1987 Cougar

Building upon the previous Cougar’s aero look, Ford gave the big Cat a major overhaul for 1987. The same basic shape and chassis remained but with much more refinement. Most noticeable was the graceful new aerodynamic front end, with flush headlights and turn signal/side markers better filling out the front. The waterfall-type grille was resurrected, and for the first time in quite a while, a Cougar had no hood ornament—the cat head crest now resided in the center of the grille. The front bumper gently rounded down to a much-lower air dam, with a chin cut-out for the grille. All-around flush glass helped cut down on wind noise and give a finished look. The roofline was made slightly longer, and with the highest point just behind the windshield, to help with aerodynamics. The Cougar’s drag coefficient dropped from .40 to .36 as a result.

The 1987 Mercury Cougar was now down to only 2 models: the luxury-oriented LS and the sporty XR-7.

The Cougar’s formal—and controversial—backlight remained, but with a new twist: the back glass now had a double curve, which was very difficult to produce without major optical distortion. The side quarter glass now swept back even more, to inversely match the angle of the door windows. The trunk and rear areas had totally different shapes now, with a higher shoulder and more defined trunk edge. With its more squared-off stance, the Cougar now had a very proportioned shape, visually smoothing out the slight rear awkwardness of the previous car. The new taillights wrapped around further into the rear quarters; integrated reflectors gave a vertical bar look at night. The cat head once again was the backup light, similar to 1983-84 models. C-pillar emblems were slightly smaller now, and the body side molding was now wide between the wheel wells. New rubber splitters surrounded the outside mirrors to help cut down on wind intrusion, and additional weatherstripping inside the doors also helped keep the Cat quiet.

Structurally, the trunk pan was slightly modified to allow the mini-spare tire to sit in a small well on the driver’s side of the trunk. Otherwise, minor bracing was added underneath. The suspension was revised slightly, adding front A-arms borrowed from the rear-drive Lincoln Continental that allowed for a bit more suspension travel. This resulted in a .3″ stretch in the wheelbase (now officially at 104.2″). Spring rates and shocks/struts were also revised for crisper handling. The interior was virtually carried over with the same seating, dash and instrumentation, but new sail panels, molded headliner, door panels and package tray carpeting were ordered. And finally, after several years of promises, Ford finally delivered: the hood received new counterbalanced hinges, meaning the prop rod was gone for good.

For the first time since 1983, the Cougar was now down to only 2 models: the luxury-oriented LS and the sporty XR-7. Marketing again showed that the base GS model was maybe too low-end for the demographics of Cougar buyers, so it was dropped altogether for 1987. Ford continued to market Cougars this way for the next 5 model years.

The only down side to this freshening was a little added weight. Ford graciously addressed some of the NVH issues from the previous body style, and also beefed up the suspension in needed areas, but at the expense of extra heft. A basic LS model with the V6 was still under 3200 lbs. but the V8-powered base XR-7 pushed to nearly 3400 lbs., and either model could easily top 3700 lbs. with all options ordered. The good news is that Ford kept an eye on the weight and made sure that this version of the Cat would not become as portly as some models of the decade before.

Cougar XR-7

The big news for the 1987 Cougar XR-7 was that Ford dropped the previously-offered turbocharged 4-cylinder in favor of the standard output 150hp SEFI 5.0L V8 (which was optional on the LS model as well). Marketing reports suggested that the turbo-4 was not really in keeping with the Cougar’s image or heritage, and the slightly underwhelming torque and performance from that motor in the previous XR-7 was a testimony to the reports. The added torque of the V8 was a welcome addition to the rather portly XR-7 model, even though total horsepower was about the same as the 4-cylinder engine.

The added torque of the V8 was a welcome addition to the XR-7 model.

Also gone was the 5-speed manual transmission, as once again Ford felt that an automatic transmission better fit the image that buyers expected. The standard and only transmission was the 4-speed AOD overdrive transmission.

Out back, the 7.5″ rear axle with Traction-Lok and quad shocks remained standard on the Cougar XR-7. The suspension was essentially a heavy-duty rated version found under the LS, but with higher spring rates.

Visually the XR-7 was set apart from the LS by blacked-out window trim, black door handles, and XR-7 badging on the C-pillars. The XR-7 also had grey lower accents with tri-band striping, similar to previous XR-7 models. A surprising number of exterior colors were available on the XR-7 for this model year.

The rear three-quarter view of the Cougar was now better proportioned, with a slightly more squared-off look and slim, wraparound taillamps that evoked Cougars of old.

The 1987 Cougar XR-7’s interior was very similar to the previous years. Unlike previous XR-7s, though, the door panels were not of the “high series” variety but identical to those found in the LS. It’s unknown why this happened; perhaps it was to save money or complexity or weight. Shown here is an XR-7 with Smoke and Raven leather seats.

The 1987 Cougar XR-7 had a full electronic instrument cluster as standard equipment, with no option for the previously-offered analog cluster. Apparently Ford felt that full digital gauges meant that a car was fully loaded, which is typically what an XR-7 buyer wanted, so the analog cluster took a one-year hiatus. The full electronic cluster was still an option on the LS.

In addition to Smoke, the XR-7’s interior was available in Scarlet, Shadow Blue and, shown below, Sand Beige.