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FEATURED MEMBER RIDE

’69 Cat Scratches the Itch for PA Cougar Fan

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This Cat’s Tale

My grandfather worked at a Lincoln-Mercury dealership for more than 40 years and found my first car for me: a red 1976 XR-7. It took me two years, but I paid for it myself. I have always loved Cougars and have owned four models over the years, including a 1967 XR-7 that I sold when I moved from Colorado to Pennsylvania in 2018. It didn’t take long for me to get the itch to find another one.

I joined the “1969 & 1970 Cougar Eliminator Owners and Enthusiasts” Facebook page and within a few months saw an advertisement for a 1969 Eliminator that was relatively close to where I lived. I figured it would have sold fast, but I decided to roll the dice and see if it was still available. The first potential buyer never showed up, so I was told I could come to look at it. The owner and I hit it off after we started talking and realized we had both been in the Army and stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, at the same time, but in different units, and then in Germany three years later, at different Kasernes (a German word meaning “barracks”) only 30 miles from each other! He made me a deal I couldn’t refuse, and the rest is history; I brought it home on March 7, 2000.

I received a lot of paperwork with the sale and was able to talk to three of the six previous owners. Owner No. 3 told me the car originally sat on a lot in California for a year until, finally, the first owner said he wanted it if he could get a 4-speed installed. The dealer obliged, and that story was later corroborated by Cougar Club of America Eliminator Registrar Dave Wyrwas. Owner No. 3 sold it to his friend in Kentucky, and he did the restoration with the goal to sell it at auction at Mecum or Barrett-Jackson; but the care never quite made it. I am owner No. 6.

I’ve tried to fight the urge to put a lot of “go-fast” parts on but want to keep it close to original. That being said, modifications include weld-on Hotchkis subframe connectors, CalTracs traction bars, a Monte Carlo bar, export brace, Pertronix electronic ignition and coil, Edelbrock carb (my original Autolite refuses to idle), three-core aluminum radiator with a 428CJ fan, aluminum water pump, and LED interior lights. I have a 1970s Ford-numbered Buddy Bar aluminum intake manifold but haven’t installed it yet. I park it in the winter and drive it on pretty days to cruise-ins and car shows. I want to take it this summer to a drag strip just to see if it can break into the high 14-seconds. Ambitious, I know!”

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Notes

Dave, who describes himself as “semi-retired,” owned four Cougars before his current car: a 1976 XR-7 (his first car), a 1967 standard, a 1970 Competition Gold Eliminator, and a 1967 XR-7. He also owns a 1943 Willys Jeep, 1945 Ford Jeep, and a 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle convertible. He says his dream car is a 1968 Cougar GTE or a blue 1969 or 1970 Eliminator with a 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air engine. Dave, who’s originally from Tennessee, says his other interests include traveling and maintaining an online antique militaria website.