For most of its life, Mercury has been a filler brand with the sole purpose of bridging the price gap between the cheaper Fords and the deluxe Lincolns. Mercury produced cars for the middle-class American family who would otherwise buy a Buick, an Olds, or a Chrysler.

The brand’s insignificance was further accentuated by its merger into the Lincoln-Mercury division after World War II. Mercury cars would be created from the parts bins of Ford and Lincoln with style and feature changes to set them apart.

Motorsports and performance was never a Mercury selling point…Until the Cougar came around.

Yes, in this article I’ll tell you the story of a car which I’ve got newfound love for – the 1967 Mercury Cougar.

The rise of the big cat

It was the early 1960s…

Lee Iacocca was busy orchestrating the first Mustang and instructed all Ford design departments to produce concepts for the new small sporty car. Lincoln-Mercury also took part and designed their own upscale versions code-named T-5 and later T-7.

The internal design contest was ultimately won by Ford’s own design studio, who called their concept “Cougar”. In fact, Ford switched to the Mustang name much later in the development stage, after Cougar emblems and badges had already been designed.

In 1964, the Ford Mustang was unveiled to the public and became a ground-shattering success. It was lightweight, had superior handling, and a range of powertrain options. But most of all was cheap and attainable.

Thus, the pony car was born and everybody wanted one.

Inspired by the Mustang’s success, Lincoln-Mercury sought to push their concepts forward. Iacocca, who had risen in rank at Ford, authorized the production of the T-7 concept.

In 1967, the Mercury Cougar was unveiled as a larger, more luxurious version of the Mustang. It was a two-door hardtop coupe that was almost identical to the Mustang mechanically – chassis, suspension, powertrain, and all.

Design

What set the Cougar apart was an entirely new body with its own distinct styling. It was slightly longer than the Mustang – 3 inches in wheelbase and 8.7 inches overall (111 inches and 190.3 inches, respectively).

It further emphasized the pony car proportions – longer hood, shorter deck. The 1967 Cougar showcased fantastic front and rear ends, dominated by fullwidth arrays of vertical slats, split down the middle, and contoured with chrome trim.

At the front, vacuum-operated actuators would rotate sections of the grill to reveal the hidden headlights. This feature was short-lived due to reliability issues and removed for the second generation in 1971.

I think the Cougar looks absolutely stunning with the headlight doors closed! For me, it’s the best incarnation of pop-out headlights, as it does not alter the silhouette of the vehicle or create additional aerodynamic drag.

At the back, the Cougar included sequential turn signals from the Thunderbird. The rear window and trunk were slightly recessed into the C-pillars, creating thin ridges that flow all the way to the rear bumper.

The design of the first-gen Mustang is iconic and trend-setting for an entire class of cars.

However, it is the Mercury Cougar which I find more beautiful and impactful. It has a serious, dominating presence, like a silent predator – mouth gaping and ready to tear you apart.

Comfort

Perhaps more importantly for its target buyers, the Cougar provided a tad more interior space and legroom for the rear passengers, allowing four people to ride more comfortably.

Cougars came in base and XR-7 trim levels. The latter offered Euro-inspired luxury features such as a wood-grain dashboard and steering wheel, black-faced competition gauges, center-console toggle switches, and leather-vinyl upholstery.

Comfort options included a tilt-away steering wheel, air conditioning, AM/tape radios, and bench seating.

Cougars came with 124 lb of sound-deadening insulation and a suspension tuned for a softer ride with more compliant rubber bushings. Overall, the Mercury Cougar offered a much quieter and comfortable ride compared to the Ford Mustang, on which it was based.

Marketing materials would often compare the Cougar to a Jaguar or an Aston Martin, though in full honesty, it’s not quite up to par.

Performance

Powerwise, the two-barrel carburetor, 289-cubic-inch (4.7-liter) V8 was standard with 195 hp and 285 lb-ft of torque.

Both the base and XR-7 models could be ordered with an additional GT performance package. It included the 390 big-block V8, suspension upgrades, better brakes, tires, and a low-restriction exhaust system.

Mercury Cougars could be ordered with a plethora of V8 engines – 302, 351, as well as the big block 390, 428 and 427, producing up to 390 horsepower.

The 3-speed automatic transmission was standard, though a manual could be ordered with any available engine. Depending on the motor, an 8-inch or 9-inch differential would take power to the rear wheels. These came as open or limited-slip units with many gear ratios available.

Power disc brakes with 11.3-inch rotors and 4-piston calipers were optional (and recommended) for the front end.

1969 saw the introduction of the Eliminator performance package. Eliminator Cougars came with the 351 Windsor V8, improved suspension, full instrumentation package, front and rear spoilers, hood scoop, and a range of styling updates – most notably the blacked-out grille and rally wheels.

Although “Eliminator” is as badass of a name as you can think of, personally, I feel like the blacked-out grille took away from its visual appeal.

The racing Cougars of Bud Moore

Just as Mercury was entering the production of their new pony car, a shift in management put some of Ford’s racing executives – Gar Laux, Leo Beebe, and Frank Zimmerman – at key positions in the company. They managed to secure funding for assembling a factory-backed racing team to compete with the new Cougar.

The venue of choice was the brand new Trans-Am series by the Sports Car Club of America. Backed by Ford and race-prepped by Carrol Shelby, the Mustang won the first season in 1966, throwing the gauntlet at all other manufacturers.

At the dawn of the pony car era, Trans Am quickly became a proving ground for all competitors like the Camaro, Challenger, Javelin, and so on. Every manufacturer wanted a piece of the pony/muscle car market and if the Cougar won in Trans Am, Mercury would have the most excellent marketing material to push the car to market.

Fran Hernandez was in charge of the campaign and Walter “Bud” Moore was brought in as chief constructor to prepare three cars and race them in the 1967 Trans-Am season.

Bud Moore took a few GT performance models from the assembly line, which had beefed out suspension and rear ends to handle the 390 big block motors. He then stuffed them with Ford Boss 302 engines, since the series permitted a maximum displacement of 305 cubic inches (5 liters).

Of course, the Cougars underwent the full race car treatment with chassis stiffeners, roll cages, lightweighting, and so on.

Driving the Cougars were Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Dave Pearson, Ed Leslie, and Peter Revson – all very experienced and established drivers in series like NASCAR and Indy 500.

They almost made it happen. Both Mercury and Ford had four wins each.

In the very last race at Kent, Washington, Mercury was leading Ford with 1 point for the manufacturer’s title. Technical problems saw Parnelli Jones’s car out, while the one driven by Dan Gurney suffered a host of misfortunes.

Ultimately a loose gas tank cap decided the outcome of the championship. Dan Gurney was forced to enter the pit and fix the problem. He still finished 3rd, but Ronnie Bucknum drove his Mustang into 2nd place and Mark Donohue came 1st with his Camaro.

Ford won the title by 2 points.

The 1967 Trans Am Series could have been one of those perfect underdog moments we all love. Alas, fate had other plans for Mercury and after coming so close, Ford made sure it will never happen again. Mercury was pulled from factory racing forever and Moore’s team was scattered.

You can watch a great 3-part overview of the 1967 Trans-Am Series below:

Undeterred, Bud Moore took his Trans Am Cougars and re-specced them for the new Grand American series of NASCAR, which was introduced in 1968.

Driven by Tiny Lund, Bud Moore’s Cougar dominated the inaugural Grand American season, winning 9 out of 19 races.

The sign of the cat

By this point, you should realize the potential that Mercury had instilled into the Cougar.

Although it came within a hair’s width of winning over the Mustang and proved its prowess on the race track, street Cougars weren’t as fast. The extra weight and softer suspension inevitably gave the Mustang the upper hand if both drivers were equally skilled.

For the youth who only cared about performance and price, the Mustang was THE CAR – at least where Ford is involved. But while everybody wanted Mustang’s performance, not everybody could bear the spartan interior and lack of comfort.

The Cougar caught the interest of the mature driver – the middle-class man with a family, who needed a comfortable daily driver with a solid rear seat but too wanted performance on demand.

The 1967 Mercury Cougar is a perfect combination of power and comfort in a gorgeous package that started at $2,851. And while it was $284 more expensive than the comparable Mustang, the Cougar offered enough features to justify the 10% price difference.

A total of 150,000 units were sold in 1967 alone. The same year, the Cougar won the Motor Trend’s “Car of the Year” award, surpassing other new-for-1967 ponies such as the Camaro, Firebird, and Javelin.

“Look for the sign of the cat” was adopted as a marketing slogan for the majority of Lincoln-Mercury dealerships all over the country.

Ultimately, the Cougar was Mercury’s most successful vehicle.

However, nothing good came for the car in the following years. A new switch in management decided Mercury had no place in the performance market and sealed the Cougar’s fate. After its second generation concluded in 1973, the Mercury Cougar was redesigned over the Ford Torino platform and stripped out of whatever performance was left to become a personal luxury vehicle.

Mercury Cougar remained in production until 1997 and then briefly between 1999 and 2002, as a rebadged front-wheel-drive compact, before it was ultimately discontinued. Mercury itself was axed in 2011.

Today, surviving first-generation Mercury Cougars (1967 – 1969) stand as a testament of a performance car that was not meant to be, yet found its way to market.

In the next article, I’m going to talk about the 1967 Mercury Cougar daily driven by one of our readers. Check it out here.

Note: The photos of the 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7 model are sourced from Bring a Trailer.