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