10 Reasons Why The 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator Was The Ultimate Muscle Car

Dec 06, 2023

The Mercury Cougar Eliminator may not have been one of the most popular choices in 1969, but it was one of the ultimate muscle cars around!

The entire Mercury line of vehicles was designed and produced to be a step above the Ford lineup but a ladder rung below the luxurious Lincoln models that Ford Motor Company presented to the buying public. The 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator was one of the models Mercury designed to compete in the muscle car genre that had exploded throughout the '60s. It was a unique design that was created by Larry Shinoda, the man that is also responsible for designing the Ford Mustang Boss 302. He also helped create the 1959 Chevy Stingray Racer and the 1963 to 1967 Chevrolet Corvette. He also did some work creating the Monza Corvair Spyder, which was a huge success within the automotive industry. Thankfully, Shinoda decided to switch companies for a time to help Ford with the new designs; otherwise, who knows what the Mercury Cougar Eliminator would have turned out looking like.

Of course, that is all history now, so the important thing to understand is that the Cougar and the Mustang shared a lot of similar parts and pieces, but they were each their own unique car. Let's dig into the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator a little bit deeper to discover why it was the ultimate muscle car.

Related: 10 Things You Need To Know About The Mercury Cougar

The 1964 Ford Mustang design launched for the 1965 model year was a bigger success than anyone at Ford could have ever imagined. This spurred the other carmakers to scramble to get a version of the popular muscle car to the market, including the designers and engineers at Mercury. The company had been planning to offer an answer to the Ford Mustang as early as 1962 when the engineers were diligently working on the T-5 project, which was the original designing phase of the Mustang and the Cougar. The Cougar did not start production until 1966 for the '67 model year, and much like the Mustang, the Cougar sold far better than expected. In 1969 the Mercury Eliminator was added to the Cougar lineup to continue taking on the wildly selling Mustang in the hopes of gaining some of the sales success that the 'Stang had.

Since the Mercury Cougar took so long to be brought to the market, the designers knew that they would have to do something different to make it look more appealing than the Mustang, which was the platform that the Cougar used for production. The best way to complete the task without redesigning an entire platform was to extend the wheelbase by 3 inches, giving the car a more aggressive stance. To go along with the concept, the front of the vehicle was given a blacked-out grill stretched from one headlight to the other, with a small square in the middle taken out to install the iconic symbol of the "cat." The interior is where things really created a look all of its own because it was designed to be a more luxurious option to the Mustang.

Related: One Rare Cat! The 1970 Boss 302 Powered Mercury Cougar Eliminator

An interesting fact to note about the 1969 Eliminator is that the rumors about the car being produced with a Boss 429 under the hood are true, but they were not available to the public. The only two ever built with the engine installed were for two racing legends, Fast Eddie Schartman and Dyno Don Nicholson. The thought of getting ahold of one of those monsters is appealing to even the most laid-back car collector, but the good thing is that the Eliminator was offered with other engine choices that could also dominate the streets, such as the Boss 302 (exclusive to the Mercury Cougar Eliminator) and the 428 Cobra Jet and Super Cobra Jet.

Sliding a big block under the hood of any car is not something that any carmaker takes lightly. It is never as simple as installing the engine, connecting to the transmission, and hoping for the best. The torque figure produced by engines such as the 428 Cobra Jet (around 440 foot-pounds of torque) can easily cause driveshafts to shatter, suspension parts to snap, and the twisting of the frame to the point of making the car unsafe to drive. Because of this, the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator that received the 428 CJ/SCJ automatically received heavy-duty suspension system and reinforced frames. It consisted of installing improved shocks and springs, a thicker anti-roll bar, and staggered rear shocks. All in the hopes of improving performance and decreasing breakage.

Related: Is The '69 Mercury Cobra Jet Good Enough To Fend Off The Mighty Buick GSX?

One of the most forgotten-about upgrades that could be opted for when ordering the Cougar Eliminator was the fact that the 428 Cobra Jet engine could be upgraded to the even more beastly 428 Super Cobra Jet. Once this little box was checked on the order form, the engine received stronger connecting rods, a cast iron intake manifold, and an external oil cooler that helped keep the oil cool when the engine was at sustained higher RPMs. It may not seem like a substantial difference in assembly, and when it comes to the horsepower rating of the engine, they were both listed by Ford to push out 335 horses. The difference could be seen when drag racing, though, which is why the Super Cobra Jet was an engine worthy of obtaining if the 1969 Cougar Eliminator was used for any type of racing, on or off the official drag strip.

Muscle cars built for all-out power and torque cannot simply rely upon the engine under the hood. Everything must be matched together for the vehicle to perform at top levels. For example, gear ratios in the back will not do much good if the torque is not transferred to the drive tires in the most optimal way. The bigger the engine is, the tougher the transmission will have to be. The three-speed manual and the Select-Shift automatic were available for cars with the 302, 351, and 390, with the four-speed manual being an available option. The three-speed manual was dropped as an option for any 428 car, and the 302 Boss car was only offered with the four-speed stick shift.

Related: 10 Things To Know About The Underappreciated Mercury Cougar GT-E

A common theme seen through the '60s and early '70s was underrating the engines by all the car manufacturers. The reason for this is that the carmakers understood that the cost of insurance for their consumers rose as the horsepower of the car went up. On the other hand, many experts and critics claim that it was to ensure that the vehicles the companies were using to race in the NHRA and NASCAR circuits stayed under the set requirements. Either way, the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator with the 428 Cobra Jet/Super Cobra Jet was officially rated at a mere 335 horses, but tests have shown this number to be more like 365. If the proper headers are added into the mix, the horsepower of the 428 could even hit 400bhp or more.

Before the Cougar became a marketable car, Ford Motor Company promised the public that the new car would look like a European car but have all the qualities of an American ride. The outer styling concept took this statement into account, but since the platform was based on an already popular American car, the designers looked into the interior of the vehicle to create a European appeal. Once the door is opened, the buyer would feel like they have stepped into another country, with the woodgrain simulated dash and the black and white design of the instrument panel and gauges giving off a European flair that could not be ignored.

Related: This 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Convertible Is Not To Be Slept On

When ordering the Eliminator, the buyer had two package options that they could choose to add to the 1969 Cougar. The first was the Eliminator Package Option which was an upgrade to high-backed bucket seats, performance rear axle, body stripes and decals, left-side remote-controlled mirror, hood scoop or Ram Air system, steel wheels, blacked out grill, rear wing, front spoiler, Ralleye clock, trip odometer, and a unique instrument panel with an included tachometer. The Eliminator Décor Package was more about appearance, adding curb molding, a decorative steering wheel, padded interior moldings, door-mounted courtesy lights, custom door trim, and back seat armrests.

The main point of the Mercury Cougar was to give the Ford Corporation a way to have an offering that was in between Ford and Lincoln, which may be one of the reasons that the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator had such low production numbers. Sales of the base-level Cougar were high, so high in fact that over the course of the years, it ended up being one of the best-selling Mercury models of all time. As for the Eliminator, the 2,411 cars that were produced in 1969 were only a drop in the bucket when considering that there were just under 300k Mustangs sold in '69 and over 450k Chevelles for the year.

Chad has been a muscle car and classic truck lover since he could walk. The classic vehicles from the '60s and '70s are the best in his eyes, but he is more than willing to give the new technology a chance!