Mercury Cougar (1999-2002) review: an orphan coupe worth exactly what you pay for it
3/5motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy a New Edge Cougar in Bahrain only as a cheap, distinctive-looking used coupe you found already landed and already sorted — never as an import project. With no factory history in the Gulf, no dealer parts counter and a Mondeo-era Ford donor platform that local workshops rarely stock for, every electrical gremlin becomes a scavenger hunt. It is a fine car to inherit, not one to chase.
Pros
- Bold, still-distinctive New Edge styling nobody else has
- Smooth-revving 2.5L Duratec V6
- Genuinely cheap to buy on the used market
- Rare enough to stand out at any Bahrain car meet
Cons
- No factory or dealer history anywhere in the Gulf
- Cougar-specific parts are a special-order wait, not a walk-in purchase
- 2.0L base four is underpowered for the car's weight
- 4-speed automatic feels behind its era
Ford renamed the last Cougar into an entirely different kind of car. Gone is the Fox-body pony coupe that shared bones with the Mustang; in its place is a front-wheel-drive hatchback-coupe riding on the same CDW27 platform as the Ford Mondeo and Ford Contour. It sold in North America and Europe (as the Ford Cougar) but never through an official Gulf channel, which means every one of the handful in Bahrain arrived privately.
The styling was genuinely bold for 1999 — sharp "New Edge" creases, a wraparound tail-light bar, a cabin full of angular trim that has aged into a period piece rather than a classic. It still turns heads at a Manama coffee-shop meet precisely because almost nobody recognises it.
Living with one in Bahrain
The 2.5-litre Duratec V6 is smooth and revs cleanly to 6,250 rpm, but 170 hp moving a front-driver is unremarkable rather than exciting, and the 2.0-litre base four is best avoided entirely for a car this size. Air conditioning load in a Bahrain summer takes a visible bite out of the V6's already modest response, and the 4-speed automatic feels dated next to anything from the same era with a fifth gear.
The real problem: nobody stocks parts
This is the crux of Cougar ownership here. Every Bahrain Ford workshop can service a Mondeo-era donor part in theory, but almost none actually stock Cougar-specific trim, lighting or interior electronics, and the car was never common enough anywhere in the world to have generated an aftermarket that reaches the Gulf easily. Anything beyond routine service becomes a wait for a part shipped from the US or UK.
Buy this car for the way it looks and for what it costs, not for what it will save you in running costs. It is genuinely fun to own if you accept it as a curiosity rather than a daily-driver commitment.