1970 Mercury Cougar

Mercury introduced the Cougar in 1967, featuring a long hood and short deck and geared to an upper scale buyer, generally considered more of a gentleman's pony car. This changed in 1969 with the introduction of the Eliminator package, offered for just two years, and could be equipped with the Cobra Jet 351, the solid-lifter Boss 302, and the 428 Cobra Jet. The 300 horsepower engine was standard in the Eliminator performance package, and the Boss 302 was only offered in the Eliminator. Eliminators came from the factory with standards that included full competition suspension with heavy-duty shocks and springs, plus a rear stabilizer bar. The sporty persona continued to the interior, with bucket seats, full instrumentation including an 8,000 RPM tachometer, rally clock with sweep second hand, E.T. indicator, and oil pressure gauge. Other items included a two-spoke steering and a visual check panel that housed door-ajar and low-fuel signals.

Numerous performance-enhancing options were offered, along with several wild colors for 1970. The 'Super Drag Pak' cars, a rare option, were utilized by the Ford Motor Company as its marketing name for Ford Lincoln Mercury performance cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This option included an oil cooler and a higher ratio rear axle gear (3.91) in the Traction-Lok rear end as the main components. The oil cooler setup included the oil cooler assembly, an oil filter block adapter with a special mounting bolt and oil adapter inlet and outlet hoses to and from the cooler assembly, and upper and lower mounting brackets. The oil cooler mounts were on the driver's side, in front of the radiator support, next to the hood latch. With the oil cooler on the radiator support, both horns were relocated to the passenger side of the hood latch. A reinforcement bracket in the radiator, behind the horns, supported the horns being mounted side-by-side.

A revised look for the 1970 Mercury Cougar included a sleeker and sportier silhouette with the hand-tooled appearance of European Grand Touring cars of the era. Body styles included a hardtop or convertible and, depending on the options selected, could fall into multiple categories, from wild to elegant. The previous year's grille was replaced by a center hood extension and vertical 'electric-shaver' like inserts similar to the design cues of the 1967 and 1968 models. The interiors had courtesy lights, a vinyl headliner, rosewood-toned dash panel, high-back bucket seats, and carpeted door trim panels. The convertibles received a comfortable weave vinyl interior, a power top with a folding rear glass window, and a three-spoke steering wheel.

Mercury built 72,365 examples of the Cougar in 1970 with 49,479 being hardtops with 2,268 receiving the Eliminator Package. 2,322 examples were convertible, with a factory base price of $3,265. The hardtop coupe had a base price of $2,920.

The 111.1-inch wheelbase and 196.1-inch length were the shortest in the lineup. The vast list of options made the Cougar customizable to meet buyers needs and wishes, including air conditioning, vinyl roof, AM radio with Stereo-sonic tape, AM radio, AM/FM stereo, power steering, front disc brakes, heater and defroster, Deluxe wheel covers, Rally wheel covers, wire wheel covers, and more. The Appearance Production Group added front bumper guards, rear floor mats, and door edge guards. The Courtesy Light Group included underhood and map lights, head-lamps-on warning buzzer with light, and rear roof pillar. The Decor Option Group had deluxe wheel covers, custom-grade door and quarter trim, rear quarter armrests, comfort weave vinyl high-back bucket seats, door courtesy lights, three-spoke rim-blow steering wheel, and curb molding. The Ram-Air Induction Option had a ram-air induction system and function hood scoop in body color, and hood stripes that were black or argent. The Visual Check package had low-fuel and door-ajar warning lights.

Mercury Cougar XR-7
The body styles of the Mercury Cougar XK-7 mirrored the base Cougar, with 18,565 of the coupe and 1,977 of the convertible. The coupe had a factory base price of $3,200 and the convertible at $3,465.

The XR-7 package added a more luxurious interior, additional accouterments, and exterior styling upgrades, including a remote-control racing mirror, unique wheel covers, rocker panel moldings, map pockets on the seatbacks, burled walnut vinyl applique on the instrument panel, map and courtesy lights, an electric clock with elapsed-time indicator, loop yarn nylon carpeting, and Visual-Check panel. The vinyl high-back bucket seats had leather accents, and the instrumentation included a tachometer and trip odometer. Rear passengers had an armrest.

Power was from an overhead-valve, 351 cubic-inch V8 with a two-barrel carburetor and delivered 250 horsepower at 4,600 RPM.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2020