This Fox-body Cougar is a former CC, but what caught my attention is what it was sitting next to. We think of the Scion Xd as a small car, a Yaris with different skin. And in its day, the Cougar was very much a mid-sized sort of affair. My, how we just keep getting bigger! And the Cougar might likely pack the 255 CID (4.1 L) V8, and the Xd a 1.8 four, but they both have almost exactly the same horsepower. Progress, of some sort.
Wow! It would be neat to compare interior roominess on those two cars.
A friend of mine had a pristine ’82 Cougar or Granada 4 door with a 2.3 liter engine and 4 speed transmission. It didn’t have many miles and was a 4 year old meticulously maintained car, but it was also probably the slowest manual transmission car I’ve ever driven. It was positively sedentary, and my yardsticks at the time included hotrods like a slant 6 powered Valiant Scamp, a 1.7 liter Horizon automatic, a few 1981-1983 Ford Escorts and Mercury Lynxes, and a few cars that could get out of their own way. I’d also driven a 220D Mercedes 4-speed that MUST have been as slow as the Granada, but the complete lack of torque and responsiveness of the Granada made it feel slower. It looked so substantial and crisp for the time, but it almost seemed like a mock up of a car with a motor from a Weedeater.
Not exactly the same mpg or interior room I suspect ! Once as a teen I drove a friend back from getting a steel pin in his leg removed in his car (75 Celica GT Coupe 5 speed) in 1975 and my perception about cars was totally changed in that short drive . How could such a small car with such little horsepower be so much fun to drive ? Each press on the gas pedal made the car leap eagerly forward , in fact it was so throttle sensitive it was flat out herky jerky fun with the high mounted shifter snicking into gear . Made my 71 Chevelle SS seem dull by comparison . Of course look at which one is worth more today ! That red POS with black stripes broke down so often I learned a lot about auto repair just by having the misfortune to own it . I eventually bought a 74 Celica GT , but that didn’t compare to the 86 GT I bought in 94 which is a story for another day . Hopefully when the 86-89 Celicas are profiled !
New small is the old big? You should stay on the lookout for trucks to do that with. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find a 1972 Chevy parked next to a 2010 model or a Dodge Dakota parked next to an old early 1980s Dodge Half-ton. That will really illustrate the difference for people.
Also photograph an E30 3-series next to a current model E90 if the opportunity ever presents itself. The E30 is a petite little thing compared to the blocky E90, which has more interior room than the 5-series of the 1980s.
A BMW 2002 is a petite little thing compared to a new Mini Cooper.
Paul, if I didn’t know any better I’d accuse you of doctoring that photo. Wow, that really puts thing in perspective.