The Classic Cougar at a Glance ...

1967_mercury_cougar_cat The buying public was told that the Mercury Cougar...could be found at "The Sign of the Cat", and made heavy use of big cats in their advertising campaigns. The first Mercury Cougar was introduced to the media in the Bahamas, and at the same time in California. Lincoln-Mercury optimistically looked forward to selling 85,000 copies in 1967. In actuality, more than 150,000 units were sold during its introductory year, when it was named Motor Trends " 1967 Car of The Year."

Some of the initial marketing plans included a campaign that would stress the Mercury Cougar being a "man's car, that a Mustang owner could step UP to". Actually the now classic Mercury Cougar began as a project car long before the Mustang came about, it was referred to simply as the "T-7". The styling was an attempt to achieve that higher end European luxury look, in order to set it apart from the Mustang. The 67 Cougar had some unique features like "hidden headlamps", and taillights that had sequential turn signals, which helped to establish its own unique identity.

Mercury now had its own pony car, and set out to make a serious dent in that market in the late Sixties. The Cougar XR7 (XR for "experimental racing", and the "7" from the early "T-7" designation?) was introduced as a luxury trim package with overhead consoles, toggle switches, leather seats, and wood grained steering wheels. A variety of engine possibilities were made available over the next few years in the Mercury Cougar XR7, the 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air producing 410 horsepower one of the largest. The Cougar GT, and GTE models soon followed the Cougar xr7 's.

The classic Mercury Cougar convertible was introduced in 1969, and continued through the 1973 model year. The Mercury Cougar name has continued through four decades of production, and has managed to successfully "re-invent" itself several times over.

Classic Cougar History Timeline:

1966, September, Vic Damone introduced the new Cougar in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
1968 the XR7-G (Dan Gurney Special) was introduced
1969 The Cougar Eliminator was introduced
1971 the last year for the 429 cu in V8 motor

Cougar Quick Facts:

50,000 Cougars sold in the first 6 months
1 out of 6 original purchasers were woman
Originally was developed as the T-7
"Apollo" was a name that was first considered for the Cougar

Mercury Cougar Advertising Slogans:

"Why drive a pussycat"
"A Gentleman's Muscle Car"
Where Wild meets Elegant"
Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the best equipped luxury sports car in America"