The 1978 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Coupe Was a Perfect Car For a Very Strange Year - Test Drive and Review

SOLD It is hard to believe that the 1978 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Coupe was one of Mercury's most successful cars, selling more than 166K copies. It's a huge personal luxury coupe, with an anemic V8, luxo-barge suspension, and actual opera windows. But to look at it without irony, one has to view it in the context of the times - Personal luxury coupes like the Chrysler Cordoba, Olds Cutlass, and Buick Regal were hot sellers. Leisure suits were in, and disco reigned supreme. An ad for this car from 1978 featured Cheryl Tiegs in a slinky evening dress professing her love for the "Midnight Cat," and imploring buyers to join the "Cat Set." All in all, 1978 was a strange time. Serial killers were running rampant, Space Invaders came out, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Animal House were at the box office, and ABBA and the Bee Gees were on the radio. Charlie Chaplain's remains were stolen and held for ransom, the first test tube baby was made, and Jim Jones encouraged more than 900 people to "drink the kool-aid." And through it all, the Cougar sold like hotcakes. Even those finished in triple green. Full review and test drive by Bill. SOLD

Added 13 May 2026