Today, we bring you a January 3, 1968 letter from the A.O. Smith Corporation to John Kerr of Shelby Automotive, Inc., regarding pricing estimates for modifying the 1968 Mercury Cougar. Shelby Letter (2 MB)

The following document is a PDF containing two blueprints for the 1968 J-Code 427 cylinder heads. J-Code 427 Heads (3 MB)

The Way They Did Things Back Then… Cougar Horn Emblem Blueprint The original design drawings for the special components that were used to turn a regular Cougar into an XR7-G are now available in the documents section of this site. The documents are downloadable PDF files and were produced from scans of the original 40-year-old blue prints. It amazes me that these documents survived for all of these years. From what I have been able to piece together, this story begins in about 1970.

Click/Tap to View PDF What would a classic Cougar be without functioning sequential taillights? Frustrating, that’s what. Classic Cougar Community member coachJack has come to the rescue with his thorough guide “Everything You Wanted To Know About the ’67 Cougar Sequential Taillights.” According to coachJack, he started with Steve Citrone’s “Sequential Signals of the 67/68 Cougar,” which provides comprehensive information about the system. Next, he added the “Sequential Turn Signal And Emergency Flasher Systems” which contains essential information, working diagrams, wiring diagrams and a troubleshooting flowchart.

Click/Tap to View PDF On October 17, 1913, Henry Ford launched the first moving automotive assembly line at the Ford Highland Park Plant, the birthplace of modern industrial mass production. Line workers earned $5 per day, twice the average industrial wage at the time, and sufficient to allow the workers to purchase the product they produced, the Ford Model T. The American middle class was born. The beautiful buildings comprising the Ford Highland Park Plant were dubbed the “Crystal Palace” due to the openness and natural light afforded by the huge windows.

The information contained in this article is summary information taken from the 1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E Registry maintained by Jim Pinkerton, and used with his permission.

Modified Classes – Overview All classes will require that the vehicle be currently registered, tagged, and insured. Modified (Stock) Any Cougar with more than 3 changes from original factory configuration while retaining a stock appearance. This class is intended for clones or tribute cars with factory-appeariing upgrades. A Marti report will be required for entry into this class, which will be judged according to Street Stock standard pertaining to the model being cloned.

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.

So You Want to Find Yourself the Perfect Cougar? Fear not friends, there is hope for you yet. Buying a classic collector Cougar isn’t hard, but getting the right car for what you want to do with it is a little trickier. Before embarking on this great adventure you want to arm yourself with some knowledge about the cars you are looking to purchase. You should have a solid grasp of the various models and option packages of each production year your are considering purchasing and have a general idea of the values that each option or optional package adds to the vehicle.

I’m only 35.. err 36 hmm wow time sure flies, but I remember my high school days pretty vividly still. (If you ask my wife she will tell you it’s because I never really grew up) Everyone driving around in cool muscle cars laying burnouts all over the place, me in my parents 4cyl Chrysler New Yorker.. meh.. A friend of mine in high school, well more of a friend of a friend at the time had a thing for Cougars.

So here I am writing my first journal entry for the Classic Cougar Community site. Just days ago none of this even existed. What a huge sense of satisfaction it is being a part of this push to rekindle public awareness for our cars and our great hobby. There are so many great Cougar hobbyists on the net with so much more knowledge than I have about these cars that I jumped at the chance to give a little something back to the community by assisting Bill Basore bring this site to life.

The Warriors of the Fort Bliss Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB) need your support to complete the restoration of a Classic 1968 Mercury Cougar. Mr. Tony Torango, owner of Body Masters Collision Repair Shop, El Paso, TX graciously donated his facility and his time to guide the Warriors through the restoration process. As you can imagine the restoration is quite extensive. Because of the scope of the project, along with the attention to detail needed, the soldiers must stay focused.

Click/Tap to View PDF What would a classic Cougar be without functioning sequential taillights? Frustrating, that’s what. Classic Cougar Community member coachJack has come to the rescue with his thorough guide “Everything You Wanted To Know About the ’67 Cougar Sequential Taillights.” According to coachJack, he started with Steve Citrone’s “Sequential Signals of the 67/68 Cougar,” which provides comprehensive information about the system. Next, he added the “Sequential Turn Signal And Emergency Flasher Systems” which contains essential information, working diagrams, wiring diagrams and a troubleshooting flowchart.

Click/Tap to View PDF On October 17, 1913, Henry Ford launched the first moving automotive assembly line at the Ford Highland Park Plant, the birthplace of modern industrial mass production. Line workers earned $5 per day, twice the average industrial wage at the time, and sufficient to allow the workers to purchase the product they produced, the Ford Model T. The American middle class was born. The beautiful buildings comprising the Ford Highland Park Plant were dubbed the “Crystal Palace” due to the openness and natural light afforded by the huge windows.

It was a great day to get together, the weather was perfect for bringing the cats out. Several attendees drove for more than an hour to attend. Set up began at 9:30 in the morning as slowly the members found their way to the Sycamore Picnic area. Ernie, as in years past, did an amazing job organizing the event. He was the first to arrive and began unloading his car with the various items he picked up, anticipating the arrival of help to set up the covered picnic area soon.

They Never Installed a 427 In Anything But a GT-E in 1968. Except When They Did… Okay, so what if I told you that there was this guy who says there was a ’68 XR7–that’s not a GT-E–built with a factory W-code 427 (impossible), has factory Whisper Aire® Air Conditioning (not available with a 427), painted white (of course, all unicorns are white…), and that it was ordered by a dealer in Texas for a retail customer, built on the assembly line, and it may still be in the hands of the original owner?

We are using an open source program called phpBB to support the forum. This does lots of great things for us. First of all, open source software can be modified to meet our purposes. We aren’t stuck with the way the developers’ believe things should work. We also benefit from the thousands of other users’ experience and efforts in extending the basic software by developing code that adds features–called “mods” with phpBB–so the Forum does more and we don’t have to spend our hard-earned money paying for it.

Like to Talk Cougars? Be sure to check out the new forums added to this site. The forum is run by and for Cougar enthusiasts. Our main focus is making this the best place for Cougar hobbyists, not advertisers. You have to be a bit of a web geek to fully understand what this means, but we think everyone will find the results speak for themselves. Lets take a short tour of the new forums.

What We Learned Today on MecuryCougar.Net Hello Mercurycougar.net – You may have noticed the server downtime yesterday. Today marks the dawn of a new day at Mercurycougar.net. I have, effective today, transferred ownership of Mercurycougar.net to Vertical Scope. Mercurycougar.net is now part of the automotive family of websites owned by Vertical Scope. This is a great thing for the Mercurycougar.net members. You will soon be introduced to Helena Ciardullo. She will be the new administrator for Mercurycougar.

You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone Many of us didn’t fully appreciate the TCCN until it was no longer available. TCCN had become, for many users, the best place to learn about our classic Cougars and to get the technical information needed to fix the most common problems. And even if your car didn’t have a problem today it served as a wonderful place to while away the hours thinking about all of the things you might someday want to do to your Cougar.

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.

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.

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.

Add it to your Blackberrys and day timers. It’s the big one. Check out the post by Steve on the MercuryCougar.net forums. “Now is the time to make your hotel reservations for the Mid-Atlantic Prowl. The Cougar Club of New Jersey & Pennsylvania and the Delmarva Cougar Club will be hosting the show again this year with . This show is held as part of the All Ford Show at Carlisle.

The first phase of data pages for our classic Cougars are now up and running. Check out the growing amount of data for the 1967 model year. This is however just a drop in the bucket and only the beginning of data assimilation for the site. So much of the data available for our fine vehicles is handed down by word of mouth, community forums and old Internet sites that can disappear at any time.

Not having the luxury of being able to attend the Colorado Cougar Club’s 2007 National show I’ve been digging around looking for info on the whole thing. A couple of guys posted some pics on MCN (which was cool) but when I stumbled across the official club website and saw all of the great pics they had of the event I was in heaven. Beautiful cars and uhhh.. guys where did you find all those fine looking young ladies 😉

How to use this site: We want to be the first place you stop for all of your Cougar Community information. Check out the Resources menu on the right side of the home page. You will find links to some of our favorite Cougar hangouts: MercuryCougar.net, TheCurb.org, and the CougarClub.org (CCOA). MercuryCougar.net is the busiest forum in the Cougar world. This is the place for continuous Cougar discussion. If you have questions, they have answers.

Today, we bring you a January 3, 1968 letter from the A.O. Smith Corporation to John Kerr of Shelby Automotive, Inc., regarding pricing estimates for modifying the 1968 Mercury Cougar. Shelby Letter (2 MB)

The Way They Did Things Back Then… Cougar Horn Emblem Blueprint The original design drawings for the special components that were used to turn a regular Cougar into an XR7-G are now available in the documents section of this site. The documents are downloadable PDF files and were produced from scans of the original 40-year-old blue prints. It amazes me that these documents survived for all of these years. From what I have been able to piece together, this story begins in about 1970.

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, 10.5:1 345 hp (257 kW) at 4600 rpm and 462 ft·lbf (626 N·m) at 2800 rpm 1966-1967 Ford 1966-1967 Ford Thunderbird 1966-1967 Mercury 1967 S-55 360 hp (269 kW) at 5400 rpm and 459 ft·lbf (622 N·m) at 3200 rpm 1966-1968 Ford Police Interceptor 1966-1968 Mercury Police Interceptor 340 hp (254 kW) at 4600 rpm and 462 ft·lbf (626 N·m) at 2800 rpm 1968 Ford 1968 Mercury 360 hp (269 kW) at 5400 rpm and 420 ft·lbf (570 N·m) at 3200 rpm 1968 Shelby Cobra GT500 Cobra-Jet 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.i.d. Police Interceptor, High Performance, Solid Lifters, Oil Pressure Relief Valve At Rear Of Block C2AE-BD ’62-’63 406 c.i.d. Cross Bolted Mains, Solid Lifters, Oil Pressure Relief Valve At Rear Of Block C2AE-BE ’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

Today, we bring you a January 3, 1968 letter from the A.O. Smith Corporation to John Kerr of Shelby Automotive, Inc., regarding pricing estimates for modifying the 1968 Mercury Cougar. Shelby Letter (2 MB)

It’s Not April Fool’s Day, But… A little over two years ago, in an article entitled And in the Beginning we brought you the story of the 1967 Mercury Cougar Introduction Program, making the Program available in a PDF download. The response was mostly positive, but we did receive a number of complaints about the size of the entire file. We split the file into parts to make it easier to download, but it was not exactly what we call “convenient for viewing.

By 1969 the pony car war was at full gallop. Every manufacturer had at least one model in the fray. Sales people had to know their enemies’ strengths and weaknesses. Lincoln Mercury wanted to make sure that they had the information they needed. A series of Competitive Product Comparison Booklets was created, each marked “Confidential.” But now the story can be told… See how the ’69 Mercury Cougar compared to Firebird 350, Camaro, Javelin SST, Barracuda, and even the Mustang Grande.

Ford may have stood for Total Performance on the race track in the ’60’s, but with the exception of a few purpose built Thnderbolt Fairlanes, Lightweight Galaxies, and 427 powered Comets, you would have been hard-pressed to win many street races against rat motor Chevy’s or Hemi-powered Mopars. Bob Tasca knew that winning on the track was good for Ford’s image, but losing on the street was bad for Ford sales.

Hairy–A car that is a potential performer; also, a difficult race course. The newest addition to our–hopefully–increasing library of classic Cougar literature and manuals is the 1969 Mercury Salesmen’s Newsletter. It’s packed full of information about the 1969 Lincoln-Mercury “muscle cars,” including the Cougar “Boss” 302 Eliminator and the Cyclone. There is some really intriguing information here. For example, there is the comparison chart featuring the Cougar “Boss” 302 Eliminator, the Plymouth ‘Cuda 340, the Camaro Z/28, and the Mustang “Boss” 302.

In 1969, Cougar Leads the Way in New Features and Value A completely new sculptured body, a lower, wider, and longer profile, a convertible version, a new roofline, ventless side windows, and an all-new “instrument and command” panel were some of the changes for the 1969 Mercury Cougar extolled in the brochure Lincoln-Mercury Cougar 1969: The Winner Leads the Way! featured here on Classic Cougar Community. The brochure goes through all the new features for ’69 in detail, as well as listing some of the options available.

In 1968, You Only Got a Small Portion, But It Was Still Spaghetti If you’ve never spent a Saturday afternoon trying to figure out which vacuum line goes where on that ’68 Cougar you bought from the guy who thought his vacuum system modifications would improve things, you’re very lucky. The fact is, even Lincoln/Mercury’s technicians needed occasional help when it came to untangling the spaghetti-like mass of vacuum lines under the hood of the ’68 model line.

Even Then, They Knew Just How to Play You If the 1968 Mercury Cougar didn’t have you searching your couch cushions for pennies, the Dealer Guide would. It’s 1968. You’re standing in front of the Lincoln-Mercury dealership. The gas station on the corner is in the midst of a “gas war” with a station down the street; premium is going for 19.9 cents a gallon. Your palms are sweaty. You take a deep breath and walk through the door of the dealership, telling the salesman who meets you at the door that you’re interested in a new Mercury Cougar.

In 1963, Ford provided its salesmen with this confidential booklet in order to give them the information they needed to sell Ford’s line of 427 high-performance engines. The booklet includes details of the 427 high-performance engine line, suggested sales prospects and selling techniques, and, most importantly, specifications for the engines. Whether you’re running a 427 in one of your rides or not, the booklet serves as a fascinating behind-the-curtain glimpse into Ford’s approach to marketing the venerable 427 as well as an intriguing view of a time when gas was cheap and size–in cubic inches–definitely mattered.

Front View My love affair with Cougars started back in 1991. I had always been into classic cars, and as I approached my 16th birthday I started searching for “my car.” I saw many cars I would love to have and looked at a few that were realistic. I looked at ’61 Impalas, Chevelle’s, etc. Finally, my dad pointed out an ad he had seen at work for a 1968 Mercury Cougar.

Confessions of a Cougar-holic Copy Cat 1970 Mercury Cougar Hi, my name is James and I’m a Cougar-holic. My story, well, I was raised just outside the San Francisco bay area in a small town called Pleasanton, California. At least it was a small town when I lived there. The Good Guys show would start a few years after I left. My father was a sort of car guy. He loved cars, but just never found a car to get passionate about.

What If Team Cougar had won that last race in 1967 and become the Trans Am series Champs? It would have been difficult for Ford to pull the plug on Team Cougar. Perhaps Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, and Ed Leslie would have gone on to win again in 1968. We will never know of course, but for certain, Mercury would have tried to make the most of the victory, and the best way to do that would have been with a commemorative vehicle.

The Mercury Cougar interior color section of the 1968 Mercury Cougar Dealer Guide. You can download a PDF copy of the Mercury Cougar section of the Dealer Guide here.

Photos from the 2008 Cougar Club of America Nationals. Click/tap a thumbnail to view a full-sized image.

Mercury introduced the Eliminator in April 1969. The Eliminator came with a range of engines, from the Trans Am-inspired solid-lifter 302-cid small block to the 428-cid Cobra Jet big block. The 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator Specifications Wheelbase, inches: 111.0 Weight, lbs: 3,780 Base price: $3,500 Top Available Engine Type: ohv V-8 Displacement, cid: 428 Fuel system: 1 x 4 bbl. Compression ratio: 10.6:1 Horsepower @ rpm: 335 @ 5200 Torque @ rpm: 440 @ 3400 Representative Performance 0-60 mph, sec: 5.

Dan Gurney specials were produced for the 1967 and 1968 model years only. They were promoted by Dan Gurney who signed a sponsorship deal with Mercury for the 1967 Trans Am racing season. The DGS option included a chrome engine dress-up kit, “turbine wheel covers” and a sticker on the rear passenger (needs to be confirmed it was passenger side please) side window. The chrome engine dress up kit consisted of a chrome air cleaner lid, dipstick and valve covers.

The GT package was available for every year of classic cougar except 1970. The package options varried greatly from year to year and have often been the source of many heated GT discussions.

1967 XR-7 trim package: Did -NOT- include an XR-7 emblem in the trunk lock cover. The XR-7’s and standard Cougar packages in 1967 both had the same trunk lock latch emblems that simply said Cougar. The XR7 emblem in the trunk latch wasn’t offered untill the 1968 model year. 1968 XR-7 trim package: XR-7 emblem insert for the trunk keylatch cover.

Standard base model package for 1967: 289 2V engine 2.80:1 8″ rear axle All vinyl interior 3 speed manual transmission wheelcovers (hubcaps)

1974–1976 For 1974, the Cougar was shifted from its Mustang, ponycar origins onto a new platform and into a new market as a personal luxury car. It now shared a chassis with the larger Mercury Montego/Ford Torino intermediates and was twinned up with the new Ford Elite. The wheelbase grew to 114 inches (2,896 mm) and became practically the only car to be upsized during the downsizing decade of the 1970s.

Aside from minor grille and taillight changes, 1973 would be largely a carryover year for the Cougar, but it would mark the last year of the Mustang-based Cougar. In 1974, everything would change. Power figures continued to change as new federal/EPA regulations began their stranglehold on the V8 engines. The new figures continued to fluctuate but engine options remained unchanged from 1972. The standard engine continued to be the 168 hp (125 kW) 351 Cleveland 2-barrel V8.

1972 Mercury Cougar Convertible According to “Cougar by the numbers” (Book produced by Kevin Marti of Marti Autoworks) there were 69 Standard Q-code convertibles and 368 XR-7 Q-code convertibles built in the ’72 model year. The climate had begun to change as the muscle car era ended. No longer able to use gross power numbers, the manufacturers had to use net power figures which dropped the once mighty figures down substantially.

For 1971, the Cougar was completely restyled. Starting to move upmarket as a near-personal luxury car, the Cougar looked bigger, but actually weighed less and had only a one-inch-longer wheelbase than its predecessors (112 vs. 111 ). The front end now featured four exposed headlights; the disappearing headlights were gone for good. The center grille piece, or cat’s nose, was now larger and more noticeable than ever. The rear featured a semi-fastback with a “flying buttress” sail-panel.

Packages available for the 1969 model year: Standard, Convertible, XR7, GT, Eliminator The third year of production, 1969, brought several new additions to the Cougar lineup. A convertible model was now available in both standard and XR-7 trim. These highly anticipated soft tops proved quite popular and today are considered, by many, among the most desirable of the ’67-’70 production run. Exterior-wise, the grille switched from vertical bars to horizontal bars, and a spoiler and a Ram Air induction hood scoop were added as options.

Packages available for the 1970 model year: Standard, Convertible, XR7, GT, Eliminator The 1970 Cougar appearance wise was similar to the 1969 model, however there were numerous changes inside and out. It now sported a new front end which featured a pronounced center hood extension and electric shaver grille similar to the 1967 and 1968 Cougars. Federally mandated locking steering columns took place on the inside, and the aforementioned new nose and taillight bezels updated the look on the outside.

The 1968 model year included: Standard Coupe, XR7, GT, Dan Gurney Special, GT-E, XR7-G Nineteen sixty-eight saw the addition of 2 new model packages to the Cougar lineup. The GT-E and XR-7G. What a great year to buy a Cougar. The car maintained the same body lines from the 67 model with some slight changes. Most notable were the addition of side signal markers on the front and rear quarters, a 2 spoke steering wheel (as opposed to the 3 spoke offered in the 1967 model) and some slight badge changes to the rear quarter panel emblems.

Mercury breathed life into the first Cougar for the 1967 sales year and a legend was born. Designed with sleek styling and plenty of power the Cougar took the automotive world by storm and won Motor Trend’s coveted “Car of the Year” for it’s inagural season. Specific Information By Year: – 1967 – 1968 – 1969 – 1970 – 1971 – 1972 – 1973 – 1974 Cars By Specific Model: – Standard Coupe – Convertible – GT – GT-E – XR7 – XR7-G – Dan Gurney Special – Eliminator

Packages available for the 1967 Model Year: Standard Hardtop, XR7, GT, Dan Gurney Special 1967 Mercury Cougar Standard The 1967 Cougar was based on that year’s new second-generation Mustang, but with a 3 inch (76 mm) longer wheelbase and new sheet metal. A full-width divided grille with hidden headlamps and vertical bars defined the front fascia—it was sometimes called the electric shaver grille. At the rear, a similar treatment saw the license plate surrounded on both sides with vertically slatted grille work concealing tail lights (with sequential turn signals), a styling touch taken from the Thunderbird.