| You may well have thought that the Mercury | | | | car was all Mustang, using the exact same |
| Cougar auto that the origins of the Mercury | | | | Falcon front suspension and a solid rear axle |
| Cougar auto were nothing more than a whale | | | | with four-leaf springs. A base 289 cubic inch |
| sized version of simple Ford Thunderbird car. | | | | V-8 made 200 bhp (gross), but the real action |
| Yet many are surprised that the history and | | | | came in the guise of a 390 cubic inch V-8 |
| development of this classic American | | | | that made 320 bhp. A GT option included a |
| sportscar rather was that of the NASCAR | | | | performance handling package and power disc |
| legendary Mercury "Pony Car" , which kicked | | | | brakes that replaced more standard front |
| nothing but but "Butt" on the Trans-Am | | | | brake drums. Finally special GT wheels |
| Automobile racing circuit. Originally | | | | rounded out the package. It has been said |
| Lincoln- Mercury (considered at the time to | | | | that Lincoln Mercury's chief designer had |
| be the luxury end of Ford Motor Corporation), | | | | envisioned the Cougar as an elegant European |
| had devised the idea of developing, designing | | | | sports car, along the lines of the Jaguar |
| and marketing a small sized sports car. The | | | | Mark 2. How was it that the Cougar went |
| germ of this idea had started as early as | | | | racing? In 1967 Lincoln Mercury turned to Bud |
| February 1963 with the idea in the works of | | | | Moore to be the point man for a shot at the |
| this smaller sports type vehicle to be sold | | | | SCCA Trans-Am Championship. Team Cougar made |
| within the North American automobile market. | | | | up of drivers, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, |
| But it was the success of the Ford Mustang | | | | Formula 1 driver Peter Revson and NASCAR |
| product that finally put the pedal to the | | | | driver Dave Pearson came in second in Ford |
| metal (or the design and marketing staff's ok | | | | Mustang's team. In 1968 then under the aegis |
| and budgeting of departmental project | | | | of Moore, driver DeWayne "Tiny" Lund went on |
| funding). It is said that nothing drives a | | | | to capture the NASCAR Grand Touring |
| project the automobile industry than the | | | | Championship. So where and how did the Cougar |
| potential of excellent sales figures and | | | | go wrong and in the end become a rather non |
| profitability's. Even the name of the vehicle | | | | defined wishy washy bloated luxo sort of |
| product "Cougar" is not totally unique. | | | | sports car by the end of its automobile |
| Cougar is in the same vein as "Mustang" - | | | | production lifetime? What proved to be this |
| both being sleek fast racing animals. | | | | product and projects undoing was the lack of |
| Although the Cougar was also built on a 111 | | | | true comprehension from the direct Mercury as |
| inch wheelbase similar to the mustang auto | | | | well as Ford staff and executives as to what |
| sports car, the Cougar was rather three | | | | this car's clear and distinct market was. It |
| inches and half inches shorter than its | | | | may be said that at the best they were |
| cousin - the Thunderbird. Underneath the | | | | disinterested and at the worst clueless and |
| elegant sheet metal of the Cougar was a | | | | greedy. This lack of market focus, as well as |
| Mustang, so to speak. In actuality the Cougar | | | | not knowing and perceiving the needs and |
| shared with its cousins - the sporty Mustang, | | | | desires of the potential Cougar customer |
| and the dourer family vehicle - the Ford | | | | market proved to be the Cougar's undoing. By |
| Falcon (which was also known in the Canadian | | | | the 1969 product introduction the Cougar was |
| market as the Ford Frontenac product. The | | | | a little longer and a little wider. From then |
| Ford Mustang had the greatest fortune of | | | | on it was only a short decent into landau |
| being born from the Ford Falcon product line. | | | | roofs as well as the opera window type |
| Mustang enthusiasts owe a great debt of | | | | styling and options of the day. Once started |
| gratitude to a so called compact "Family" | | | | this downward trend and spiral of the Cougar |
| car. The Ford Falcon allowed both the Mustang | | | | was inevitable. The halcyon years of the |
| car project as well as the Cougar car product | | | | early Cougar - specifically the early Cougar |
| a quick to develop, cheap to produce as well | | | | model years of 1967 - 70 remain a time when |
| as a proven and durable base platform. Even | | | | the Cougar's roar boomed out of dual exhausts |
| the dash of the early Mustangs was a direct | | | | and the sign of a car that had some bite to |
| copy of the Falcons. Underneath all of the | | | | it. |
| glitter of its elegant sheet metal the Cougar | | | | |