69 Cougar

When it came to the 69 Cougar, I really liked what they did with this model. They really tried with their other models to raise the stakes and compete with the giants of the industry, and given it all, they did a great job with that. Also, compared to other car manufacturers, they managed to sell a lot of models even though they were facing up with the federal laws regarding emissions by General Motors. Also, the insurance companies would also charge the buyers of these little beasts a lot when it came down to monthly payment, so yes, this surely took its toll on the American auto market but it was not enough to make the muscle car industry bow down on its knees (yet).

Thus with the arrival of the 69 Cougar, things changed a bit regarding styling and size. This new model had a wider body while still being supported on the 111 inch base. It also was longer and there were two more convertible offers available. The style though was not something dramatic to be seen in this year’s particular model and it would be something close to ordinary, especially when we are considering the grille. Keep in mind that it wasn’t until the 1970 model that leather faced seat upholstery was made standard as well as the full set of needle gauges; the car also featured blackout grilles. Regarding the GTE and the GT models, these were just converted to option packages and they would be available with or without the XR7 trim. Nonetheless, they were still continuing to come with the big block V8s.

A surprise for the hardtop was the new variation which was included featured the Eliminator package. This model had wide tires and wheels, unique tape striping, a rear deck lid spoiler, and the engine was Ford’s 300 HP 351 V8 engine. As well as the Mustangs, these were the last of true Cougar pony cars.

This year was also the time to that Mercury and Ford decided it would be a great idea to have their pony cars bulked up. This resulted in slower machines which were heavier thus not as sharp as they used to be. The only plus that they had compared to the faster models before, was the fact that they were more luxurious inside.

Thus there was a total of 66331 2 door hardtop models, 5796 convertibles, 4024 XR7 convertibles and 23918 XR7 2 door hardtops produced which still were impressive numbers.