- Retired designer Jack Telnack, the Ford senior executive who fathered the 1980's aero cars (Thunderbird, Cougar, Mark VII, Taurus, Sable, Tempo, Topaz), told his designers to "make something you'd want in your drive" when designing the 1983 Thunderbird/Cougar. He wasn't happy with their original squarish Cougar drawings. They came back with the forms we all know. We all owe it to Jack for approving the shapes of the cars we've grown to love.

- The Mark VII was actually penned before the Thunderbird and Cougar, even though it debuted a year after them, in 1984. It was also FoMoCo's first car with aero halogen headlights. But in case the U.S. government didn't allow them at inspection time, Ford did have an alternative standard sealed-beam quad headlight front end ready to go. The aero headlamps passed, though, and the back-up front ends were destroyed.

- The idea of a true vertical backlight (back window) was the idea of Ford designer Allen Ornes and his assistant at the time, Gary Haas. It provides more headroom for rear passengers than a Thunderbird but also hampers its drag coefficient (.40 for Cougar vs. .35 for the Thunderbird). Its main goal was the maximum differentiation between the two cars. And it worked. They originally wanted a double-reverse curve to the glass, but they had to wait until 1987 to do it because the technology hadn't been perfected yet.

- In 1983, Ford employed the infamous "talking" alert module to the Cougar. It lasted only one model year and was replaced by a normal "dinging" chime in 1984.

- The center of the steering wheel was not hooked to the horns in 1983. Instead the horn button was on the end of the turn signal stalk. Now in 1984 Ford introduced a new A-frame steering wheel with center horn blow (like all traditional cars) but curiously some early '84's still had the turn signal stalk horn feature also. It was possible to have both.

- The dashboards in the 1983-84 cars were largely based upon the dash used in 1980-82 XR7s. Ford didn't have the money to invest in a totally new interior when the car was redone in 1983---that would have to wait until 1985.

- Save for the XR7's and RS models, all '83-'86 Cougars have standard thin side body moldings (and all Thunderbirds had wide moldings).

- None of the 1984 XR7's came with the factory Marchal fog lamps---only the 1985-86 XR7's did. However, 1984 Thunderbird Turbo Coupes did come with them.

- All 1983 and 1984 Cougars had twin bucket seats with a full length console. From 1985-88, standard seats were 60/40 split with a consolette, and the buckets/console were an option on the GS and LS, standard on the XR7. In 1985, the console was shortened up a bit to allow an extra passenger in the back, legally rendering the cars to be approved for 5 passengers instead of the previous 4, with the longer console.

- 1983 was the last year for a stand-up hood ornament for the Cougar. In 1984-86, the emblem was flat above the grille; from 1987 on (including the 1999-2002 model), the emblem resides in the grille itself.

- All 1983 and some early 1984 Cougars had factory white (clear) front turn signal lenses; later 1984's through 1986 had amber lenses.

- The lighted C-pillar ornaments, known as coach lamps, were standard on 1984-86 LS models and were optional on 1983-84 base GS models. They are electroluminescent---the same technology used in neon pinstriping, vertical coach lamps and lots of aftermarket emblems available today.

- The XR7's had their own unique C-pillar ornament from 1984-87. Also, from 1984-86, they had an XR7 hood ornament instead of a cat's-head ornament.

- Save for color choices and the federally-mandated third brake light in the rear window, the 1985 and 1986 models (GS, LS, XR7) were virtually identical. The same can be said for 1987 and 1988 LS models.

- The 1985 model introduced a new grille for the Cougar---a very obviously copied Mercedes-style. Ford wanted a more upscale image for the Cougar so it "borrowed" the lines from the Mercedes' grille for the big Cat. The funny thing is that it somehow worked.

- Until late 1986, there were only factory pop-up sunroofs. It is not believed that any early aero Fox Cougars had a factory power moonroof, even though there is some paperwork showing that it was supposed to go into production in late 1986. The earliest known power moonroofs were found in Cougars built in November 1986 (1987 model year).

- The 1987 20th Anniversary Cougar was the first anniversary car for the Cougar marque. Demand was so strong for it that Ford had to build extra cars to keep up with dealers' order lists. About an extra 1,000 cars were eventually made.

- All the emblems and molding stripes on the 1987 20th Anniversary Cougar are actual 14k gold. The C-pillar emblems are gold cloisonne (metal emblems covered with glass). This was a first for the auto industry. It was also the first (and until now, the only) time that a Cougar was available with Ford's Memory Profile System, allowing adjustments to the seat for 3 different drivers.

- The 1988 model year was the first in many years that the Cougar had standard dual exhaust with the V8.

- The 1988 XR7 was the first year that a Cougar was painted with a monochromatic scheme. This was a very new and fresh idea at the time; the fact that most cars today are basically monochromatic is a testament to Ford's insight. After 1988, the XR7's from 1989-92 were also painted one color to differentiate them from the LS model.

- The 1988 XR7's had color-keyed 15" 16-spoke wheels as standard equipment. There ended up being a total of 5 different colored versions of the rim for the Cougar: white, red, black, argent/silver (optional), and gold (20th Anniversary model). They were the identical rims that were found on 1987-1990 Mustang GT's, only with specific Cougar cat's head centercaps.

- In theory, any Fox chassis dashboard will work in any other Fox car due to the curvature of the windshield.

- Virtually all Fox chassis seats interchange with each other, as they all fit the same Fox seat tracks.

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