Both models were available in a convertible as well as a hard top.īut the turn away from performance and toward luxury did not help sales in 1972, and production fell 14.57 percent from the previous year to 53,702. The XR-7 model added the aforementioned leather seats, a vinyl roof and remote-control driver’s side mirror, among other things. Standard features now included high-back bucket seats, a mini-console, racing mirrors, a two-spoke steering wheel, and interior courtesy lights. The CJ engine did not offer the three-speed manual.Īs it had been since its introduction in 1967, the Cougar was offered in two models, the base and the XR-7, which upgraded the luxury of the standard features.
The first two were available in a three-speed manual transmission, a four-speed manual transmission and an automatic transmission. The first 4-barrel version of the engine produced 262 horsepower, and there was also a 4-barrel CJ version of the engine that produced 266 horsepower. That number represents the net horsepower rating and not the gross, which had been reported up until new government regulations intervened in 1972.
The standard engine was a 2-barrel version that produced 163 horsepower. Throughout the course of the model year, there were actually three versions of the 351 V8 engine to choose from. By 1972, interest in the pony car class was already significantly waning, and Mercury used the opportunity to quietly prepare the Cougar for its next incarnation, which focused on luxury and not performance. The 1971 restyle that made the car larger already was pushing it toward a mid-sized personal luxury car class that included the Chevy Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix, and away from the pony car class where it had started. While it can be said that 1972 was basically a carryover year for the Cougar, the absence of the 429 CID V8 tells a lot about where Cougar is headed.