1956: Cougar
This is the earliest known use of the Cougar name on a vehicle.

1962: Cougar I
This Cougar I was unveiled at the 1962 Chicago Auto Show.  It had a 102" wheelbase, 406 CID power, and the gullwing doors were electric.

1963: Cougar II
The 1963 Cougar II prototype car was a styling concept to test the waters for a Ford 2-door sporty coupe. The car borrows heavily from the 1963 Corvette...ironic since this was to be a "Corvette Killer" with 427 power. There were two Cougar II prototypes made, both of which still exist. The fastback was loaned to the Petersen Auto Museum in LA several years ago sporting a non-functional 289 engine. The roadster is still at the museum in storage in Michigan.

1970: El Gato
Sporting a bold lime green paint job, El Gato (Spanish for "The Cat") was produced as a styling exercise for a futuristic-looking Cougar. Note the shaved door handles, chopped roof, and ultracool three-spoke 16" wheels with new-at-the-time Goodyear Polyglass radials. To say this Cat was before its time would be a serious understatement.

While the front end merged styling from both the Cougar and the GTO, it still projected an evil stance. Note how the limited flat black striping ends inside the molded-on hood scoop. Also, the front and rear pans were rolled---a very advanced looking feature in an era of chrome bumpers. This was the first ever fastback Cougar.

At the rear, LTD-style taillamps were broken at the left by the racing-style gas filler cap. The square center-exit exhaust tips lended a very unique air to the car. It is not known if El Gato still exists but it's presumed to have been destroyed (standard Ford practice for show vehicles at the time). You can read more information about El Gato here.

1990: Cougar XR7 ASC Convertible
In 1990, Ford commissioned ASC to create this one-off Cougar XR7 convertible. Admittedly Ford did this to test the potential of having a convertible added to the line-up of Cougars. While it would have provided Ford with a much-needed answer to Oldsmobile's Cutlass Supreme convertible, the XR7 convertible probably had way too small of a niche to be feasible.

Minor fender, A-pillar, rear deck and windshield modifications were necessary to create the droptop Cat. Note the modified seat belt pillars (similar to the Pontiac Sunbirds of the era) on the doors. Also, some type of side skirt is evident, perhaps to hide some subframe or other structural reinforcements.

1997: MC2
The MC2, on the surface, was just another concept car from Mercury. However, it was really a thinly disguised front-drive 1999 Cougar. Styling was hailed as "New Edge", a moniker that stuck with the 1999-2002 Cougar. It was almost the anti-aero Cougar: a very strong wedge shape with harsh sculpts instead of rounded edges. In a word, it was truly fresh for its time.

It's been speculated that MC2 stands for Mercury Cougar, Second Generation. Need proof? Check out the grille emblem.

Not only did the MC2 have the nearly identical side sculpting to the production 1999-2002 model, but the rear also made it virtually intact, save for a smoother bumper cover. The triangular door handles survived as well.

The MC2's interior featured plenty of nickel plating and unique shapes. Nothing made it to the production car, though, since a lot of it would be impractical.

A cool feature on the MC2 was its venting glass roof panel (above). While this function's quality would be nearly impossible to create in mass production, it looks absolutely trick on the show car.

Here is the MC4 (left) joining the MC2 (right). The MC4 is a pure Mercury show car of no real relation to the MC2, aside from the New Edge styling. Of note are its smaller side doors that suicide out, similar to the Saturn SC-2. It had been rumored that this feature would be introduced on the front-drive Cougar but that never came to pass.