67 Cougar

With the 67 Cougar things really took a dramatic turn for Mercury. Thus with the introduction of the 67 sporty coupe things really took off.  The 67 Cougar would be advertised as the better alternative to the pony car mentality which would be present all around the US in this era. This new model was being designed to knock the socks off the American public, and compete with the giants at the time such as the beloved GTO and the Mustang. While common sense dictated that Mercury had zero chance of surpassing these American icons, they still had to make an honest effort.

But this car was not only good looking; it also had the power you would expect to find in a muscle car. It successfully raced in the NASCAR series and it actually won a few titles, which rendered it as a very reliable and fast car nonetheless. The car featured the 390 HP 427 CID V8 engine when it was first launched but then, after some time it had that replaced with the 428 Cobra Jet. The image would not be that of an American muscle car, but it would resemble more of that of a European luxury touring car. But it was not long before this model earned a solid reputation and a vast amount of respect and admiration from Americans, when in 1969 the Mercury Cougar Eliminator was launched and its appearance finally got the reputation Detroit iron deserved.

But as a matter of fact, not all Cougars would prove to be that powerful. The 428 had finally benefited from the relatively generous wheelbase it has been shielded with while in a full acceleration race, the 290 HP engine 302 was over-matched as a result of the Cougar’s weight. But when compared to the shorter Mustang, grip would be a little better nonetheless and the tests for the quarter mile showed that this car really had something stacked up for the long run.

You could find the 428 CID Cj paired or not with the RAM Air. If you wanted to have the standard scoop of the Eliminator used, you could only have that option that with the Ram Air.