The Mercury Cougar was first introduced as a 1967 model on Sept. 30, 1966.
The Mercury car line was a "tweener" introduced back in 1939 with the idea of offering upgrade models between the standard Ford but still less luxurious than Lincoln models. The Cougar was a "tweener" too, but it was positioned between the Ford Mustang and the Ford Thunderbird. The 1968 model was little changed from 1967, and the series ran through the 1970 model year with only slight modifications.
San Jose resident Jim Jarmann, is a real fan of the 1968 Cougar. He has three of them, but only the one pictured with this column runs. This was top of the line, the XR7 model, and has been in the family since 1971, when his sister owned it. Jarmann acquired it in 1973.
"The car was in pretty good shape when I got it, but it was my sister's first car, and she was just learning to drive. I didn't realize that she had dented the passenger door, passenger rear quarter, front fender and hood until after I got it."
From about 1997 to 2015, this Cougar hibernated in a garage waiting for the owner to have enough spare time and cash to restore it to its former beauty. He's come along way, but it's still a work in process.
"The Cougar XR7 package," Jarmann stated, "included front disc brakes, air conditioning, leather seats and a simulated wood grain dash. They were trying to simulate the European flare of a Jaguar."
Jaguar noticed and sued Ford Motor in 1967 because the "walking Cougar" emblem closely resembled the Jaguar trademarked emblem. Ford ended up changing the emblem to include the word Cougar underneath it and everyone was happy.
Sometimes auto manufacturers try to keep costs relatively low by changing the grill and taillights of a lower price car, give it a nicer interior, create a new name, and charge more money for it. In the early 1960s Ford tried that by face-lifting the Ford Fairlane and calling it a Mercury Meteor with very limited success. Apparently, they learned their lesson. So, while some at Ford Motor Company wanted the grill and taillight change to the very successful Mustang, Paul Lorenz, Lincoln-Mercury's general manager, thought better.
The Mustang and Cougar vehicles shared no exterior metal. The Cougar had a 3-inch-longer wheelbase and was 6.7 inches longer in total length. Most of the added length was in front of the windshield giving it a longer, sleeker look than Mustang. Of course, the interior was plusher, as the Cougar was not marketed to be another muscle car, but rather a sporty, elegant vehicle appealing to the Oldsmobile/Buick crowd, not the Chevrolet/Plymouth group.
Ford Motor Co. spent some serious bucks on the development of Cougar. Even with the company using much from the Mustang, the company invested an additional $40 million or about $294 million in today's dollars in the project. The base price for the Cougar was $2,851 (about $22,926 in today's dollars) and about $300 ($2,200 today) more than a V8 Mustang.
"This car has the 390-cubic inch two-barrel V-8 engine which was also referred to as the 6.5 Liter engine and is teamed with the Merc-o-matic automatic transmission," owner Jarmann said.
The owner estimates the horsepower at 280. It has most of the nice things fancy cars of the day had, like AM/FM radio, power steering and brakes. There are no power windows, however, because at the time Ford didn't have a small enough electric motor to fit in the door.
Restoring a car usually has some surprises, seldom are they good. Jarmann took the car to a body shop.
"They quoted me $8,000, and I told them it has some Bondo here and there and they bumped it up to $10,000. The body shop stripped everything off to bare metal, redid all the body work, then repainted it and ended up charging me about $25,000," Jarmann said.
Also, money was spent for a new windshield, a new vinyl top, new tires and new all-leather seats. Then came the start of the sweat equity investment. He replaced the gas tank, put in new gas lines, all the rubber parts, rebuilt the carburetor, new belts and hoses and new insulation in the doors and ceiling.
"I still have to replace the shocks and some other things."
All in all, Jarmann has about $50,000 invested, considerably more than the current market value. But restoring classic cars isn't about making money. For this mechanical engineer, it's recreation, a hobby and a challenge.
This is Jarmann's first project and he has learned what to do and what not to do. He has two more XR7s to work on, and he needs only two things: time and money. From the looks of the other two Cougars he will need a lot of both.
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com.
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