Was there ever a 1971 Cougar TransAm Race Car?

[J_Speegle]

Remember that by 71 Ford was getting out of TransAm racing. They sold off some dipped body's (Mustangs) were sold to privateers. Bill Mair had one and ran it in the 80's. Think he sold it in the 90's while still racing the 68

Don't recall seeing any Cougars that that were 71's

[CATHOUSE]

There were 71-73 body style Cougars that were raced, although I cannot say that they were in the Trans-Am series. Most likely they were in a lesser grade series. If you look at ebay auction #401628861686 the seller is offering reproduction decals to replicate a 71-2 race Cougar. The listing includes 2 photos of the car on the track.

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95

It looks like the Hellers are back in business. Try checking the listing #401628861686 now.

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95

[badcatt]

There were 71-73 body style Cougars that were raced, although I cannot say that they were in the Trans-Am series. Most likely they were in a lesser grade series. If you look at ebay auction #401628861686 the seller is offering reproduction decals to replicate a 71-2 race Cougar. The listing includes 2 photos of the car on the track.

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95

It looks like the Hellers are back in business. Try checking the listing #401628861686 now.

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95

Click on this link.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/27-Dave-Dion-S ... Swd2Zb3tNn
For this set of decals.

[propayne]

Very cool - not the Trans-Am series though - looks NASCAR sanctioned.

The eBay ad says the decals are for a 1/43 slot car.

Anyone have one of those 1/43 scale '72/'72 Cougar bodies they could share a photo of?

- Phillip

[CATHOUSE]

The seller also offers the same decals in other scales, I just happened to post the listing number for the 1/43rd ones.

Phillip,
What 1/43 scale Cougar body are you refering to?

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95

[propayne]

^^^ That's what I want to know - was there ever a 1/43 '71/'72 Cougar slot car made?

I seem to remember a plastic, spring loaded Cougar toy that was one of the bigger cats - could have been a '71. Don't have one in my collection and can't recall for sure.

That could have been approx 1/43 scale and the body could have been used to create a slot car using various existing chassis and parts.

- Phillip

[CATHOUSE]

I am not aware of any 71-73 style Cougar slot car in any scale being offered by any manufacturer. Of course it is possible that someone could have used some other 71-73 Cougar body from another toy and made it into a slot car. I have seen several where the 1/24-1/25 scale annual model kit body was used.

The spring loaded car you are recalling is the Funmate car. It was offered in 1971 and was a premium that came along with different P&G products. There were 4 different cars in the set, Mach I, Torino, Thunderbird and Cougar. There was a second set offered in 1972 but it did not include the Cougar. The Cougar is not hard to find nor are they very expensive. It is harder to find one that still has the launcher as they are usually lost over time. I have a couple extra of the Cougar here if you want/need one. Yes, I can see where a modeler with some skills could convert one of these Cougars to a slot car.

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95

[propayne]

I would have been about 11 when a Proctor & Gamble product that my mother purchased had the Thunderbird in it. It was white as I believe all of the cars were.

Those cars had a ton of "play potential" - I had a ball blasting that car across the floor and down the steps.

- Phillip

[CATHOUSE]

The P&G cars were all different colors. The T-Bird was white, the Torino was yellow, the Mach I was orange (as I recall) and the Cougar was maroon. The 4 1972 cars were also all different colors. The 1971 cars used a shooter that fit into a hole in the rear bumper. The 1972 cars sat on a blue plastic base and had a slot in the base of the car that fit onto the shooter tab on the blue base. There were also several Indy type cars that used the same blue shooter base.

Randy Goodling
CCOA #95