in the US have 4 doors.
...The main difference is the back half of the roof line. Even in the 80s the cougar had that straight up verticle rear glass where as the rear glass on the Tbird is more angled.
The cougar and the thunderbird all the way back to the 70's have always been really close. Similar enough some parts interchange. Kinda like I was finding between the Xtype and the cougar. They actually used alot of the same parts. Suspension, interior bits, engine bits definitely. Although they were super close I think there were enough difference that on body panels you had to use cougar with cougar and tbird with tbird. The doors may have been interchangeable. Same goes with the wings. But I think the rest of the bits were far enough off the bolts wouldnt line up directly or there were gaps in fitment.OK fair enough; part language, part perception.
You'll agree that from the front to th 'B'-pillar, apart from styling they are the same?
We have saloon cars over here, that have a trunk/boot lid, whether 2 doors or 4.
We also have hatchbacks with 3 or 5 doors, and longer estates like stationwagons.
Technically 8th-gen Cougar is a 3-door hatchback, but to differentiate it from mundane hatchbacks like the Escort, Focus and Mondeo/Contour we prefer to call our only (Ford) Cougar a coupe, same as its predecessors Probe 2 and Capri, and <Mustang.
So 7th gen Cougar is equivalent to our saloons, though I appreciate it follows on from 1930s Ford coupe ie.
Eliminator (ZZ-Top).
I just thought it's amazing how quickly discussion flipped from useful extra info about DRLs and related project ideas, to the ccomparison between US cars and US-built European cars5 posts moved from 'What have you done to your Cougar TODAY.
I'm far from expert on US cars, for me there are so many that are just slightly wrong in their shape.
Prime example being the Rover 800 coupe was gorgeous, ( It's always been on the list but I've never actually bought one )
The 90s T'bird is the same shape, but wrong. For me the lines just don't quite work.
I accept this is just my opinion and all are welcome to disagree. Maybe if my Dad had gone to USA instead of UK I would hold the opposite point of view and the Rover would be wrong.
Nah, your opinion would probably stay the same I like alot of the european cars better then ours. The US cars yeah we have some awesome ones. I mean the cougar we all know and love was the last of a bloodline that dates all the way back to the 60s. Ford and Chevy have had cars very similar to another of its own brand. For instance Ford had the Ford Thunderbird and its sister car was the Mercury Cougar. Chevrolet had the Chevy Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am. All awesome cars.I'm far from expert on US cars, for me there are so many that are just slightly wrong in their shape.
Prime example being the Rover 800 coupe was gorgeous, ( It's always been on the list but I've never actually bought one )
The 90s T'bird is the same shape, but wrong. For me the lines just don't quite work.
I accept this is just my opinion and all are welcome to disagree. Maybe if my Dad had gone to USA instead of UK I would hold the opposite point of view and the Rover would be wrong.
Prime example being the Rover 800 coupe was gorgeous, ( It's always been on the list but I've never actually bought one )
The 90s T'bird is the same shape, but wrong. For me the lines just don't quite work.
I accept this is just my opinion and all are welcome to disagree. Maybe if my Dad had gone to USA instead of UK I would hold the opposite point of view and the Rover would be wrong.
The Lincoln MK series was always over the top in styling. The MK8 which was fundamentally the Tbird/Cougar but with all the luxuries and tech that Lincoln could throw at it was obviously the 'best' of the coupes, but despite the opulence the Tbird was the one that better pleased the eye (IMO)....In the link it look good, but in the main shot for ebay its just not quite there.
It's a big powerful dramatic shape. then suddenly its got all the curves and rounded edges...