I started this article thinking it was just the next run-off-the-mill cool looking 60s muscle car. After all, the Mercury Cougar is a Ford Mustang with a fancier body and some luxury features – but not enough to make it a Lincoln.

If you haven’t read my story about the Mercury Cougar, I believe you’ll find quite a few interesting facts about this car, which might inspire a newfound appreciation for it.

Like it or not, you should agree with me that this big cat is meant to roam free, not sit boxed up in a garage or in some museum – perfectly restored, yet bound to its resting place.

So, I was very pleased to talk to one 1967 Mercury Cougar owner who’s driving it on a daily basis.

Brad Cox is a 3rd generation Marine, mechanic, and very much a Ford man. He’s had the 1967 Mercury Cougar all his life. It belonged to his father, who taught Brad and his younger brother about cars while working on the Cougar. Brad loved the car so much, he got it for his 16th birthday.

It’s seen daily use ever since.

The only time the two were separated was during his training at the Marine Corps when his brother drove it to school. When he reached his first duty station, Brad took the Cougar with him.

Brad and his brother picked up these sweet American Racing AR61 Outlaw I wheels. Funny thing is, the American Racing website says they don’t fit the Cougar. Well, they can’t be any more wrong.

Brad keeps it strictly old school and entirely mechanical – just like it was in 1967, only better. A lot better.

The original 289 V8 granaded out spectacularly when he was still 17 years old. I imagine he wasn’t easy on the poor thing either.

The replacement? More displacement!

He started with a 302 cubic inch Ford V8 block.

It got a new crankshaft with 3.4 inches of stroke and hypereutectic pistons with a 4.125-inch diameter. Bored and stroked, the engine gained more than 60ci of displacement for a final of 363 ci. This is about as much you can get out of the 302 block and it easily doubles the power of the original 289.

The engine has hydraulic roller lifters and a somewhat choppy street strip cam. It’s crowned by a 600 cfm Edelbrock carburetor – part number 1406, which Brad took apart and ground the internals for better flow. He removed the spacer and installed a low-profile intake manifold.

Brad admits that he downgraded these parts and took out some timing from the MSD distributor, so he could commute to and from work without stopping for gas. The engine still makes gobs of power though. Brad guesstimates around 400 – 450 horsepower, but never took it to the dyno.

It breathes out of long tube Hooker Headers with a 3-inch collector, down through 2½ -inch straight pipes, a FlowMaster Super 10 muffler, and straight out the back.

It sounds pretty radical. Check out the video below.

The Cougar doesn’t have an ECU or an OBD port so maintenance and tuning often require lots of grease work.

Brad wouldn’t have it any other way

Modern Hellcats and GT350s may be faster and fancier and a lot of other things-er. But he’s looking for that true connection where the machine becomes an extension of the body.

You feel it like it’s your flesh. You know what every sound, vibration, and rattle means. That’s only possible when you’ve turned every bolt and spent hours just listening to the engine.

Not to mention the years driving the thing on the road learning what it needs and how to make it behave. I have a deep respect for people who still cherish old machines like that.

The C4 automatic has a gained a street/strip valve body and a 2,500 RPM stall torque converter for great launches every time.

Most of the suspension is stock. A sway bar was added in over the years and Brad transplanted the manual steering rack from a 1966 Mustang.

Being in the Marine Corps, Brad is frequently gone on duty, so…

Work on the Cougar is never finished

The steering has picked up some considerable slack and the transmission pump seal is on its way out. Even though the original interior is pretty tight, the front seats have started separating.

And then there is the paint…

Since 1967, the Cougar has made a trip around the rainbow and back. It was originally maroon with vinyl top, then white, and now various shades of black. Brad started repairing the 50-year old sheet metal 8 years ago and means to paint it properly when he gets the chance. Eventually, the car will get a nice coat of hunter green – he’s in the military after all.

Brad will keep the legacy alive for as long as he can

He’s hoping to instill the same passion for cars and mechanics in his children the same way his father did – working on the Cougar. Whoever of the younglings shows more interest will get the car on their 16th birthday.

Brad’s certain about one thing though – the Cougar stays in the family. He’ll never sell it no matter what the price.

These days he’s working on an old Bronco with his father. With everything else happening right now, progress is slow, but there’s still some.

The cowled hook you see in the photo below was fabricated by Brad himself using fiberglass molding. Ultimately, he wanted the Cougar to look closer to the original, so he got the factory hood back.

He’s also thinking about his dream car project – a 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 4-Door Sedan with a Sky Blue paint, 3-inch whitewall tires, white vinyl interior and powered by a 351 Windsor V8 coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission.

That’s oddly specific, but you’ve got to respect a man that knows exactly what he wants. He and his fellow Marines set up the Sykotic P3rf3ktion shop where this Mercury Cougar and a host of other cars got their mods over the years.

And you’ve got to respect a car that delivered beyond expectations.

The 1967 Mercury Cougar will remain one of the highly respected fruits of the muscle car era.  A true classic that still managed to bring something different to the table at a time when manufacturers were racing to unveil competing models.