April Fools day, 1966 marks the beginning of the Cougar story outside of Ford Motor Company. I think many of our less Cougar afflicted friends and significant others may find some dark humor in the date, but for us it marks the beginning of an incredible story. The story of how Cougar began is brought to you by the good folks of the Cascade Cougar Club, and in particular, Don Skinner Editor of the Cascade Cougar Club Prowler newsletter, with innumerable contributions from the collection of Jim and Elaine Pinkerton.

The Cougar Club of America held an informal meeting at the Carlisle all Ford meet earlier this month. The result of that meeting has been summarized in this posting from the CCOA website: Opinion: ClassicCougar Community.Com The Cougar Community needs more resources, and a healthy active national club is a vital ingredient in the mix. But the CCOA has not been able to fill this need for the past few years.

Team Cougar In 1967 the Trans Am championship came down to the final race in Kent Washington at the Seattle International Raceway. Bud Moore Engineering prepared three Cougars for 1967 and two of them were in the race: #98 driven by Dan Gurney, and #15 driven by Parnelli Jones. When the final flag fell, Team Cougar finished second behind The Mustangs and, by only two points, came in second in the Manufacturers Championship.

Congratulations to the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals Winning Cougars and Their Owners! 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Owned by Shannon Terry Why is it the owners get the credit when the cars have to do all the work? Just kidding! Lots of hours of painstaking effort goes into every car, and we extend our congratulations to all that made the show. The thing this article really needs is pictures! If you have pictures of any of the winning cars, please send them to us so we can add them to this article.

The 390 in³, with 389.6 in³ or 6.4 L true displacement, had a bore of 4.05 in (103 mm) and stroke of 3.78 in (96 mm). It was the most common FE engine in later applications, used in many Ford cars as the standard engine as well as in many trucks. It was a popular high-performance engine; although not as powerful as the 427 and 428 models, it provided good performance, particularly in the lighter weight vehicles, and was in much greater supply.

Ford combined attributes that had worked well in previous incarnations of the FE: a 3.98 in stroke and a 4.13 in bore, creating an easier-to-make engine with nearly the same displacement. The 428 engine used a cast nodular iron crankshaft and was externally balanced. Standard 428 in³ FE engines were fitted to Galaxies (badged simply as ‘7 Litre’) and Thunderbirds in the 1966 and 1967 model years. Applications: 4V, 10.

The following provides casting numbers for Ford engines applicable to classic Cougars. B9AE-B ’59-’60 352 c.i.d. ’59 332 c.i.d. C1AE-C ’61-’62 390 c.i.d. C1AE-G ’61-’62 352 & 390 c.i.d. C1AE-V ’61 390 c.i.d. Police Interceptor, High Performance, Solid Lifters, Oil Pressure Relief Valve At Rear Of Block C2AE-BC ’62 390 c.

Cylinder heads used on the W-code 427 through (about) mid-to-late Jan 1968 were casting # C8AE-6090-J and are supposedly the most difficult to find. C8OE-6090-N cast heads were used after Ford ceased using the J heads. Intake manifold casting is C7AE-9425-F. It is cast aluminum and also known as the Police Interceptor intake due to its use on thousands of Ford/Mercury 428 Police Interceptor engines. — Source – Royce Peterson

Thanks a million to Bill for getting me the photos from the latest get together hosted at his place in Fountain Hills AZ. I know a few people are missing from the pictures but it looks like a great time was had by all. If anyone has any stories to share or discuss about the gathering I believe there is a discussion thread ongoing on the MCN forums. Consider this fair warning that any stories I see may make their way here 🙂 Photos compliments of Bill Basore.