This is how the car looked as purchased in May of 1987. Keep in mind that it was only 3 years old at the time. My family had only owned two vehicles at that point, and they knew I'd be needing a car for college, so they did their homework and we settled upon a Cougar or Thunderbird (we'd also considered a Trans Am or Monte Carlo). When we happened upon this beauty at a local Lincoln-Mercury dealership, we knew it was the right car.

Here we are, me and the Cat, on the day I graduated from high school in May 1987 (you might want to note the progression of my hair's growth as time goes on). Believe me, it was every bit as clean as it looks in these photos.

Not long after I bought the car, I did what everyone cool back in those days did---bought a front-end cover (aka the "Bra"). It did look really great against the light blue color, have to admit. Also bought a matching pair of LeBra mirror covers which are pretty rare (yes, I still have them). And I bought a set of TRX rims, found 4 relatively matching tires from salvage yards, and slapped 'em on. Little did I know that the tires were metric, and that they were $120 each at the time. They were decent performers in the dry, but come rain or snow, you'll kill yourself with them.

This is the day I graduated from college in 1992 (obviously I let the hair grow just a wee bit...that's what 12 years of Catholic education will do to ya). The car had undergone a major transformation by this point. I'd added the Xenon ground effects kit, painted the grille body color, removed the front plate, and installed the Marchal factory fog lamps. Also note the homemade smoked headlight covers. The car looked like this until 1992.

In 1992 I went a bit further. I never did like the dark charcoal of the ground effects so I stripped them and repainted them silver, along with the molding. I also painted the mirrors flat silver and sandblasted the chrome to create a flat metallic finish. I made a set of clear headlight covers with the Cougar logo etched on the inside. This was so I didn't have to remove them every time I drove at night. One last touch was an illuminated hood ornament, courtesy of one of the C-pillar coach lamps I found at the boneyard.

Out back I did some more modifications. I swapped in a pair of '85 taillights (had to hack up the taillight panel and wiring harness to do so---NOT recommended). I filled in the reflectors, where the COUGAR and MERCURY letters normally go, and painted the section light blue. Also, I airbrushed the cat head on the backup lights to simulate the 1987-88 taillights, and painted black "laser stripes" (similar to those on the Topaz and Grand Marquis) on the lenses. The MERCURY and COUGAR letters were airbrushed onto the trunklid. While I have to admit that the silver and light blue are very similar to each other, the car got looks nonetheless and I don't regret picking that particular silver. The car looked like this through 1993.

In late 1992 I purchased my black 5.0 coupe and instantly fell in love with the V8 power. The '84 was holding up great but I felt that my future lied with the 5.0. I decided to sell the '84 and the family of a girl I worked with ended up buying it for their youngest daughter. This is the day I sold it.

Here's the view underneath the hood. Nothing special; I merely maintained it and kept it clean.

The interior held up quite well, even after the 6 years I had the car and all my college misadventures. There was one small cigarette burn on the driver's seat, and the stock leather on the steering wheel fell apart, necessitating the dark blue cover you see here. I had installed 2 or 3 radios in the car, countless speakers, and had a set of those cool tiger-striped seat covers. This car ended up being a real experiment for my Cougars to come. I definitely had Cat scratch fever, all because of this blue gem.

UPDATE: I have found another one! See here for the details.