The Cougar!
While Ford Australia executed the "New Edge" styling theme all kinds of wrong with the Falcon, (I say that as someone who has always liked the AU styling) Ford in Europe got it spot on for their models. I have always said that New Edge worked much better on the smaller cars, think the first gen Focus, the second gen Mondeo and the original Ka! The Cougar is included in that belief.
Based on the front drive Mondeo platform and powered by a 2.5 Duratec V6, the Cougar could be had in 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto. The engine produced 125 kW @ 6250 rpm and 220 Nm at 4250 rpm, the rev limit set at 7000 rpm.
The Cougar was sold via the FTe dealer network, meaning sales potential was somewhat limited. Sales started in October 1999 and continued into 2004, although it actually stopped production in 2002. Sales were very slow, but at least Ford were having a go, a philosophy brought on by the late Geoff Polites. That same philosophy also brought us the Mustang Cobra, the big dick T-Series and the resurrection of the Falcon GT as a continuous model.
I actually looked at one of these when shopping for my first car at the end of 2004. It was quite a petite car, very pretty and somewhat exotic looking. The one thing I noticed sitting in the driver's seat, the headroom was pretty tight.
