Ford Cougar 406: Gull wings, big block, personal-car poise - AllCarIndex

In 1962 Ford Motor Company announced the Cougar 406 as a new show model from the outfit that had pioneered the personal car. It was framed as a two-passenger, metallic-turquoise sports machine that aimed to excite dedicated sports-car fans while preserving the comfort and style expected of a personal car.

It wore its intent openly. Entrance was through top-hinged, electrically operated gull-wing doors—pure theatre before the engine even turned. The windows used a jalousie layout, a deliberate break from convention that set the tone for the rest of the car. Inside, comfort-engineered bucket seats sat recessed into the body, the driving position fronted by an aircraft-type control panel. Even the rear-view mirror had been built into the panel and operated by a lever, as if borrowed from a cockpit rather than a boulevard cruiser.

Under the skin, the headline number was in the name: Ford’s new high-performance 406. The big engine had been paired with a console-mounted automatic transmission, a combination that matched muscle to convenience rather than chasing a stripped-out racer vibe. The Cougar 406 also played the proportions game well. It stood only 49.5 inches high and spread 75.72 inches wide; length measured 180 inches on a 102-inch wheelbase—low, broad, and compact enough to read as a sports model without abandoning the personal-car brief.

Ford’s positioning remained clear. Lee A. Iacocca, Ford Division general manager and company vice president, said there were no current plans for production. He described the car as “more down-to-earth than a dream car,” American in style and comfort with “a distinct flavor of the European sports car,” and concluded that the Ford Cougar 406 “added up to plush excitement on wheels.”

Taken together, the details—gull wings, jalousie glass, recessed buckets, an aircraft-type panel with a lever-controlled mirror, the 406 engine with a console-mounted automatic, and those low, wide dimensions—painted a single picture. The Cougar 406 had been presented as a show model that blended sports-car theatre with the personal-car ethos, without promising a showroom follow-through.