The very first Mercury Cougar had a style that was exactly the right combination of feral and debonair, rife with classy details like hidden headlights, sequential turn signals, and smoothly sculptured flanks. Sadly, the first-year Cougar’s taut, athletic body never materialized in convertible form behind that menacing smile…from the factory. This customized example seen at the annual Back To The Bricks car festival several years ago confirms what many of us already knew: a 1967 or ’68 Cougar would have made a sensational soft-top.
Downtown Flint, Michigan.
Friday, August 19, 2011.
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1968 Mercury Cougar – Mercury’s Greatest (Only?) Hit
Curbside Classic: 1969 Mercury Cougar – Premium Ponycar
Curbside Classic: 1971-1973 Mercury Cougar – The Brougham Pony Car (and Moms First Ride)
Cohort Outtake: 1973 Mercury Cougar Convertible – Suave Cat
I love the styling of the first generation Cougar – I even like the busy electric razor grille and taillights. I agree that it would have made for a dandy droptop.
I totally agree. The first Mercury Cougar was the best looking Cougar Mercury did. Convertible or hardtop, both were awesome looking cars. I don’t know what Ford was thinking when they changed its styling for the next generation Cougar and Mustang. But the changes only made it less attractive.
A beautiful car, much more refined, style-wise – than the Mustang, although the 1967/68 Mustangs are my favorites.
That’s one they sure should have built. I agree with all the above sentiments that the ’67-8 Cougars were far better looking than any that came after.
I’ve only ever seen one custom droptop version in person in this even more delicious color combination.
…and from the rear…
Thanks for sharing… my favorite color combo. Which show was this?
I was always perplexed why there no convertible. Seemed so obvious at the time.
Quite a while ago somewhere down in eastern Mass. I don’t remember exactly where.
Wowee! That could get me to want a convertible!
There was one running around on a Bronco chassis in the ’70’s in my town, it was well done although I don’t remember now if it actually had a folding top, It did have a single hoop rollbar. The kid who had it destroyed it pretty quickly through abuse. I thought it was a factory convertible but the CC commentators soon set me straight on that. Friend had a ’68 XR7 390 auto that looked great, especially in it’s deep blue color. It was fast, but he blew the engine racing on the freeway and the junkyard 390 that replaced it was a total dog. I always told him I’d buy it the day he wanted to sell. Of course it got traded in by his dad for a brand new ’74 stripper Pinto.
A 67/68 cougar is my favourite American car of them all.The convertible is gorgeous,the 69 Cougar looked pudgy and bloated compared to the original.
I would say this generation of Cougar was one of the few times Ford really tried to make the Mercury version of a Ford product different.
Ironically, Cougar would go on to be a car built in every body style and with FWD as well as “original” RWD configurations….but it started out with just the sport coupe. My guess is that “the powers that be” didn’t think there would be the numbers of sales for a Cougar convertible as all convertibles were shrinking in sales.
Mustang convertible numbers were falling to low 4 digits and after the 1st year, Cougar convertible numbers barely broke 2,000.
There was still a great demand for convertibles when the Cougar was introduced in the Fall of ’66.
The ’66 Mustang sold 72,119 convertibles.(No real Pony Car competition)
’67, 44,808
’68, 25,376
’69, 14,746
’70, 7,673
’71 6,121
’72 6,401
’73 11,853
Cougar Convertibles:
’69 9,730
’70 4,319
’71 3,439
’72 3,169
’73 4,550
For comparison:
Camaro Convertible
’67 25,244
’68 20,440
’69 19,248
Firebird Convertible
’67 15,528
’68 16,960
’69 11,649
I completely agree with Twalton – why in the name of Heaven did they not add a convertible. They already had the Mustang version, and Mercury had gotten a convertible of every other style (and would get a Monterey/Marquis in 69). Did they think volumes would be too low? This is one of the greatest mysteries of the 1960s.
Maybe because someone thought it would rob convertible sales from Mustang?
Good point.
Is that the Cougar from that cool James Bond movie with George Lazenby and Diana Rigg?
Nope…..https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-cinema/cc-cinema-mrs-james-bonds-cougar/
That was an awesome read. Thanks Gene ! 😉
You’re very welcome, but thanx are more due the author, Robert Kim.
My favorite Mercury of all times. Well, the ’40 coupe (or sedanette) with those slim window frames is right up there too.
My favorite should-have-been car. My uncle had a ’70 convertible, but I prefer the styling of the ’67-’68 models.
They are almost too classy for a pony car. More a GT. Great lines, and the electric shaver theme was elegant, front and rear. If you look at the arc of the Cougar’s life and see how it ended up, it’s a bizarre story, given its beginning. Who would have predicted there would eventually be a station wagon in the lineup?
Are these pictured conversions begun with Mustangs ith grafted on Cougar exterior bits, or are they Cougars with Mustang windshield frames welded on? I would think the latter might be easier.
The latter. I wish I’d been able to ask the owner about what mods were needed for this conversion. I’d presume the 1967 / ’68 Mustang convertible top mechanism was retrofit, along with shaving down the tops of the rear quarter panels. I know nothing about bodywork, but I’m just looking at both Gene’s and my example.
I think you’re right on that score, Joe.
I wish I could see it with the top up. If you compare the quarter window design of a Mustang and a Cougar, the Cougar’s is clearly longer, which means the roof is longer. Since it’s much easier to mate the top to windshield header than extend the top rearward
(almost impossible, would require prof. engineering)
It would seem to me that some kind of filler panel would need to be fabbed to go between there and the trunk.
Here’s a link to a while bunch of them, some with the top up, originally provided by you (!) in a comment last year on a previous CC post. I had no idea that so many had been done and I think they look absolutely great in “top up” mode….
http://webpages.charter.net/bpratt/6768cougarcv.htm
Oops! Must have been 3 sheets to the wind when I posted that. Either that or creeping dementia!
Just the luck of the draw, Roger. I almost posted the link without noticing that it was originally your info, so don’t feel too bad. 😉
I had never actually thought about this, but your comment made me think that the original Cougar (especially in XR-7 form) nailed the concept that Studebaker was going for with the GT Hawk.
The ’67 Cougar, like the ’66 Toronado, is on a short list of cars where they got it amazingly right the first year out, and it was never quite the same after that.
The ’63 Riviera and ’67 Eldorado are also candidates for such a list.
It seemed to me that back in the 70’s, Mercury was so into their “At the sign of the cat” ads, that if they could have pulled it off unnoticed they would have renamed Mercury the Cougar division of Ford. I think that’s why we got Cougar sedans and wagons. Those ads also were my first exposure to Farrah Fawcett. Pre poster days. Ooh la la!
Convertibles were considered and a couple prototypes were mocked up before the 67 Cougar debuted. However, it was decided, to keep build quality up. no other body styles would be built but the notchback. a fastback version was considered. but the idea was axed. My second car was a 68 Cougar XR7 in Black Cherry with white leather interior and Blcak “oxford” vinyl roof. 302 4 bbl, auto, and thin line whitewalls on steel wheels with mercury spec wire wheel covers. Got it in late 1970, kept it until Spring of 74. It carried me through university and on to my first real job. Wish I had it today. Traded it on a new 74 Audi Fox…..yeah, I know…but you had to be there to understand the times.
My first car was a 1968 Cougar and in December 1969 from my father. He had a friend who owned a Datsun dealership among other things. His friend offered to get me a brand new 240Z without having to go onto a waiting list. I thought about it and turned it down. Two years later my college job gave me a company car, which encompassed four different cars between 1972-77. One was an Audi Fox for the gas mileage given the times. I still have the Cougar.
My favourite colour and engine/gearbox combination for a Cougar
So for me a 70 XR7 Convertible would be the ideal Cougar.
I can see it now in Bright Aqua and White Top and Interior..;
Very nice body on that one.
67/68 best looking Cougar ever, the Phillishave front and rear treatment looked right it was a great looking coupe.
For those folks who noted there was a “good demand” for convertibles when the Cougar debuted, you should have contrasted your numbers with those for the coupes sold.
In the Mustang’s first year, about 5 coupes and fastbacks were sold for every convertible. By 1967 that had increased to about 9 coupes and fastbacks for every convertible. Yes, GM sold over 45,000 (combined) Camaro and Firebird convertibles, but like Ford, they also sold nearly 9 coupes for every convertible.
I would tend to believe the idea that the Cougar was seen as more of a GT along with the idea that one body style was meant to keep build quality consistent, as the reasons why the Cougar was a coupe only model it’s first 2 years.
Definitely one for the “should have been factory” files. The original Cougar was without question the best of the bunch, and one of the best-looking cars ever to wear the Mercury badge. So to see a cleanly executed custom like this gives a good idea of what could have been.
Also, as usual, love the photo! Great lighting for a night shot, and I like the theater marquee hiding behind the tree branches.