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In the first Muscle Car era the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company pretty much took the back seat to Ford, and it's performance cars somewhat hid in the shadows of their better known and better promoted cousins.The Cougar was Mercury's answer to Ford's Mustang but the Mustang was the strongest automotive sales icon of the 20th century. The Pony car from Mercury was never going to be a worthy adversary for the original pony car, but it was a viable candidate for a driver who wanted something a little more upscale with reasonable performance. It started out on the Mustang chassis but the wheel base was stretched 3 inches to 111 inches to give it a better ride. They also added extra sound deadening material and some additional amenities to give this touring car a more sports-luxury feel.   Now, this wasn't the first of the performance Cougars by any stretch. The XR-7G (Dan Gurney Special) and the more exotic GT-E, gave the public a couple of nice performance Cats, but the Eliminator was to be the Top Cat. It was a 2-year wonder with both years being a sharp looking car with a lot of driveline choices.   For 1969, (shown above) the base engine was the 351 Windsor with a 4-barrel carburator and a rating of 290 horsepower at 4800 RPM and 385 ft./lbs. of torque at 3200. the base price was around $3499.50. For an extra $335.50 you could get the optional Boss 302 but that meant that you also had to take the mandatory 4-speed transmission. It has been said that fewer than 500 cars came with this option due to production problems. For $283.60 the 335 horsepower 428 Cobra Jet could find it's way under the hood of your Eliminator or if you wanted something kinda in between, the boys at Mercury said that a 390 with a 4 barrel would also be available. That engine's rated horsepower was 320 @ 4600 RPM with 427 ft./lbs. of torque at 3200.   With the available engines being basically the same as the Mustang Boss 302 and Mach 1, the rest of the drive line was pretty much the same as well. The 4 speed manual was standard and C-6 Select Shift Cruise-o-Matic was the option. There was also a myriad of rearend choices as well. The 3.25:1's were available only with the C-6 Cruise-o-Matic but 3.50:1; 3.91:1; and 4.30:1's could be had either way. When eqipped with 3.91:1 or Detroit Locker 4.30:1 as part of a Drag Pak or Super Drag Pak option,the Eliminator automatically received an engine oil cooler for its 428 Cobra Jet. Now, as with the Mustang Mach 1, if you got 3.91:1 or 4.30:1 gears, your 428 Cobra Jet became a Super Cobra Jet with an oil cooler and beefier lower end to withstand higher revs at highway speeds but the horsepower and torque rating remained the same as the Cobra Jet. I believe it was the same with the Eliminator.   Aside from the '69 Cougar's basic good looks, the Eliminator came with a few performance and appearance extras like Eliminator stripes, blacked out grille, chin and rear deck spoilers, a hood scoop (which was functional only with the Ram Air 428 CJ option), and styled steel wheels fitted with F70 x 14 Goodyear Polyglas GT's. A stiffer suspension with heavy-duty shocks (which were staggered in the rear to reduce wheel hop), quick-ratio manual steering and power front disc brakes were also standard.   This car was made to be a stand out just like most other mid-model year releases and came in some high impact colors like Bright Blue Metallic, Competition Orange, Bright Yellow and Wimbledon White. The body's styling was slightly changed from the previous year taking on more of a softer look that was more inline with other manufactureers cars of that year.   From a performance stand point, the Boss 302 was the only engine that was new to the Eliminator lineup as the other engines had been used in Cougars before. For that reason, car critics liked using it for road tests.On the upside, The Boss 302 was a nice little high strung screamer that pushed 10.6:1 compression, large ports, fairly stiff solid lifter cam and a 780cfm Holley 4 barrel. It was rated at 290 horsepower at 5800 RPM and 290 ft./lbs. of torque at 4300 RPM. Down side, this kind of engine in a car that weighs in the neighborhood of 3600 pounds, would have a very tough time getting out the hole. 0 to 60 took about seven and a half seconds with 1/4 miles in the 14.80's at just over 96 miles an hour with 3.91:1 gears. The car was reasonably good in traffic with acceleration and braking having a true sports car feel with proper gear selections.   All in all, the Cougar Eliminator may have had nice drag racing name, but a little time behind the wheel let you know that this was honestly more of a grand touring car and even though it could be plenty quick enough with a 428 Cobra Jet and a set of 4.30's, this pony car really felt more at home on a winding country road than it ever did taking a hard straight line.   - Dan Davis.