The outcome was actually the Cougar Eliminator the 1969 model year
Though Gurney was still definitely associated with Formula One rushing during the time, the guy led the group to a fruitful preliminary getaway in Trans Am, using the Cougar staff getting four wins over summer and winter another room spot total for the month.
In a strange perspective of destiny, this achievements got seen as a mixed content by Mercury’s executives, exactly who desired to highlight the Cougar as a lavish alternative to the Mustang instead a straight-out abilities vehicles. Thus, Mercury pulled manufacturer support not only when it comes down to Cougar’s Trans Am initiatives, but motorsport as whole after 1967.
Despite Mercury’s choice to decide from drive involvement in racing, they still desired to leverage the Cougar’s efficiency power for some reason. To that conclusion, Mercury sought for for connecting the Cougar with Dan Gurney a great deal the way Ford have fused the Mustang label with Carroll Shelby. In the beginning this resulted in the Dan Gurney Special, which didn’t amount to a great deal more than an appearance bundle for 1967.
But also for the following year, the business decided to need a earnest method of a Gurney-associated design, the one that would a lot more directly correlate with Ford’s Shelby Mustang products. O. Smith premises in Detroit.
Together with some appearance improvements like unique aluminum tires, a fiberglass bonnet scoop, badging and additional indoor content, the XR7-G (G as in Gurney) ended up being provided with three-high show motors a€“ the GT’s 390ci huge block, the high-winding supervisor 302 V8, or the 428 Cobra Jet V8.
The 428CJ in addition included a ram air program piped through the bonnet scoop, which was non-functional on XR7-G versions that weren’t loaded with that top-spec engine. Best 619 XR7-Gs had been made in full, and among those, only 14 of them are designed with the 428 CJ.
By late 1968 muscle mass vehicle mania have attained the peak, and despite Mercury’s metal wishing to place the Cougar as a statelier alternative to the Mustang, interest in extroverted high performance systems dictated a necessity for a Cougar that wore their performance aspirations on their sleeve.
In highest effect paint colors with daring design, the Cougar Eliminator generated their motives obvious upon earliest picture, additionally the lineup of readily available electricity plants pulled from XR7-G supported the picture (a 351 Windsor V8 creating 290hp offered just like the base engine).
But Mercury’s confused attempts to years, while the high performance Cougar just didn’t not enjoy the same level of presence to fanatic people as vehicles just like the Firebird, Camaro, and Mustang performed. Mercury would offer below 2,300 types of the Cougar Eliminator that 12 months, even though instrumented screening indicated that hopped up Cougar could go toe to toe most abundant in effective street devices coming out of Detroit.
Unlike earlier effort, the Cougar Eliminator abandoned any feeling of pretense and took the fight directly to opponents such as the Chevy Ca atmosphere mingle2 TIPS 400, and Ford’s very own Mustang Mach I
Because the Cougar contributed their underpinnings using the Mustang, whenever Ford’s pony vehicles saw an important changes, so did the Cougar. Accordingly, the ’71 product year saw considerable adjustments your Cougar. The Eliminator design got fallen from collection, though their Ram Air option remained, as well as the motor solutions today endured at a 240 horse power 351ci Windsor V8, a 285hp 351ci Cleveland V8, and a 370 horse power 429ci Cobra plane V8, the latter of which would simply be readily available for an individual 12 months.