What year was the first Mercury Cougar made?

The first Mercury Cougar was made for the 1967 model year. Lincoln-Mercury released the new car on September 30, 1966, ahead of its official model year, and it became one of the division’s most successful nameplates.

The Cougar was developed under Ford’s T-7 project and shared basic underpinnings with the 1967 Ford Mustang. It was not simply a rebadged Mustang, however: Mercury gave it a longer wheelbase, distinctive bodywork, hidden headlamps, sequential taillights, and a more upscale interior. The result blended pony-car performance with some of the comfort associated with a personal-luxury car.

The 1967 Cougar was initially offered only as a two-door hardtop, with standard and XR-7 trims. It won Motor Trend’s 1967 Car of the Year award, the only Mercury vehicle to receive that honor. A frequent confusion is between the car’s release date in late 1966 and its model year: both are accurate historical details, but the first model year was 1967.