The new Mercury Cougar really is the next generation of Probe, Ford just did a little nameplate swapping. The old Probes were front-drive pocket rockets modelled after Japanese sport compacts. The old Merc Cougars were big rear-drive American Luxo-cruisers marketed to old people. The new cougar breaks from the cougar line and attaches to where the Probe left off. I think Ford just wanted to drop the Probe namesake due to its limited success.
And I think the Cougar has the 2.5L duratec V6 anyways... So, there's your car. But then again, its a POS.