The “aero” makeover for the Fox-body Mercury Cougar couldn’t come quick enough. Between 1980 and 1982, the Cougar nameplate was applied to three different forms: the base Cougar was on the Ford Granada body except for the station wagon, which put the Granada-esque nose on a Fairmont station wagon, and the XR-7 was put onto the bodystyle shared with the “Box Bird” Thunderbird. All three were visual disasters…the base Cougar and the wagons were as bland as you could get styling-wise and while the idea of scaling down the successful 1977 Cougar’s styling to the 1980 car wasn’t a bad idea in theory, in practice it left a lot to be desired. For 1983, the Cougar got the Aero treatment and ditched the four-door sedan and wagon variations for the final time, While overall the cars were shaped right and as sorted as a 1980s Ford product could be, the Cougar had one styling kink that always was a sticking point: the quarter glass’s strange upturned shape. 
But whatever…the one thing to focus on is that the Cougar is still a Fox and can still be modified to play like a Fox Mustang. And that brings us to this 1984 Mercury Cougar that we got tipped off to. Some elements, like the hood pin cables and funky cowl hood, we could do without. The build list, which includes a 351 Windsor fitted with an Edelbrock cam and heads package, a Ford Racing World Class T-5 five-speed manual trans with a Centerforce clutch, and a 9-inch out back has our attention fully. Could you live with a funky-shaped quarter window for some of those parts? And what about the Rough Start claim? Yes, all of that falls under budget – the purchase price is $4,500. We’d get the Grand Marquis emblem off of the grille and start hunting for a flat hood for the car ourselves, but overall this Mercury could be a hoot for a decent entrance fee!
Craigslist Link: 1984 Mercury Cougar XR-7
That is one Fugly Fox Body!
What a waste of a drivetrain.
I dig it. I’d toss the deck spoiler but the hood doesn’t bother me, it flows well with the lines IMO. A little TLC and some AC and we’d be in bid’ness!
Swap everything over to a T-bird.
Get rid of all the JC Whitney catalog decorative garbage and turn it back into a stock looking sleeper, maybe some nice wheels but not too over the top. Sleeper!
I don’t hate it…