Nice Kitty
Mercury’s “Fab Four” Cougars -- 1967-1970 Story and photos by John Gunnell
look much different outside, except for a model medallion on the rear roof quarter and special wheel covers. Inside, the interior was really ord’s Mustang was the outstanding sales success of the ‘60s. It something else. It featured a walnut finish dash, leather-and-vinyl upbecame the best-selling new car in history and sired many copycats holstery trim and an aircraft-style overhead console with a functional made by other automakers. These became known as “pony cars,” a aircraft look. One advertisement showed a beautiful dark green Cougar XR-7 with a tan interior. One look and you wanted to own the car–-the term inspired by the Mustang’s galloping horse logo. interior was oh so cool! The concept behind the pony car could be traced to the sports car craze that swept America after World War II. It started with the MG TC and The GT had a firmer suspension with solid rear bushings, stiffer springs, Jaguar XK-120. But the Mustang was not a true sports car. Ford had big 1.1875-inch shocks and a fat anti-roll bar. Power front disc brakes, learned a lesson with the two-seat Thunderbirds of 1955-1957. While 8.95x14 Wide-Oval tires, special I.D. and a low-restriction exhaust the early “T-Birds” quickly became classics, they proved that the market This ’68 Cougar coupe (you can tell by the side marker lights that were governfor two-passenger cars in America ment mandated in 1968) was for sale at the Iola Old Car Show in Iola, Wis. was not a very big one.
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Mercury’s “Sign-of-the-Cat” car is probably the most collectible model to come from Ford’s Mercury Div. in the ‘60s. It was based on the Mustang, but had a three-inch longer wheelbase and fancier body and interior trim. Overall length was stretched even further. The Mustang was 183.6 inches and the Cougar was 190.3 inches-nearly seven inches longer. The base Cougar engine in 1967 was a 289-cid V8 with 200 hp. Buyers could add a four-barrel version of the same engine with 235 hp or opt for a GT 390 model with 320 hp. Only a two-door hardtop was available and it stickered for $2,851. For $230 additional, you could get a much more impressive XR-7 version. It didn’t 32 MUSCLE CAR PLUS MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2021
