{"id":53515,"date":"2016-11-27T11:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=53515"},"modified":"2016-11-27T11:00:34","modified_gmt":"2016-11-27T15:00:34","slug":"collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/","title":{"rendered":"Collector Car Corner – Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Collector

\u201cCougar Johnny\u201d from the New England Cape Cod area may have the last surviving 1970 Mercury Cougar Convertible 428 Cobra Jet with a 4-Speed transmission, as only three were ever built. (Cougar Johnny collection photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Q: Hello Greg. I recently read your article \u201cWhich Mercury Cougar is the Rarest of All?\u201d I\u2019ve read your other articles in the Star News here in Portland, Oregon, so I know you know your stuff about cars. <\/p>\n

However, some of the production numbers quoted in your article are outdated. I help the Cougar Club of America and the Eliminator Registry track and document Cougar Eliminators. I\u2019m also an Eliminator owner and enthusiast. (See photo).<\/p>\n

You mentioned that only 264 of the GT-E models were ever delivered, most with the 427 powerplant. While lack of records existed in the past, the complete production number and breakdown by engine can now be found on the GT-E Registry page, here at http:\/\/gte.mercurycougarregistry.com\/production\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To summarize, 394 GT-E\u2019s were built, with 357 of those having the 427ci side-oiler engine, and 37 with the 428CJ engine. On the subject of rarity, only three of those GT-E\u2019s were equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission. One of those cars sold at auction in 2015 for $228,800.  <\/p>\n

I think you will find that most Cougar enthusiasts disagree with grouping it with the other GT\u2019s. The GT-E is simply in a league of its own, as far as Cougars go, accounting for both rarity and drivetrain.<\/p>\n

As for the Cougar Eliminators, many previous numbers are now outdated. Instead of 2,411 1969 Eliminators and 2,200 1970 Eliminators ever built noted in your column it has now been confirmed that in 1969 there were 2,250 Eliminators built, while in 1970 there were 2,268 built. <\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, there was one Boss 302 Cougar recorded as having been built without the Eliminator Option – which was not supposed to exist. We were finally able to track down that Boss 302 Cougar and prove that it actually did leave the factory with the Eliminator Option and that the Ford factory database had an error! <\/p>\n

This brought an end to the \u201cmystery Boss 302 Cougar\u201d legend and simultaneously increased the production count for 1970 Eliminators by one.  <\/p>\n

I think the most rare Cougar would have to be the two 1969 Boss 429 Cougars you mentioned in your article, although these can hardly be considered regular production vehicles (as you also mentioned). Regarding these two cars, there is a lot of confusion on this subject because of period literature advertising the availability of the Boss 429 engine in the Eliminator. However, no Boss 429 Eliminators were ever built and neither of these two (special) Boss 429 Cougars was equipped with the Eliminator option. They began life as 428 Cobra Jets and were rebuilt to house the Boss 429.  <\/p>\n

Another Cougar rarity to consider is the XR7-G, with only 619 units built according to the XR7-G Registry (with statistics provided by Ford and Marti Auto Works. (http:\/\/xr7g.mercurycougarregistry.com\/production-data\/). Also very uncommon is any Cougar with the factory electric sunroof option. For example, there were only 101 Eliminators built with a sunroof in 1969 and 102 built in 1970, while the XR7-G sunroof cars number around 200.<\/p>\n

As part of tracking \/ documenting Cougar Eliminators I search for recent posts related to \u201cCougar Eliminator.\u201d The Eliminator Registry currently has about 1,100 Eliminators recorded, out of the 4,518 built. Some cars are known to have been destroyed, and others are only known by a VIN stamp on an engine block or a random document or newspaper advertisement. However, we add around 10 to 20 new VIN\u2019s each year as cars are pulled out of garages and barns, or parts and documents turn up. <\/p>\n

Details aside, I want to say thank you for your article. The Mercury Cougar sees so little print that it is good to know the Cougar is not forgotten completely. Please also know that the little details I\u2019ve touched on don\u2019t matter to most people – except those of us who are just a bit too focused on our favorite car. Thanks again for everything you do for the collector car hobby! Michael Banks, Portland, Oregon.<\/p>\n

A: Michael, thank you very much for your excellent letter. Researching production figures is always a difficult proposition, and there\u2019s so much misinformation out there. Now I know where to go when it has to do with the Mercury Cougar!<\/p>\n

Noteworthy, too, were two other letters among some 25 I\u2019ve already received from happy Cougar fans. A gent by the name of \u201cJohnny Cougar\u201d who reads the Cape Cod Times informs us of the same production number discrepancy in my original article. He\u2019s the owner of a special ordered 1970 Cougar 428SCJ Convertible that he bought new 35 years ago. His beauty is ultra rare (perhaps the only survivor of just three built) and he has no plans of parting with it. He, too, enjoyed the extra coverage the Mercury Cougar received in his newspaper and has shared it on social media. (See photo.)<\/p>\n

Then there was Phil Jameison, also a Cape Cod Times subscriber who was also thankful for Mercury Cougar exposure and assisted in the production number tracking.<\/p>\n

Thanks Mike, Johnny and Phil, and all who wrote. Enjoy the upcoming holidays. <\/p>\n

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions and input at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840 or email at greg@gregzyla.com<\/a>).  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: Hello Greg. I recently read your article \u201cWhich Mercury Cougar is the Rarest of All?\u201d I\u2019ve read your other articles in the Star News here in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nCollector Car Corner - Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Collector Car Corner - Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q: Hello Greg. I recently read your article \u201cWhich Mercury Cougar is the Rarest of All?\u201d I\u2019ve read your other articles in the Star News here in...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-27T15:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"401\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"opennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"opennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/\",\"name\":\"Collector Car Corner - Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-27T15:00:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":401,\"caption\":\"Michael Banks does an Oregon farm field \u201clittle bitty broad slide\u201d for the camera in his gorgeous 1970 Cougar Eliminator finished in Competition Gold with black d\u00e9cor interior. It is one of just 70 that came with the 428 Super Cobra Jet V8 with Ram-Air and a 4-speed transmission. Michael assists the Cougar Club of America in documenting the known to exist Cougars and Eliminators.\u00a0(Banks collection photo)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Collector Car Corner – Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15\",\"name\":\"opennysaver\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"opennysaver\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/opennysaver\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Collector Car Corner - Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Collector Car Corner - Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"Q: Hello Greg. I recently read your article \u201cWhich Mercury Cougar is the Rarest of All?\u201d I\u2019ve read your other articles in the Star News here in...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2016-11-27T15:00:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":401,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"opennysaver","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"opennysaver","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/","name":"Collector Car Corner - Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-27T15:00:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2016\/11\/Car_Collector1-2.jpg","width":600,"height":401,"caption":"Michael Banks does an Oregon farm field \u201clittle bitty broad slide\u201d for the camera in his gorgeous 1970 Cougar Eliminator finished in Competition Gold with black d\u00e9cor interior. It is one of just 70 that came with the 428 Super Cobra Jet V8 with Ram-Air and a 4-speed transmission. Michael assists the Cougar Club of America in documenting the known to exist Cougars and Eliminators.\u00a0(Banks collection photo)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/11\/27\/collector-car-corner-mercury-cougar-fans-rejoice-update-production-figures\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collector Car Corner – Mercury Cougar fans rejoice, update production figures"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e90b97e3c9fe75a643c31b3439ed7b15","name":"opennysaver","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9bec4be7017247fe88bfa55f4162d3e4f733b538d1e5778a56aec357ba2765b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"opennysaver"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/opennysaver\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}