Welcome to Found Around Town, where we feature cars we find in a city where interesting ones are rare because everyone drives a Prius or rides a bicycle: Austin, Texas.

Having always driven mechanically dubious trucks, muscle cars and other beaters, I'd always wanted to try something faster and more sophisticated. Lucky for me, I met a cougar who owned a Porsche, and ended up getting to tear ass around L.A. in it, stopping by a $5,000 per plate Bel Air mansion party and Rodney…

There's little doubt that the best thing to do when you're in college is buckle down, study hard, and try to get the best grades possible. For better or worse, I was not one of those focused students at the age of 18.

The sixties are history and so is Ford's once upon a time brand, Mercury. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Cougar lets you relive both - plus it's a stick- but does its price mean it should have stuck in the sixties?

NASCAR's Kurt Busch is a jerk. A jerk with a surprisingly awesome sense of humor. Facing a race at Talladega with no sponsors, he entered it with the Ricky Bobby "ME" paint job from Talladega Nights and quoted the film as he drove in circles.

Replica builders are an odd breed — as dedicated to their craft as those guys who once built ships in bottles. A Florida man built this "Bugatti Veyron" from a Mercury Cougar, and it can be yours for $89,000.

In 1974 the Mercury Cougar and the Oldsmobile Cutlass were two strong contenders in the midsized luxury class. As this vintage Car and Track comparison shows, what these two cars lacked in performance they made up for with nice interiors and semi-acceptable handling.

Singer and vintage muscle car enthusiast Neko Case is raffling off her '67 Mercury Cougar to benefit the 826 National educational writing group. Questions about the car? Questions about her music? You can ask her, here, tomorrow at 12:00 EST.

The '71-'73 Cougar is the last one you could honestly call a pony car, although its size makes it pretty horsey. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe XR-7 puts its top down, but will its price make you pony up?

Superstar commenter mytdawg was shopping for wheels over the weekend and spotted this gem of a jalopy: the hind-end of a Mercury Cougar mated to what look like Honda forks, all powered by a GM V8. Excellent. Details below