To me one of the very best looking cars of its time. Still looks good today.

@charlies.5777

4 жыл бұрын

I couldn't agree with you more, and I'M a Mopar muscle car GUY!!😎 Personally, with its cool Headlights and taillights, I think it's much better- looking than the Mustang.

@ronmailloux8655

3 жыл бұрын

@@charlies.5777 yes its a beaut. such great lines and so rare to find.

@wanyelewis9667

2 жыл бұрын

One of the best looking cars of any time.

@KenanTurkiye

2 жыл бұрын

I agree with you all, it was and still is gorgeous.

The red/silver combo looks amazing!

Something to point out is that all GTE’s were two-tone and had GTE only special side trim. All GTE’s had the lower body painted argent (silver), regardless of upper body style. You could also get the optional vinyl top, which could make the car tri-tone.

When I was in high school, this was my dream car. I actually had two dream cars, this and an Olds 442.

I just LOVE that car! Then again I love the entire Mercury line from the 60s. I was just a little boy but had such a love for cars and there was just something about the Mercurys that would always catch my eye. Thanks for posting!

My aunt, pushing 80, still drives a 428 that she's had from new. It's absolutely perfect. (My uncle was a professional mechanic.)

@V8TV

6 жыл бұрын

That's cool!

@bongodave13

5 жыл бұрын

Have you driven it?

@gearjammer4779

5 жыл бұрын

Mickey Bitsko We dont believe you!

@whitewolf9454

5 жыл бұрын

Mickey Bitsko tha hers is a GTE

@jeremythompson9895

5 жыл бұрын

That's awesome

Love old Cougars

In '68 I was working for $ 125 a week, never could afford this beauty, although I fantasied about it, along with a '64 Cutlass. Dynamite video!

Love those Cougars. I have a1970 XR7 and am the second owner. This car came out of southern California But was originaly purchased in Parma, Ohio. Not a big block car but happy none the less.

I wish l had a time machine to go back with 45,000 and bring back ten of these BABIES!

It's a Bankers Hotrod, she wasn't made for 1/4 mile but she would top out at 128-130 mph. just about every Ford guy and their dog are Mustang fans I'd rather have this car, or a Cyclone spoiler. This is a jewel of a car, thanks for the video

@chadkimmel8957

6 жыл бұрын

True. The only car I'd sell my 65 Mustang for would be a Cougar.

@jeremythompson9895

5 жыл бұрын

Amen.....I actually prefer the mid size fairlanes,torinos,and cyclones and full size galaxies over a mustang. Mustangs are a dime a dozen. This cougar is beautiful. Never knew the 427 side oiler was available in this car in 68. I always thought they ended 427 production after the 67 model year

@jeremythompson9895

5 жыл бұрын

I'd take a 70 Cyclone Spoiler 429 SCJ with a 4 speed and the 3.91 or 4.30 Drag Pack option over any other muscle car Ford ever produced. And I would take a 68 Cougar GTE 427 over ANY Mustang from that era, besides maybe a 65 Shelby GT350 or a 69-70 BOSS 302

@kevinmontgomery1383

5 жыл бұрын

@@jeremythompson9895 Now we are talking! Lol

@Sinsteel

4 жыл бұрын

Much cheaper too these days than a mustang. Same with Plymouth road runner and the upscale GTX. Also as a general rule of course both the Cougar and GTX had a lot more options, which these days means more to go wrong.

My old man had that exact car! Everybody said" oh bullshit; They only came in 428 cu. ins. WRONG! He said they only made about 100 of them, with the 427. Obviously, he was right. He put a lot of miles on it, following me to races with our" Finagler" cougar funny car, in the late '60's

I own a Mercy Cougar xr7 GTE. It has the 427 motor. It was one of the last to be put out on production. In March of 1968 they switch to the 428 motor and dropped the 427. Mine looks identical to the one shown in the video with the exceptions you pointed out on the front end. The engine is the same with the chrome package. One difference under the hood mine does not have the bar running across fender to fender. The inside is the same with some differences. On being it does not have the center gage in the dash. It has the two large found instrument housings. The out side paint is two tone as you described so it did not only come on the GTE but also the xr7 GTE. It is Cardinal Red with silver rocker panel and red interior.

@twasbrillig33

5 жыл бұрын

I wonder if that bar was added aftermarket. Engine mounts had the tendency to crack in these cars, I had a 68 cougar 302 and had to replace the engine mounts twice!

@nofortunatesonII

5 жыл бұрын

The Monte Carlo bar you referenced is an add on item on that vehicle. They really help stiffen up the front shock tower unibody construction. They are definitely worth the cost to add one. If you are really in tune with the ride characteristics of your vehicle you will notice the difference.

@ashqelon7267

5 жыл бұрын

I used to race that FE engine. One of several things on this FE engine needed was the rocker arm shaft we invented the end support piece, prevent excess flex ad pushrod wobble, causing very serious valve hammering. Now everyone makes the end pieces.. Very important for high RPM to make things stay in line as should. The other thing was a set of Holly #67 jets in bolt #3 oil passage on the shaft hold down, as a restricker, so the rocker arm lids would not fill up with oil at extended rpm. I worked in a machine shop in late 70's and it was common to see these and most big block cars with "stock" volume oil pans and stock oil pumps, buzzed for extended time period. It would pump the pan empty , oil on top side mostly, then bearing failures and rod failures. The years racing these engines were Very reliable all season long.

@bhaggen

5 жыл бұрын

The XR7 option referenced mostly the interior upgrades. The 2-tone came with the GTE option

@johnjohnsn7633

3 жыл бұрын

@@twasbrillig33 : It was "aftermarket" ... and probably originally for a Mustang.

One of my favorite cougars

The 427 was listed as an option for the Mustang and several other cars in 1968, but the Cougar GTE was the only car they actually made with a 427 in '68. The 427 was an expensive motor to make and the tooling was wearing out. The 428 was basically a luxury car and station wagon motor, and even the Police Interceptor version was not a great performer, so things were looking pretty sad. Fortunately, Tasca Ford in RI figured out that a 428 fitted with 427 medium riser heads would perform like a 427, giving rise the the 428CJ. Still, there is something just so magical about the 427.

@mustardstain504d6

4 жыл бұрын

427 medium riser heads don't fit on a 428. The valves won't clear a 4.130 428 bore. The C8OE-N head is more akin to the 427 low riser head. The valves were 2.09 x 1.65 Vs. the 427 MR's 2.19 x 1.73 valves.

@frankiefisher3911

4 жыл бұрын

The real reason that Ford didn't produce the Torino and Mustang 427's in the 68 line up was due to the 6 week union strike from Sept-Oct. I was working at a Ford dealer during that period, my brother ordered a 427 Torino around the end of August when the 68's were introduced. They said one month to build it. In the meantime, the strike happened and they told us that it wouldn't be built until after the first of the year. So, he cancelled the order and bought a Dodge. The Ford company was so far behind on production, it could barely get anything out. We got Mustangs with leftover 289's wearing 302 emblems, some had Cougar steering wheels and hub caps. What few 390hp 427's that got produced, Ford decided to put into the Cougar to beef up it's slumping image as a performance pony car. By the time all of this got worked out the 428cj was in full production .

@mustardstain504d6

4 жыл бұрын

@@frankiefisher3911 That is absolutely false. The strike had nothing to do with the 427 engine issue. I have seen enough Ford documentation to disprove your theory. The 68 427 is a different engine than the 67 Fairlane version. It became a watered down version with low performance heads, hydraulic cam and single four barrel. The largest factor were cost. The 427 was more expensive for Ford to produce and the 428 CJ was already planned production. The 427 was a 1400.00 premium to the sticker price. This literally almost doubles the cost of the vehicle and was only available with the high optioned vehicle. The 302 was also a mid-year production change, not a hodge podge change over due to shortages. If ford was bolstering the pony car image it would have went in the mustang. It was all about cost.

@frankiefisher3911

4 жыл бұрын

Mustardstain504 D we didn’t get one because of the strike, why did Cougars get them?

@mustardstain504d6

4 жыл бұрын

@@frankiefisher3911 The strike had no bearing. It was that the option was dropped for all lines. The 428 CJ was already in the pipeline. It was also only available the on early 68 vehicles. There's plenty of internal Ford documentation to show this. The W code was also shown in literature for 68 Mustangs but not one was manufactured. Just the 783 Cougars.

This is one of my all time favorites. Love, love, love the GT-E

The best mercury cougar model ever 👽

Pretty sure this was my parents car. Nice to see it Restored and being taken care of. Thank you to the new owners.looking good

4:44 -- Just a beautiful car.

Love these cars! Only thing I'd rather have from the era is a 69' or 70' Boss 302 or Boss 429!!

This car was famous for another reason! It was stable and held a lot of moon shine! It was able to take the rough dirt roads and faster than any other car on the straight!

@jetseat

4 жыл бұрын

I had a green 67 XR7 new it was stolen 7 times in Queens NY. The insurance company hated my calls 3 times it was totally striped. Even though i loved that car and got a lot of compliments, I sold because I never knew if I would come out of the house house to go to work it would end up missing again. It was that good looking.

@Bobbyliscious

4 жыл бұрын

YUP

Awesome classic!

Beautiful car. I did a valve job on a 428 cougar with ps ac cc when I was 15 at a shop I worked at. When I was finished I ask the boss to test drive it for me (I had no license yet) and he told me to go ahead and I test drove it awesome power for a 15 year old

My favorite car,I owned 3 68 Cougars at different times. I'm 53 and before I die I want another 68.

Awesome. Beautiful beautiful car. These were the dream cars everybody wanted. 😍😘 . Man the good old days. 😀😁😂

@garyjohnson6737

4 жыл бұрын

That's a beauty

@brucebornemansr.9043

3 жыл бұрын

And always too damn broke to be able to buy one!

Wow what a LEGENDARY Ford.

The 1968 full sized ford brochures listed this very engine as being optional on full sized Fords for 68 except wagons. The horsepower rating was 390 and it was a detained version of the r code 425 up version sold in previous years. This version was available with Selectshift automatic power steering and power brakes but not air conditioning. I found out in later years that Ford never actually installed this engine in any full sized Ford. It was yanked from the option list shortly after the 68 Ford was introduced. It was even priced as a $967.00 option over the standard 240 cubic inch 6. Nice to hear that it was offered and actually installed on GT-E cougar.

Stunning!

Beautiful car! Always liked the series one cougar. Thx for showing it.

Definitely "Like nobody else's car" At the sign of the cat !!!!!!

I had a 67 cougar. It was my first car. And I had it selling it. Wish I could find another Another cougar I could buy.

Absolutely one of the nicest cars I've ever seen. I saw one of these at a super chevy show of all places. In 1987 Bakersfield Ca.

@jeremythompson9122

4 жыл бұрын

This car is gorgeous. I'm a Mopar guy but this is one of the best looking cars in the Brothers collection in my opinion. Never liked Mustang's all that much but Ive always been a big fan of 67-70 Cougar's and Mercury in general. The 427, 428, and 429 Comet's and Cyclone's were always favorites of mine too. You don't see a whole lot of Mercury muscle cars at shows and thats one of the reasons I like them so much. Mustang's are a dime a dozen and Cougar's are just a much nicer car overall than a Mustang anyways

Lovely...Just Lovely! The big bad 427 sider with the C6 trans? Just perfect. Imagine shredding off those skinny little tires?

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

Sweet, trying to get my 68 XR7 fixed up. Definitely going with a GT hood scoop.

Back in the 70's my Grandmother had this car with white interior. GTe 427. I only rode in it once as her way of driving was to floor the accelerator and control speed with the brake.

@stacyhazelwood4033

3 жыл бұрын

HAHAHAH! Man, that sounds scary.

Love this GTE well done video!!

@V8TV

9 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Man, is that red ever red. beautiful.

My dad had the XR-7 in white in 68'. Great car. Wish I had it.

Around 1973 bought a 67 cougar for $100. Needed a fender $35 and got a great complete paint job for$35 from a friend in the business. Car was very nice and sold it for $550. He got in a fender bender and the ins company gave him $950 and he keep the car

I bought my 68 3 years ago. The more I learn about Cougars the happier I am that I picked mine. This red on red is a holy grail of sorts. Thanks for showing it to us. Great vid

A stunner! I've seen a real one. The owner told me another strange factoid about the GT-E; the lower body trim, which was unique to this car and on no other Cougar, was attached with trim clips as per usual - except for the rear 1/4 pieces, which were screwed on from the outside, and sure enough, they has visible screws holding them on.

Awesome piece of automotive history. It will only go up in value if maintained properly. This car is a work of art as far as styling. The headlight cover's, the tail lights....

Mercury ❤Marvelous 😊

I had a 68 xr7 factory 4speed car back in high school it was the real good lookin blue my brother has a 67 gte now same color blue I still love these cars would love to own another one some day.

If I’m not mistaken, the 427/390 hp engine aside from the single Holley 4 bbl, they had hydraulic lifters.

Back in the early/mid 1970's my Mom drove a 1967 Mercury Cougar GT with the 390. One of the coolest moms around

That's gorgeous

Awesome Cougar

A most beautiful automobile the powerful engine is a big plus, and the two tone paint.

Wow what a Great Car!! I had a 68 Cougar but nothing like this one. Thank you for this video.

@twasbrillig33

5 жыл бұрын

Me too!!

My favorite year of my favorite car growing up ! Thanks for sharing

Wow! I love this car. Thanks for sharing!

Stunning bright red GTE !! I knew of a 68 GTE in1968. The Pentler brothers had a dark Green one and it always drew the looks back then. Never saw them street race it like we all did back in the summer of 68, in Milwaukee Wi. The Pentler boys were pretty reserved, their father owned Uptown Lincoln Mercury in Milwaukee, Wi. I had bought a used 64 Comet Caliente Convertible from Uptown Motors the year before and when I turned 21 I bought a brand new 68 Road Runner....yeah I was one of those street racers back in the day, that was what muscle cars were all about!

Looks good at every angle

Always loved the styling of this car!

I had a 67 Cougar. Loved it.

my 2nd favorite classic ever

This model year "67 &"68 are my all time favorite Cougar's !! Beautiful car ,,, sexy

My grandfather and father were Ford, Lincoln & Mercury dealers when I was a kid. Dr Sam bought a gold 68 Cougar XR7 GTE in Terre Haute, IN and drove it a couple of years. Evil Knievel came to town for a golf tournament and drove the car for a weekend. Dr Sam traded it in to my dad and I had it for several months. Can you say JOY RIDE? The only negative was it didn't have a locking rear differential and spun tire way to easily.

Awesome car. Wonder if the buyers were able to upgrade the tires to anything good back then? All I ever heard as a kid in the 1980's was, " hey kid, if I floored the pedal in my [insert_car_here], my car would completely lose control of the rear end". For comparison, my LS7 Corvette has 13 inches wide in the rear, so I can use the 7 liters no problem.

I’m actually more of a Chevy guy, but this car I really like. Would not mind having that at all. It’s a beauty (and a beast).

@kwekumensah5642

4 жыл бұрын

Yea same here

I loved the cougars

I owned one of these cars in 1971 for about 3 years before it was stolen. It was always an eye catcher every where I went. The 2 x 4 barrel Holly carburetor made it a guzzler at 8 miles to the gallon but at 37 cents per gal. it was affordable. You mentioned that there were only 100 or so made so that's the reason why I have never seen another in the Boston area.

Didn’t have the GTE pkg but this was a model we did own when I was a teen. A Red Cougar was one hot ride ... still is

"WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CAR FOR SURE!!!!, OH WHAT WONDERFUL MEMORIES"!!!!!! 😎😎😎😃😃😃

Wow! I was never a huge cougar fan, and I was somewhat aware they made a little bit of a souped up version, but I never seen this type Cougar. This baby is sharp as a tack. Thanks for sharing. JohnG

That cougar is a beautiful car. I could even like that car more than my 2002 red Thunderbird retro. Thank you.

A buddy bought a new Cougar xr7 GTE like this one, and it had the first electric sunroof that I had ever seen. It had a small fuel tank, so we spent a lot of time in gas stations, sometimes burning three tanks just cruising around town.

Love it!!! Cougars were my all time favorite. In my opinion the ultimate sleeper was the 68 cougar R code....aside from the hood scoop it looked like a plane Jane standard but it had a 428 CJ and it could be had with a 4 speed

Love the Cougar!!

I had a'67 cougar GT, 390 ci & 4spd, very light&super quick....the fastest car in Calipatria,in 1976 !!

Imho Cougar is the most under appreciated under estimated muscle car. I would love to have one. 67-68 of.course. Beautiful ! ! !

Beautiful car. I had the 1968 Cougar base model with the convertible top. Only the 6 in my car, I drove it in high school circa 1978, kind of a project car for my dad and I after I got my license. My car was jade green with the white top and white leather buckets, really nice care. The car needed a new top, and a new passenger fender, but we got it fixed up and t turned out great and was a really nice ride in the summer in Wisconsin. LOTS of great memories in that car.....

@hoosejamess

9 жыл бұрын

Kevin Hartman They did not make a factory convertible in 1968, nor was there a 6 cyl cougar produced until the 80's. Sounds like it was a mustang..they had 6 cyl convert models. I own 4 1967's, 3 1968 Cougars...and a 68 mustang

@wflccb83

9 жыл бұрын

True that.... typo on my part... it was the '69 you would think I would remember that, but the mind slips sometimes... thanks for the reminder!

My brother had the xr7 with a 427. The guy he bought it from had purchased it new. If I remember correctly he picked it up in 1976. Had a few more horses under the hood then a stock xr7. Going 50 mph you could down shift to 2nd and nail the gas and the rear tires would lite up. Had a lot of fun in that car!

This is one of my favourite car channels. Only Muscle Car of the Week is close

Nice car! Worth a fortune today, 2021!

I had a 1967 lime green, 289 cui. Loved it.

@billwilliams699

3 жыл бұрын

Lime gold I believe they called it

I bought a new 67 cougar in Mar h of 67. Three .months l was drafted. It took me until 2003 to get another. Triple black 1968 XR7, a real beauty and near perfect condition. In 2010 I got a 67 XR7/DGS. I chased this yellow cat for 39 years. I lovingly restored it from it's 1983 to 2010 slumber. I have other classics but these are head and shoulders above them for beauty and class. Colonel Steve

My favorite pony car of the 60's!!😎👍

Had a Lincoln-Mercury dealer a few miles from my house. Back before I could drive, my pals and I would ride our bikes to check out the new cars. The GTE was almost as cool as the Panteras that were sold there.

My brother had a '67, sweet machine.

I grew up in and eventually got to drive a '67 S code GT Cougar as a teenager. The S code was a beast I could only imagine what the GT-E could do spiffed up a little. Disappointed to see the auto trans, basically a mushy OEM FMX auto trans bolted to a fantastic motor.

@mustardstain504d6

4 жыл бұрын

No, It was a C6 cruise O matic.

My first car was a 68 Cougar. Had the factory AC, the upscale interior, and small block motor. Diamond blue (looked white from a distance). Sure was a fun car

Cougar was Always if not my favorite car made, I am almost sure The is the exact Cougar, I seen back years ago, my Dad was. Big Ford, Mercury guy, so he knew all the dealers here in Florida. Thanks

Great show Kevin. I really like seeing these good old cars in such fine condition. Keep up the good work! Being a Corvair fan, our cars won't make your show, but they are good-handling economical practical everyday classics that we enjoy driving.

@V8TV

9 жыл бұрын

gojoe283 There actually is an interesting Corvair in the Brothers Collection... maybe we'll touch on it someday. Thanks for the kind words!

Learned to drive in my mom's 67 xr cougar..289..but that car was bad ass..just a fancy mustang...but I'd love to have that car back....

The paint job is fantastic.

Underrated beauty for sure!

That is Awesome!

My first car in high school was a red ‘68 cougar with red interior just like this one. Mine only had a 302 plus a black vinyl top.

You are spoiling us!! 👍

Real nice video. I bought a 1967 GTO and often wish I had kept the car. The Mercury vehicles were about a grand more than the Pontiacs.

The Brothers own every muscle car made.

V8TV : What a beautiful car. Unlike so many cars today, this had class and styling. Let me tell you a little story. This happened in late 1972, or possibly some time in 1973. I, and this girl named Debbie, were going to the University of West Florida, in Pensacola. I lived, and do now, in Graceville, Florida. Okay, so Debbie had a 1969 Mercury Cougar XR-7. It had a 351 Cleveland V-8. We had come home from school for the weekend. So we had to drive back to University Of West Florida. Now the main entrance to UWF is on U.S. Highway Alternate 90. Graceville is around fourteen miles north of Highway 90. Okay, so Debbie did not like to drive on I-10; which we had to catch in De Funiak Springs. I-10 wasn't finished and opened across northwest Florida until around June or July 1975. So from Graceville to UWF if you traveled on U.S. 90 all the way is around 130 to 135 miles. So we gassed up in Graceville, drove down Florida State Highway 77 to Chipley and turned onto U.S. 90; and headed west. Remember this. We left the Gulf Station in Graceville, at exactly 4:30. And it rained all the way to UWF in Pensacola. Okay, so we get on U.S. 90 in Chipley. On U.S. 90, you have to stop in Chipley, Bonifay, slow down through Caryville, Ponce De Leon, Westville, stop in De Funiak Springs, stop in Mossy Head, Crestview, Milton, and Pace, cross the Escambia River and veer off U.S. 90 onto U.S. Alternate 90. Now remember, we left Graceville at 4:30. It rained all the way to UWF. We stopped in Crestview at an A&W Root Beer stand and ate hamburgers...there. Debbie did not like to eat in the car. When we pulled into the main entrance at UWF, it was 6:29. I don't know how fast Debbie was driving. I sat in the back seat. There was another girl in the front seat. We traveled 130 to 135 miles, stopping many times along the way, all driving through the rain, and it took us one hour and fifty-nine minutes to get to the main entrance to UWF.

I have been going to Cougar (CCOA), Merc/Ford Car shows for 33 years now and this is one of the "Finest" GT-E s I have ever seen !!! There is one more "Perfect" GT-E 427 W Code car on the show circuit over the years that in my view is the best ! I've seen it at Ford Carlisle, PA show in June a number of years, it's a GT-E XR-7 427(w), Black paint w/ Redline Firestone's on Merc. Styled Steel wheels !! It's perfect in every way and always displayed in the indoor building at Carlisle,PA for Ford Motor Companies finest cars, I Hope some of you may have seen this one, it is a Stunner !!! : )

My older sister bought a 68 Cougar XR-7 and i couldn't wait til she let me drive it and show all my buddies and the girls too. The car was a dark metallic green with a black vinyl top with black leather interior, the engine wasn't all that hot as it was a stock 351 Cleveland with an automatic transmission. Lots of wonderful memories from back in the day.

@parteibonza

6 жыл бұрын

Bobby Tucker i don’t think the Cleveland was available in the ‘68. It was probably a ‘70 cougar which I think looks like a sexier car anyway. 70 was the last good year before they turned into big slow boats.

Well said. Great car. Thanks

Bought a 1968 XR7 GTE with 1,200 miles in late 68' slightly used! 427 low riser is what the called it, hydro lifters 390 HP. Price - this will make you cry - $3,200, but my Grandfather was a car dealer. Dark green with black vinyl top.

My girlfriend in the 80's had the 428 that her dad got for her for her college car. We lived in Fort Collins Colorado and weekend drives in the mountains were great. We used to race up to Estes Park, I had a 71 Stingray roadster at the time.