Michael Satterfield
TGR Staff
Since its introduction in 1977, the Kougar Sports has represented the opportunity for enthusiasts to acquire a traditionally styled sports car. Beautifully finished and necessarily very expensive (over £3,000 at launch) the Sports was originally based on Jaguar S-Type components. The chassis was a tubular spaceframe, around which was wrapped door-less, two-seater coachwork in glass fiber. Whether constructed in six- or eight-cylinder form, the lightweight Kougar possesses formidable acceleration and affords owners an involving and exciting driving experience. Another classic case of intriguing design coupled with sporting connotations, which is no doubt why it was acquired by Mr. Brown. Taking the identity of a Daimler which originally took to the roads in April 1968, the car would probably have been Kougar-ised before or during the ownership of George Baggs of Hailsham, in the U.K. who owned it from 1985-1989. Later it passed to John Rogers of Canterbury, and then into this collection in May 1992.
It could be argued that legendary American journalist David E. Davis had the best soundbites on these cars. Speaking from personal experience he commented in Road & Track in an article sub-captioned “No, ma’am. It is not a Mercury. It is a Kougar. With a K! It will separate your retinas,” he sums the car up perfectly: “it has no top, no windshield, wipers, no doors, no seat adjustment, no sound-deadening insulation of any kind, no radio, no heater (not that it needs one) and no fuel gauge. It is just about perfect. . . The great whomping engine note is the best sound this side of E. Power Biggs playing Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor . . . The handling and road holding are up to modern standards, and the car has no quirks – you drive it as though it were just a regular automobile, and it rewards you with a memorable ride every time.”
Source: Bonhams
