When I saw that the 1971 Mercury Cougar was on the cover of the latest Collectible Automobile issue, I was particularly curious about one thing: Did Semon Knudsen have much influence on the car’s huge snout?
Knudsen, a former General Motors executive, reportedly had such a thing for Pontiac-style noses that he championed them on cars such as the 1970 Thunderbird after becoming Ford Motor Company president (Pittenger, 2015).
The article by Paul G. McLaughlin (2024) did not answer my question. However, a handful of photographs dating from September 1968 to June 1969 included Cougar mockups in various stages of development. This was within the relatively short time period Knudsen headed Ford — from February 1968 to September 1969 (Wikipedia, 2024).
Early Cougar mockups looked less ponderous
The earliest clay mockups pictured in Collectible Automobile had most of the production Cougar’s basic shape but sported a somewhat less ponderous front and rear. The fascia arguably looked better — kind of like a 1972 Montego. The center grille was smaller and more squared-off than the production Cougar while the bumper was thinner and better integrated with the body.
The earliest mockups also had side styling with a greater family resemblance to previous Cougars. For example, wheel cutouts had more aggressive blisters and a lower-body character line tilted upward similarly to the 1967-68 models. That gave the car a lighter, sportier look.
In contrast, the latest mockup appeared to be production ready except for some weird experimentation with striping and paint schemes. This suggests that the car’s design was finalized before Knudsen was fired.
(Indie Auto respects copyright law so you will need find the October 2024 Collectible Automobile issue to see the images. I would encourage everyone to subscribe to this magazine despite Indie Auto’s disagreements with it.)
McLaughlin was oblique in his criticisms of the Cougar’s new front end, noting that the bumper was “heavier looking” and that the “upright protruding grille that recalled the contemporary Continental Mark III” suggested that the Cougar “was on its way to becoming a Thunderbird” (2024, p. 12).
Others have been less charitable. For example, Brake For It (2024) called this Cougar one of the ugliest cars of the 1960s and 1970s, concluding that it was an “absolute disaster in terms of design.” Edmonds (2024) went a step further by calling the 1971 Cougar one of the 100 ugliest cars of all time. “The once nimble Cougar bloats up into an overstyled mess.”
Indie Auto has previously been critical of the Cougar’s 1971 redesign — with a strong objection from one reader.
What were the internal politics of the Cougar’s styling?
Why was the Montego-style fascia of the earlier mockups ditched in favor of an ungainly waterfall grille and cow-catcher bumper?
Did Knudsen insist on those changes? If so, had it been opposed by Lee Iacocca, a vice president who quarreled with him about styling to such a degree that head designer Eugene Bordinat Jr. reportedly prepared “different clay models for each to see, and neither saw the clay models prepared for the other. Bordinat was usually able to meld the competing proposals into a design everyone finally approved but it wasn’t always easy” (Farrell, 2014; p. 82)?
Jim and Cheryl Farrell wrote that the “last straw” for Knudsen was when he “usurped another of [Henry Ford II’s] prerogatives and signed off on an entire year’s production” (2014; p. 82). Was that the 1971 models — including the Cougar? Or was that the 1972 models? Knudsen reportedly played a major role in the design direction of the 1972 LIncoln Continental Mark IV (go here for further discussion).
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Brake For It; 2024. “The Ugliest Cars Of The 60s And 70s.” Accessed Aug. 5.
- Edmonds; 2024. “100 Ugliest Cars of All Time.” Accessed Aug. 5.
- Farrell, Jim and Cheryl; 2014. “Eugene Bordinat Jr.: Durable Design Executive.” Collectible Automobile. October: pp. 76-83.
- McLaughlin, Paul G.; 2024. “1971-72 Mercury Cougar Finding Its Place.” Collectible Automobile. October issue: pp. 8-17.
- Pittinger, Donald; 2015. “Bunkie Knudsen’s Long-Nose Cars.” Car Style Critic. Posted Dec. 31.
- Wikipedia; 2024. “Semon Knudsen.” Page last edited June 9.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Mercury Cougar (1971)
- oldcarbrochures.org: Mercury Cougar (1971); Mercury Montego (1972)
I wouldn’t call the 1971-73 Cougar “ugly,” let alone one of the worst designs of the 1970s. That Cougar is no beauty queen, but it’s not an ugly car on the order of the 1974-78 AMC Matadors or the 1978 GM A-body two- and four-door fastbacks. Or even the 1978-80 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
I would call it “confused,” as though Ford couldn’t decide whether it was a personal luxury coupe or a pony car. As a result, it sports design details and themes from both types of cars. Interestingly, Motor Trend compared a 1971 Cougar and Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and dinged the car for being neither “fish nor fowl” in that regard. No one doubted the Monte Carlo’s mission (or that of the contemporary Camaro).
Was that confusion related to the internal struggle between Iacocca and Knudsen? I’m guessing that the Cougar was more Knudsen than Iacocca, particularly the front. Interestingly, as noted, the Lincoln Continental Mark IV debuted a year later, and its design had been favored by Knudsen, and styled under the direction of Wes Dahlberg. And it turned out to be a much better design than the one Iacocca championed (which had been designed by Bordinat).
I agree that the Cougar’s biggest difficulty was struggling with a split personality. However, the quality of the styling could have still been better, particularly in front. Your discussion about the Mark IV illustrates how Knudsen could bring a helpful design sensibility to Ford. The problem was that he had a mixed track record, e.g., the 1970 Thunderbird was an evolutionary wrong turn.
The 1970-71 Thunderbird was uglier than the 1971-73 Cougar – not just for the front end, but also the “chopped” greenhouse of the standard hardtop. For that matter, the 1971-73 Ford Mustang is no better than the Cougar, in my view.
As you noted, his track record was decidedly mixed while at Ford.
I be lieve there is credibility to the thought that FoMoCo struggled with what to do with this generation Cougar. It may also tie back to the internal fight of Ford Division versus Lincoln/Merdcury Division that was part of the Mark III development.
With the Thunderbird and Lincoln sharing a platform it would make no to little sense to have a Cougar as another iteration of that. As a Cougar it would have sat on the same showroom floor. [By the mid 1970s the Cougar was a version of the mid sized based Thunderbird so this was not an issue.]
Mercury needed something so one might think that making their version of the Mustang as a small Mark could be an avenue. A half hearted attempt though it would be.
When looking at Bunkie Knudsen at this time understand that he fully wanted to have a new head of design/styling. He seriously tried to bring his choice over, without success. He was able to get Larry Shinoda to come over but not at a senior executive level. When Knudsen was thrown out so was Shinoda. [A friend of mine was in the studio when Shinoda was let go and apparently it was not a pretty sight on how the remaining studio staff acted.]
Although this article is about the Cougar, the internal politics at Ford during the Knudsen time are well reflected in the story of the Mark IV design development. Another good indicator was an interview done with Don Delarossa where he tells the story of he and Bordinat being drunk at their extended lunch when Bunkie tracked Bordinat down for a meeting he had skipped. Bunkie was so upset that he was set to fire Bordinat over the incident but the palace coup engineered by Iacocca happened first.
Was this Cougar one of the internal political battle casualties?
I think Hank the Deuce made a mistake when he hired Knudsen without the ability to bring in a Knudsen-friendly support staff, especially with Iacocca in charge of Ford’s automotive positions. Why H.F.II did not fire Iacocca in 1968 when “Whiz Kid” Arjay Miller was preparing to retire mystifies me as if Lee was not going to be promoted to President, why did Ford keep Iacocca around ? By 1969, even Pontiac was trimming back on the beak, and while Pontiac’s split grill was still a styling feature, G.M. was embracing newer style designed under Bill Mitchell.
Yes, I think Knudsen was responsible for messing up the Cougar, which I thought was one of Ford’s greatest all-time designs in 1967-1968; but I believe that H.F.II’s biggest mistakes was not getting to really know Knudsen and how he operated. Knudsen was a man of high energy and multiple ideas, but envying G.M. is not the same as operating like G.M. Allegedly, Knudsen was in Ford’s office much of the time, which Ernie Breech was not, and this began to annoy Ford greatly, so good-bye Bunkie ! Frankly James M. Roche made a mistake by not putting Knudsen in as G.M. President. Ford needed someone like McNamara who was bottom-line oriented and saw the big picture rather than just his own career truck. Fellow “Whiz Kid” Ben Mills might have been the right man as he helped resurrect Lincoln-Mercury, but I am guessing that Iacocca had Mills for lunch daily. The odd thing to me is if Ford really disliked Iacocca so much, why did Ford not end Iacocca run and appoint someone else after dumping Knudsen. Yes, I know Iacocca tried to take Ford’s influence over his board of directors away in 1977-1978, but as was said at the time of Lee’s ouster, the name on the building was not Iacocca’s.
I’m not sure I agree that the front end of the ‘71 Cougar is in fact ugly, although it seems odd that any modicum of grille protection was eliminated by the dropped center shape of the otherwise massive bumper. I will admit that the pickup-truck-like rear quarters and square tail seem highly inconsistent with either sporty or personal luxury coupe styling, and perhaps more appropriate for a Mercury Ranchero.
I think the Cougar should have kept the 1969-70 body for the 1971 model year and as I mentioned a while ago, taking a page from Dodge where all their 2-doors models was named Charger while sedans and wagons kept the Coronet monicker. For the 1972 model year, all mid-size/intermediate Mercurys would have been named Cougar while Montego continue to identify sedans and wagons. That would be better then using the Cougar name to sedans and wagons for 1977 and again in 1981-82 where it replaced the Monarch.
I knew a gentleman who owned a 70’s Cougar Villager wagon in bright Jade Green with the shockingly incomprehensible Jade Green plaid fabric interior. Never had I seen a nameplate so horribly maligned.
That green ensured it didn’t need much help looking like a Griswold Family Truckster, did it? Was there fake wood? Please tell me there was fake wood!
I can name one even worse than the cougarization… 1979 Dodge Challenger. That was an outright travesty.
Not Family Truckster green; but rather think more Emerald, Shamrock metallic…with a predominantly matching green and white plaid fabric within a green interior.
I think there was that exterior wood, too.
Re: ‘Challenger’… I submit to you the Daewoo “Pontiac LeMans”?
The healing powers of time had erased my memory of those until you bought them back. I had a co-worker with one. It got her to work is all I can say about it.
That would be a good article, Steve. Most debased auto makes. And least debased ones. Which cars held onto their cred the most besides the Vette, Mustang and Camaro?
The only virtue of the Daewoo Motors “Pontiac LeMons” was that they self-destructed quickly, especially when exposed to the calcium-chloride mixture used on Indiana roads and highways. Thank you, Roger B. Smith !
That issue of CA hasn’t hit the stands down under yet, but I’ll be watching for it.
If I had been a previous Cougar owner, I would not have bought this. As Geeber says, it’s confused. It’s a sort of melange of sporty-ish and kinda-luxury-oid, and to my mind falls between two stools. While not exactly pleasant to look at, it doesn’t evoke the “H@ll no!” reponse of some seventies American iron.
I can sort of see the schnoz as a stylistic outgrowth of the ’70 Cougar, on which a central grille theme began to emerge. Not that that’s any excuse for this grille, on what used to be a sporty coupe, unless Mercury were trying to say ‘No this isn’t a Mustang’ in the strongest possible terms.
Personally I prefer this front to the Montego you show, Steve. And I prefer most other ’71 cars even more!
Like many things of the 1970s, from Captain & Tennille to paisley carpeting to green home appliances, the 1971 Cougar is a creation that resonates with me as much as it is mocked among those of conventional high taste. Laugh if you want to, but centerpiece grilles, flying buttresses and canopy vinyl roofs do get me going.
It’s an acquired taste, but I suppose Ford saw enough people express it to see an opening in the specialty car market. The only problem is that my crowd wasn’t as big as the competing Monte Carlo one, with Mercury making 177,194 2nd gen Cougars in three years and Chevrolet managing to shift 468,860 of my less favored 1st gen Monte Carlos in the same length of time.
Also as a 1974½ model, Ford launched the Gran Torino Elite who became a separate series for the 1975 model year, stealing probably some potential Cougar customers as well and I didn’t count the introduction of the Chrysler Cordoba.