1990s
Published on November 11th, 2019 |
by BajaBusta
1992: Farewell Probe, It’s Cougar By Mazda
By the early-1990s, Ford engineers had completed design work on the third generation of the Ford Probe. Intended for a 1998 model year launch, it was still planned to be part of the Mazda/Ford Flat Rock partnership, and was to also include the next Mercury Cougar. At the end of the 1997 model year, Ford announced a major streamlining of its coupe offerings, with Ford discontinuing the Thunderbird and Probe; Lincoln-Mercury lost the Cougar and Lincoln Mark VIII (the latter, after 1998). To make room for the updated 1999 Ford Mustang and all-new Ford Escort ZX2, the Contour-based Ford Probe continued into production, with Ford shifting the vehicle to the Lincoln-Mercury Division to adopt the Mercury Cougar name.
The Cougar’s decoupling from the Ford Thunderbird was startling enough, but insiders also said the T-bird would be replaced with a larger, Legend-sized front-wheel-drive coupe that was being developed under the DEW98 program.
1999 Mercury Cougar Test Drive
1999 Mercury Cougar Test Drive
Tags: 1992, Cougar, Mercury, Mercury Cougar, Newsday Tuesday, newsdaytuesday, Old News, Oldnews
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