This old gal is not so old as cougars go, but her model year does put her right at the 40 year mark, so she’s prime Cougar material. She’s not quite as demure as her older sis, the 1967 2 door hard top. This one has exposed headlamps, and likes sunbathe topless, and is in fact an example of the last year that Mercury offered the Cougar as a convertible. She’s one of just over 3,000 XR-7 convertibles built that year, and one of God only knows how many surviving examples, so this lady is pretty unique. Back in 1973, she was a fairly inexpensive date, too, with prices on a Cougar ranging anywhere from around $3,700 on up to just over $4,000 depending on options.
This Cougar has a 351 cu in (5.7L) Cleveland 2 barrel V8 that scratches up 163 HP, an automatic transmission, black vinyl interior, Candy Apple Red paint, and only 47,300 miles clocked on her odometer. She’s lived a pampered life, it would seem, and she deserves to.
The following model year, things changed drastically for the Cougar family, and the Cougar could no longer count the Ford Mustang as her twin. This one maintains that bond, though, and I would venture to offer my opinion here that even though two years prior to this marks the end of the high performance Cougar available via the “Eliminator” package (sometimes called the GT-E, it could be had with a 428 cu in Cobra Jet engine that roared out 410 HP!) , 1973 was the last year that Cougars were really cool. It was after 1973 that Mercury started to try to shift away from the balance the of Pony car and Euro-styled Luxury that the Cougar had represented to a kind of sleazy, underpowered semi luxury car. Between this one and the ’67 from yesterday, I’d prefer the 67, myself, but to take either one out on the road would be a blast.
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