Spotted this 1970 Mercury Cougar on Crawfordsville Road while headed home from the range on Thursday afternoon. I was in the passenger seat of Dave's car and all I had was a 50mm-equivalent lens, so the photo's through a windshield and pretty heavily cropped. Sorry 'bout that.
1970 was the last year of the first generation of Cougars, which started in the '68 model year. These early ones were basically "luxury pony cars"; plusher equivalents of the Mustang.
The base motor was the 351 Windsor V-8 with a 2-barrel carb, rated at 250 SAE gross bhp, with an optional 351 Cleveland 4-bbl. The latter was a decidedly high-performance motor, with an 11.0:1 compression ratio and rated conservatively at 300 gross horsepower. Ordering the "Eliminator" package unlocked the optional 290bhp Boss 302 and the big-block 335bhp 428 Cobra Jet.
After 1970, the Cougar remained on the Mustang platform for the '71-'73 model years. Bulkier than the earlier pony car versions, the Cougar leaned into the size increase and started sliding toward the "Personal Luxury Coupe" mien of cars like the Cutlass Supreme and Chevy Monte Carlo.
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