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Car Of The Day: February 7, 2010; Matchbox '67 Mercury Cougar
Topic Started: Feb 7 2010, 01:32 AM (591 Views)
Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Today's car of the day from harlans toys' collection and is Matchbox's 1967 Mercury Cougar.

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Wikipedia
 
The Mercury Cougar is an automobile sold under the Mercury brand of the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln-Mercury Division. The name was first used in 1967 and was carried by a diverse series of cars over the next three decades. As is common with Mercury vehicles, the Cougar shared basic platforms with Ford models. Originally this was the Mustang, but later versions of the Cougar were based on the Thunderbird, and the last was a version of the Contour/Mondeo. The Cougar was important to Mercury's image for many years, and advertising often identified its dealers as being "at the sign of the cat." Models holding big cats on leashes were used on Cougar ads in the early 1970s. The car was assembled at the Dearborn Assembly Plant (DAP) (one of six plants within the Ford Rouge Center) in Dearborn, Michigan from 1967-73 and at the Lorain Assembly Plant (LAP) in Lorain, Ohio from 1974-97.


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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Mercury Cougar

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Up tonight we have the beautiful Lesney era Mercury Cougar. This one is a transitional Superfast model with the thin SF wheels and unaltered wheel arches. Transitionals mark the period of time when Matchbox was responding to the threat from Mattel's Hot Wheels, a battle which Mattel ultimately "won" with Lesney going bankrupt, followed by the Matchbox brand passing through multiple hands before being aquired by none other than Mattel themselves.

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Wikipedia
 
The 1967 Cougar was based on that year's refaced first-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 grillework concealing taillights (with sequential turn signals), a styling touch taken from the Thunderbird. A deliberate effort was made to give the car a more "European" flavor than the Mustang, at least to American buyers' eyes. Aside from the base model and the luxurious XR-7, only one trim package was available for either model: the sporty GT. The XR-7 model brought a wood-grained steering wheel, a simulated wood-grained dashboard with a full set of black-faced competition instruments and toggle switches, an overhead console, a T-type center automatic transmission shifter, and leather or vinyl seats. The GT package, meanwhile, supplied a much larger engine, Ford's 390 in³ (6.4 L) FE-series big block to replace the small-block 289 in³ (4.7 L) standard powerplant. Along with this came an upgraded suspension to handle the extra weight of the big engine and give better handling, more powerful brakes, better tires and a low-restriction exhaust system. The Cougar was Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year for 1967.

The Cougar continued to be a Mustang twin for seven years, and could be optioned as a genuine muscle car. Nevertheless, it gradually tended to shift away from performance and toward luxury, evolving into something new in the market — a plush pony car. The signs were becoming clear as early as 1970, when a special edition styled by fashion designer Pauline Trigere appeared, complete with a hound's-tooth pattern vinyl roof. A reskinning in 1971 saw the hidden headlights vanish for good, although hidden wipers were adopted. Between 1969 and 1973, Cougar convertibles were offered.

The introduction of the Cougar finally gave Mercury its own pony car. Slotted between the Ford Mustang and the Ford Thunderbird, the Cougar would be the performance icon and eventually the icon for the Mercury name for several decades. The Cougar was available in two models (base and XR-7) and only came in one body style (a two door hardtop). Engine choices ranged from the 200 hp (149 kW) 289 in³ 2-barrel V8 to the 335 hp (250 kW) 390 in³ 4-barrel V8. A notable performance package called the GT was available on both the base and XR-7 Cougars. This included the 390 in³ V8 as well as a performance handling package and other performance goodies.

Not much changed for the Cougar in its second year. The addition of federally mandated side marker lights was the major change. But the biggest changes were under the hood and performance-wise for the XR-7 model. Three new engines were added to the option list this year—the 230 hp (172 kW) 302 in³, 4-barrel V8; the 335 hp (250 kW) 428 in³, 4-barrel V8; and the 390 hp (291 kW) 427 in³, 4-barrel V8. Mercury was serious about the Cougar being the performance icon for the company. The XR-7G, named for Mercury road racer Dan Gurney, came with all sorts of performance add-ons, including a hood scoop, Lucas fog lamps and hood pins. Engine selection was limited only to the 302, 390, and 428 V8. A grand total of 619 XR-7Gs were produced, and only 14 G's were produced with the 428 CJ. The mid-year 7.0 L GT-E package was available on both the standard and XR-7 Cougars and came with the 427 V8. The 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air was available in limited numbers on the GT-E beginning 1 April 1968. Conservatively rated at 335 hp (250 kW) , the 428 Cobra Jet could produce much more (306 kW (410 hp)) from the factory. A grand total of 602 GT-Es were produced, 358 with the 427, 244 with the 428.

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. A new performance package appeared and several disappeared. The XR-7G and the 7.0 L GT-E disappeared, but the 390 and 428 V8s remained. The 290 hp (216 kW) 351 Windsor V8 was added to the engine lineup. The Eliminator performance package appeared for the first time. A standard 351 in 4-barrel V8 under the hood, with the 390 4-barrel V8, the 428CJ and the Boss 302 available as an option. The Eliminator was the new top of the line performance model of the Cougar lineup. It also featured a blacked-out grille, special side stripes, front and rear spoilers, optional Ram Air induction system, and a more performance tuned suspension and handling package. It also came in a variety of vibrant colors like White, Bright Blue Metallic, Competition Orange, and Bright Yellow. Only two Cougars came with the Boss 429 V8, making them the rarest Cougars ever built.

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 appeared inside, and the aforementioned new nose and taillight bezels updated the look on the outside. The 300 hp (224 kW) 351 "Cleveland" V8 was now available for the first time though both the Cleveland and Windsor engines were available, if the buyer selected the base model 2-barrel motor. The 390 FE engine was now dropped, and the Boss 302 and 428CJ soldiered on.

Total production: 1967: 150,893 1968: 113,720 1969: 100,060 1970: 72,343


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Wikipedia
 
From 1968-69 the Cougar was used in the Trans-Am Series. After the Cougar changed to the Thunderbird platform in 1974 the bodystyle was raced in NASCAR. The Wood Brothers Racing team with David Pearson and then later Neil Bonnett was very successful with the car and scored a number of victories until the bodystyle became ineligible following the 1980 season. The next year (1981) saw the previous Cougar teams switch to the Thunderbird when NASCAR mandated the smaller (110" wheel based) cars, though oddly the Thunderbirds had to have their wheel bases streched 6", as the production cars wheelbase was only 104". From 1989 to 1990, Lincoln-Mercury Motorsport fielded Cougars of the new body style in the GTO class of the IMSA GT Championship. The cars collected the championship both years, and continued the teams' streak to 7 manufacturer's championships.


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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Sweet old school MB Harlan.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
The current tool captures the lines of the Cougar much better, but for the time period of this casting, it's not too bad and well worth having in a collection.
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JustDavid
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SUV
Very nice Harlan! Great choice for CoTD.
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james_autos
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Minivan
Looks great for a 40+ year old casting :thumbup:
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harlans toys
matchbox
this is one of my all time favourite mb's and as said before for its time period its a superb casting.
in my opinion though in the 60s and early 70s mb really new how to get an american car right.
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james_autos
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Minivan
I think I've only got a couple of transitionals, but I do think they're nicer with these type of wheels. Apart from the Ferrari Berlinetta - those original Lesney wire wheels were the mut's nuts.
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be77bt
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be77bt
*In Memory Of*
I have one that has the front wheels turning in mint shape and in a box.
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harlans toys
matchbox
be7bt
Feb 7 2010, 08:04 PM
I have one that has the front wheels turning in mint shape and in a box.
that would be the regular wheels issue so its slightly older than mine.
i always liked the steering feature on some of those regular wheels.
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Tone
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Rocket 88
That Cougar is more than just "car of the day:" it will last for many more years! :)
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
A VERY popular model at the time. The cream version, with ivory interior, is VERY rare, and expensive. Opening doors: a plus! Nonexistent 'B' pillar? A minus, even though it was thought to be necessary to provide strength to the roof in a vulnerable spot. Cast wipers in the windshield? A plus! No, a minus: the wipers faced right on the real car, not left on this one. Oh, well!

At the time, I favored the Cougar from Hot Wheels' "Original Sixteen"...
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