In Ford's continuing quest to keep the car fresh, the Cougar received a minor freshening for 1991. The car now had a more solid look, thanks to the new trapezoidal waterfall grille and "cat's-eye" headlamps. Ford went back to the look of the 1987-88 Cougars with these new headlamps, as only one bulb was needed now. The front bumper was given two pierced "nostrils" per side to let air in, and they were aligned with the new grille to continue the trapezoidal theme. The hood was now separated from the grille, and the sculpted hood lines were given a more aggressive flare-off toward the windshield. New taillights continued the Mercury bar theme, only now a horizontal "bubble" protruded from the center of each taillight, with the car's nomenclature attached there. And, brand new side trim was installed---it tapered toward the back of the car.

Finally, after over 2 years of work, Ford engineers were able to fit the 5.0 V8 into the new Cougar platform. Surprisingly, the only major revision was the upper intake manifold, with shorter runners to clear the hood, along with new accessory brackets that mounted the pumps and pulleys closer to the block for decreased NVH. Ford wisely used the High Output V8 for this motor, instead of the standard output V8 it had used in the Fox chassis cars. Power was now up to 200 hp even. The V8 was optional, however, as the base engine was still the 140 hp 3.8 V6. The LS model now had a non-speed sensitive feature; the electronic speed assist was still available on the XR7.

The bad news was that the supercharged 3.8 was cancelled for the XR7. It did, however, have the new HO 5.0 standard, and all the features of the previous XR7 were retained (save for the 5-speed transmission), so the XR7 was still a performance model. Visually the XR7 was still monochromatic, with Black and Oxford White continued from the previous year. Bright Red was no longer available; in its place was Electric Red. Fog lamps were integrated into the front bumper lower portion. The letters "XR7 5.0L HO" appeared on the molding directly behind each door.

For the interior, the secondary glove box on the dash was deleted. The XR7 received a new instument cluster, due to the disapperance of the supercharged V6. The LS had a new analog cluster standard, with the digital dash optional. Also, the XR7 style cluster could be optioned when an LS was ordered with the 5.0 V8. The LS lost the bright trim surrounding the dash panel but retained the wood trim. The XR7 continued with its bright silver interior trim. Criticized for the "tacky" look of its chrome dash buttons in the 1989-90 cars, Ford made all switches black instead.

To say that the 1991 Cougar was a shot in the arm to the new MN12 line would be accurate. With new V8 power, more aggressive styling, and a cleaner look all around, the Cougar was already showing signs of maturity.

ENGINES	LS - 3.8 (232 cid) V6; 140 hp @ 3800 rpm; 215 lb-ft torque @ 2400 rpm Optional (standard on XR7) - 5.0 (302 cid) V8; 200 hp @ 4000 rpm; 275 lb-ft torque @ 3000 rpm
TRANSMISSIONS	AOD 4-speed automatic with overdrive
BRAKES	LS - Front 10.9" disc, rear 9.8" drum Optional (standard on XR7) - Front 10.9" disc, rear 10.0" disc with antilock brakes
SPECIFICATIONS	Wheelbase - 113" Overall Length - 199.9" Overall Width - 72.7" Overall Height - 52.7" Cargo Capacity - 14.7 cubic feet Fuel Capacity - 19.0 gallons
CURB WEIGHT	LS - 3587 lb. LS (w/V8) - 3753 lb. XR7 - 3800 lb.
PRODUCTION	GRAND TOTAL (LS & XR7)- 63,822 NOTE: 15.9% of 1991 Cougars (10,146 cars) had the 5.0 V8 option.