Mercury Cougar Eliminator 429 Boss

Car type	Coupe
Curb weight	1718 kg (3788 lbs)
Dimensions	4.69 m long, 1.90 m wide, 1.29 m high
Wheelbase	2.72 m
Introduced	1970
Origin country	United States

Performance

0 - 100 kmph	6.0 s
0 - 60 mph	5.7 s
Top speed	250 kmph (155 mph)

Powertrain specs

Engine type	Ford 385-series V-8 429
Displacement	7.0 L (7030 cc)
Power	380 ps(375 bhp/280 kw) @5200 rpm
Torque	610 Nm (450 lb-ft)@ 3400 rpm
Power / liter	54 PS (53 HP)
Power / weight	221 PS (218 bhp)/ t
Torque / weight	355 N-m (262 Lb -ft)/ t
Transmission	4 Speed Manual
Layout	Front engine, Rear wheel drive

The 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator was one of the most eccentric offerings from the Mercury’s line of muscle cars. Cougar was launched for the 1967 model year as Mercury’s version of Ford’s original Mustang pony car. In keeping with Lincoln-Mercury’s upscale mission, the Cougar rode a Mustang chassis that had been stretched three inches to give the car a 111-inch wheelbase and a more boulevard ride. Additional sound-deadening material and some extra amenities were added in an effort to capture more of a sports-luxury-touring feel.

While the Cougar would always be a beat behind the lighter, more lithe Mustang in all-out performance, that didn’t stop Mercury from sharpening its cat’s claws. Right from the start, the Cougar GT and XR-7 offered a choice of powerteams that included the 289-cubic-inch two- and four-barrel V-8s, and the 390 High Performance V8. (The 271 horsepower High Performance 289 V8 engine was never available as a Cougar option.)

Cougar bounded into its second season with an array of sporty options that included the XR-7G (Dan Gurney Special) with gold interior appointments. More exotic was the GTE (GT-Eliminator). First equipped with the 427-cubic-inch V-8, then, after April 1, 1968, the 428 Cobra Jet engine, the GTE served as a prelude to the 1969-70 Cougar Eliminators.

Cougar received mild styling alterations for 1970, the biggest change being at the front, where the grille was split by a nose-like protrusion. Mercury’s sales brochure called Eliminator the “road animal,” and promoted a series of staged hop-up kits available at dealers: the Impressor, the Controller, and the Dominator.

As in 1969, Cougar’s grille and headlamp doors received a matte black treatment to emphasize the Eliminator’s performance profile. Eliminator side stripes moved from the beltline to the upper bodyline, running the full length of the car. Styled steel wheels remained standard, along with the functional ram-air hood scoop with the 428 CJR only.

Changes under the hood for 1970 included the deletion of the 390 Hi-Po engine from the option sheet. Ford’s new 351 cubic-inch V-8, known as the Cleveland, replaced both the 390 and the four-barrel 351 Windsor. More powerful than the Windsor, the large-port Cleveland generated 300 horsepower with four-barrel carburetion. Ram Air induction was an option. Transmission choices with the high-tech 351 included a standard three-speed manual, optional four-speed with Hurst shifter, or C-6 Cruise-O-Matic.

For 1970, both the 3.91:1 and 4.30:1 axle ratios earned buyers a Drag Pak option that included the 428 Super Cobra Jet with 335 horses and an engine oil cooler. The Boss 302 also carried an oil cooler. Boss 302 upgrades this year included cast aluminum valve covers and revised cylinder heads for better low-end torque and emissions.

The 1970 sales brochure listed the 429 Boss engine and rated 375 horsepower at 5200 rpm as an Eliminator option. But Ford’s Kar Kraft facility, where 1969-70 Boss 429 Mustangs were built, is known to have assembled only two 1970 Cougar Eliminators with Hemi-head Boss 429 V-8s.

Wringing out a ’70 Boss 302 Eliminator, Car Life came to much the same conclusion as earlier testers. “Like the GTOs we tested,” it said, “the Cougar has grown too big and plush to be able to roll up its sleeves and scrap with the new, young tough stuff.” Car Life found the 302 overmatched by the Eliminator’s heft. It also concluded that the big-blocks would do little but add more weight in the wrong place and would spin the tires too much to contribute to really good ETs. So it advised ordering the 351.

Still, not many buyers got the message. Production for 1970 was just 2200 units and the Cougar would grow even larger for ’71, abandoning any pretention as a street fighter.

Back at the height of the muscular  car era you could leisurely walk in and buy a street legal race car right off from the showroom floor for the most of the  part. This was because NASCAR rules stipulated that in order for a car and engine to compete, at least 500 examples had to be sold to the general population. Ford was actually wanted to compete against the seemingly invincible 426 HEMI and answered the call with the 1969 and 1970 BOSS 429 Mustangs. Less than 1,400 of these Mustangs were ever made, and a lot of effort went into wedging the massive engine under the hood, making it amongst the most unique and desirable Mustangs ever built. Yet, even more valuable – and infinitely rarer – were the two Mercury Cougars that were also fitted with BOSS 429 engines.  So what ever happened to these one-hit wonders?

The Mercury Cougar, which debuted in 1967, was marketed as “the gentleman’s muscle car.” Essentially a re-bodied Mustang with a longer wheelbase, it was one of the few vehicles in the Ford lineup that could only be ordered by a V8. For 1967, this meant a choice between the 289 or 390, and by 1970, your choices had expanded to include the 302, BOSS 302, 351 (Windsor and Cleveland), and 428 engines.

The Cougar was in many ways, the mirror of the Mustang up through 1973. In 1974, the Cougar lost its muscle car identity completely and became more of an entry-level luxury barge, while the more-compact Mustang II came in 1974 sans a V8 option. Yet, mysteriously absent from those early years was the BOSS 429 engine option, which could be ordered on the Mustang during the ’69 and ’70 model runs. Actually, not quite. Ford did commission just two 1969 Mercury Cougars with the semi-hemispherical BOSS 429 engine built, and sold both of them for $1 a piece to two famous drag racers. Designated by Mercury as “clinic cars,” the two BOSS 429 Cougars toured through dealerships teaching Ford gearheads all about horsepower.

The two drag racers whome the  Mercury company choose were none other than “Dyno Don” Nicholson and “Fast Eddie” Schartman. These two men were on the front lines of Ford’s war against Chrysler, and competed with much fanfare and success with their flop-top funny car Cougars. However, Ford felt the funny cars were more of a liability than a boon, and wanted to showcase something more people could relate to. Thus, Ford entered into the Super Stock class.

Like the Mustangs, the Cougars required a lot of work to fit the 429 engine between the shock towers. They were sent to Kar Craft in Brighton and Michigan to be modified to receive these engines. The BOSS 429’s “semi-HEMI”design made it a very wide engine requiring the shock towers to be moved outwards one inch in either direction, creating an additional two inches of clearance. The lower A-arms was also dropped an inch so as to accommodate with the engine and even then also a massive hood scoop was needed to ensure the hood could close. Even the battery had to be relocated to the trunk. These were big engines, even at a time when big engines were common.