GTP Cool Wall: 1969-1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator

1969-1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator


  • Total voters
    125
  • Poll closed .
4,209
United States
Wasilla, AK
1969-1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator nominated by mustang fanatic

View attachment 126615

Stats:
Production: 1969-1970
Style: 2-door coupe
Engine: 302 ci naturally aspirated OHV V8 (rated 290 HP & 290 lb-ft), 351 ci naturally aspirated OHV V8 (rated 290 HP & 385 lb-ft in 1969 spec or 300 HP & 380 lb-ft in 1970 spec), 390 ci naturally aspirated OHV V8 (rated 320 HP & 480 lb-ft), 428 ci naturally aspirated OHV V8 (rated 335 HP & 440 lb-ft)
Transmission: 3-speed manual, 4-speed manual, 3-speed automatic
Layout: Front-engine, Rear-drive
Related: Ford Mustang​
 
If there are those of you who think I hate American muscle cars, think again.

Sub-Zero.
 
Plus points for not being a mustang (not that I dislike mustangs, because I don't) but this particular one looks too Australian. Meh.
 
I'll admit, I don't know a great deal about Cougars beyond some brief internet research, and what I know from Venari's example.

That car, incidentally, is very cool. And I quite like the name, "Mercury Cougar". Rolls off the tongue. And it's a Mustang that isn't a Mustang, which is also cool.

With the stripes, the hood scoop and the spoiler though, this one isn't so cool. The main thing I'd be thinking if it rolled past me on the road isn't "ooh, an Eliminator", it'd be "oh, shame it's not a '67 or '68".

(Edit: Why has someone not polled the regular Cougar yet anyway? It's like GTP's muscle car contingent is desperate to post the tacky special editions every time a car like this is polled, rather than the bread'n'butter, blue collar versions that are actually genuinely cool)
 
Mercury Cougar - Cool

Additional ego phallus performance pack - Uncool

That's not what it's for...don't have slight W&N syndrome I know it's rampant when you place yourself in these threads.

As for the car itself...it's meh, I've never found the Cougar to be cool and really it was more about being a more luxurious Mustang while retaining the power. This one though is trying to break that mold and say "hey I can be fast too just with more luxury". I guess some things never change but if you wanted to be different sure get this, if you wanted to be a normal human being that could see there wasn't much difference...get the Mustang

I'm sure @Slash wouldn't fully agree
 
I'm not denying it is an interesting car. Nor am I saying that it is a bad car. It's just not cool compared to the base, or an XR-7, with the add-ons.
 
I'm not denying it is an interesting car. Nor am I saying that it is a bad car. It's just not cool compared to the base, or an XR-7, with the add-ons.

No one said you were, just making a point out of saying that the package wasn't intended for that. But rather sale these to a group that wouldn't have bought them because it seemed something more for their father. It just didn't seem fun and cool for the time like Mustangs...hell the Gran Torino

The Cougar is (generally) cooler than the Mustang, I'd say. Why? Little flippy headlight covers.

Yeah they're cool, the Charger had them too and so did others like Chevy cars. But with respect to the car that the Muscle fanatics wanted to pick which is the eliminator...it's not cooler than than a Boss 302 or 429 (Mustang). Also the only 390 ford to be cool was a Mustang as well and I'm sure you know why :sly:

Standard Luxury Cougar though, is by far cooler than the teenage blonde dream that a standard or convertible mustang were.
 
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Solid cool from me, the Cougar is one of my favourite muscle cars. There's something quite sinister about it, almost the evil twin of the Mustang. I prefer the XR-7 though.
 
No one said you were, just making a point out of saying that the package wasn't intended for that. But rather sale these to a group that wouldn't have bought them because it seemed something more for their father. It just didn't seem fun and cool for the time like Mustangs...hell the Gran Torino

I see. I noted the point about the Cougar being a more luxury-orientated car, and I did know this anyway. It comes across to me as a beefy Thunderbird. Two-door personal luxury car but with muscular pretentions? Maybe. As I said, the actual nameplate is cool, just not this particular iteration.

Did Lincoln ever have a Mustang / Cougar model? If Ford wanted to market it as a luxury-type car, why not release it under the luxury marque? Unless I'm just confusing myself between Mercury being an entry level luxury marque and Lincoln being a fully fledged luxury marque.
 
I see. I noted the point about the Cougar being a more luxury-orientated car, and I did know this anyway. It comes across to me as a beefy Thunderbird. Two-door personal luxury car but with muscular pretentions? Maybe. As I said, the actual nameplate is cool, just not this particular iteration.

I agree with you this isn't cool.

Did Lincoln ever have a Mustang / Cougar model? If Ford wanted to market it as a luxury-type car, why not release it under the luxury marque? Unless I'm just confusing myself between Mercury being an entry level luxury marque and Lincoln being a fully fledged luxury marque.

No just like Cadillac didn't have a Camaro or Vette. It wasn't until later on that they realized people don't care for boats with four wheels. Slash may know something that I've forgotten but other than engine, that is as close as they got. And Mercury as far as I recall was much like Buick in that they are both Sporty luxury cars, while the others were focused on being luxury town cars.
 
My question for who nominated this (since I'm not surprised by this choice) is why not go for a XR7G or GT-E instead of the Eliminator...

I mean hell even the Cyclone would probably have been better than this version of the Cougar.
 
"This is my Mercury Cougar Eliminator. It eliminates Mercury Cougars."

Though I'll admit the dumb package name does little to stop me from actually liking this version of the Cougar. And I never thought the additional body attachments were as blatant and garish as some of the other late-60s/early-70s pony/muscle cars either.

It's still nowhere near XR-7-cool, especially with that name. But I can't just vote meh, and uncool seems a little too low for it. So I'm willing to give it a very low cool.
 
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The normal Cougar might be cool, but this just looks over the top.

Second that. I've seen worse makeup on a muscle car, but that package isn't helping the classy Cougar styling. And like Famine said, 'Eliminator' is a poor choice of name. All in all, it's what you'd expect from an American car maker. Gaudy, tacky, overblown and more massive for the masses.
 
Sub Zero for me. I love anything American muscle, and this fits the bill perfectly. I'd love something like this in the UK just to terrify little old ladies on the high street.

For those saying it's over the top; you're right. But then a muscle car like this is hardly subtle to begin with, is it? :lol:
 
Plus
Cool basic shape,
Colour is nice and suits it
I like the rear wing, headlight covers, wheels and tyres
I driver a Cougar

so at least cool, until ...

minus
terrible front spoiler
white stripe looks odd (to my eyes)
I drive an Eliminator

down to meh!
 
Plus
Cool basic shape,
Colour is nice and suits it
I like the rear wing, headlight covers, wheels and tyres
I driver a Cougar

so at least cool, until ...

minus
terrible front spoiler
white stripe looks odd (to my eyes)
I drive an Eliminator

down to meh!

By all means base your opinion on the trim level, but surely not the colour the one in the pic happens to be?
 
Uncool. It's a muscle car and for the most part muscle cars aren't cool since they're primarily owned and lauded by rednecks and old guys.
 
The original Cougar was a cool car. Clean styling, clever design touches, and overall a clear attempt to separate it from the rest of the (domestic) cars on the market. It took the contemporary Mustang and improved on it in pretty much every way (albeit not always intentionally), carving out its own niche in the process. The 1969 redesign was already well on the way to be the bloating, nasty mess that the car (and the Mustang as well) became almost immediately afterwards; and that's before you tack on the tacky sticker packages and name completely at odds with the original car.


Did Lincoln ever have a Mustang / Cougar model? If Ford wanted to market it as a luxury-type car, why not release it under the luxury marque? Unless I'm just confusing myself between Mercury being an entry level luxury marque and Lincoln being a fully fledged luxury marque.
It took until 1983 for Lincoln to downsize the Continental Mark enough that it sat on the same platform as the Cougar.



Though keep in mind that Ford started making "luxury" (or at least tarted up, if not nearly as well thought out as the original Cougar was) versions of the Mustang almost immediately after the Cougar became a success, so it was made irrelevant long before they downsized the Thunderbird so they could be rebadges of each other. They just kept making it because it was cheap to do so.
 
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