By Jay Hirsch
The Mercury Cougar was introduced to the American car public in September 1966 for model year 1967. It was part of the “pony car market” created by its cousin, the Ford Mustang, in 1964. The first two years, 1967 and 1968, the Cougar was available as a two-door hardtop coupe only. The Cougar was strategically placed between the Mustang and the Thunderbird, not only in price but size. It was slightly longer and wider than the Mustang but also shorter and not as wide as the more upscale Thunderbird.
While the Mustang had a base in-line six-cylinder engine as a standard engine, the Cougar came with a 289 cid V-8/4.7-liter, Select-Shift automatic transmission, and rear-sequential turn signals, a feature taken from the Thunderbird. The Cougar was made to appeal to car buyers who wanted a car with a “European spirit.” An upscale version of the standard Cougar was the XR 7 model, which had a simulated wood-grained dashboard, black-faced competition instruments, toggle switches, a T-type automatic shift lever, leather interior, tachometer and trip odometer.
In 1967 and 1968, the Cougar was available in two-door hardtop coupe form only. For 1969 the Cougar convertible first appeared, with power disc brakes being standard on the convertible and optional on the hardtop.
By the late mid-1960s in the U.S. the muscle car movement was at the apex of popularity with young car buyers, with big engines being offered as options on the small and light pony cars. The Cougar was no exception.
The 1969 Cougar not only saw a convertible added to its stable but also the Eliminator. The Eliminator featured a blacked-out grill, special side stripes, front and rear spoilers, optional ram-air induction, special high-back bucket seats, rally wheels, raised white letter tires and a performance–tuned suspension and handling package. Colors offered were white, bright blue, competition orange and bright yellow, as seen on the 1970 Cougar pictured here.
Engine choices in 1969 ranged from the new standard 351 V-8 cid 4-bbls Windsor/5.8liter, 390 V-8 cid 4 bbls/6.4-liter, 428 V-8 cid CJ/7-liter or the Boss 302 V-8 cid/5-liter.
The 1970 Cougar differed slightly from the 1969 with the front end featuring a more pronounced center hood extension and the grill being similar to the 1967–1968 Cougar, which some people refer to as the “electric shaver grill.” Side marker lights, first introduced on all cars in 1968, were larger on the 1970 Cougar than the 1969. The year 1970 would also be the last year of the hide-away-headlights on the Cougar. Those headlights were operated on a vacuum system. If there was leak or fault in the system the headlights would stay in the open position. One never had to worry about having no headlights.
In 1970 the 390 cid V-8 engine was no longer available. The 300-hp, 4-bbls 351 cid/5.8-liter Cleveland engine became the standard engine on the Eliminator. On the base Cougar there was a choice of either with the 351 Windsor or the 351 Cleveland engine. A sign of the times was the federally-mandated locking steering column. If the key was not in the ignition and turned to the “on” position, the steering wheel was locked in place and could not be turned. This was supposed to be a theft deterrent feature, but it did not deter too many car thieves.
The 1970 Eliminator seen here is an original car. The original owner bought the car new in March 1970 as it sat on the showroom floor. The car was ordered in October 1969 with the 428-cid CJ engine. The then “owner” graduated from college in June 1969 and had applied to several graduate schools and several companies.
In December 1969 he received a letter from a French school in Paris that if he was still interested there would be an opening for a teacher in the English department come January 1970. He was elated…a year in Paris and getting paid for it. He went to the Lincoln Mercury dealer, and showed the manager the letter. He explained he did not want to have the car sitting for a year in the garage at his parent’s house. The manager refunded the deposit on Eliminator and said “have fun!”
The car was delivered to the dealer in late January 1970 and was displayed on the showroom floor to attract attention, which it did. The manager was in no hurry to sell the Eliminator, as it brought people into the showroom
The first week of March was spring like with daytime temperatures near 60 degree’s. Marie was passing the Lincoln Mercury dealer and saw this “outstanding bright yellow car.” She went into the showroom, sat in the Eliminator with its black leather, high-back, powered driver’s seat. The car seemed to be made for her — it was her favorite color, yellow. That evening she returned with her husband and teenage son. She asked her husband to sit the Cougar and asked him if he liked the Eliminator, as he may have to drive it sometime when his 1967 Lincoln was in for maintenance.
“As long as I can get the golf bag in the trunk buy the car if you like it,” he said.
The next day Marie took the car home for a day. She and her husband had bought several new cars over the years from the dealer and they wanted her to be thoroughly happy with the car. The fact that it was a Cougar Eliminator did not enter the equation. What mattered is that it was yellow, had an automatic transmission, an AM/FM radio, and air-conditioning. With a length of 196 inches and E 78 x 14 tires, the Cougar had a big-car ride as opposed to the lighter, shorter and not as “put together Mustang,” Marie said to her husband.
For the next 20 years the Eliminator was Marie’s “go to” car as long as the weather was nice. In the winter she would use the Ford Country Squire or the “Lincoln” which was updated every five years or so.
In the summer of 1991, Marie was playing golf with Roger Rohde and another couple.
“When are you going to sell that Cougar to me?” he asked Marie
“Actually, John and I are thinking of moving to Sarasota, Fla., next year,” she replied. “After 20 years I think it’s time to consider the Cougar may have to go. I will let you know in two weeks”
Marie ordered a Mercedes 300 CE in light ivory to be delivered in April 1992 to the Mercedes dealer in Florida. Roger added the Eliminator to his collection of American muscle cars from the 1960s and early 1970s.
The Eliminator rides more like a European touring car than an American muscle car. The seats and interior are more plush than a Plymouth Superbird or Mustang. The ride is firm but not harsh and bouncy as the Mustang tends to be over not-so-smooth roads. With modern white letter radial tires that are not “low profile,” as on so many new cars, every crack in the road surface does not translate to a jerk in the passenger compartment.
It is a nice trade off from taking a curve in the road or off-ramp at 55 mph and not 75 mph, and with those power front-disc-brakes you stop the Eliminator as if you were in a 21st century automobile. But it is that 428 Cobra Jet that sets the Eliminator apart from any new car. This is a car that in 1970 cost under $4,800 and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds with a deep baritone sound no modern can duplicate.
But all good things sometimes have to end. Federal regulations on emissions, fuel mileage requirements, five-mph bumpers, and the Arab oil embargo of October 1973 helped put an end to the American muscle era and big American cruisers in general. •
