1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator
It must have been quite the experience being a sentient, decision-capable adult back in the days of the muscle car craze. The breed was fresh out of the oven in the early 1960s but became so successful that soon the market got flooded with incredible four-wheelers built to never-before-seen levels of performance. You only had to choose right.
One of the many offerings at the time was the Cougar, the nameplate that for years has been synonymous with a Ford-owned brand by the name Mercury. Neither are alive anymore, but that doesn’t mean people are no longer crazy about Mercury Cougars.
This 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator is very well equipped with the 428 Cobra Jet with ram air, power steering, power disc brakes, styled steel wheels and four-speed gearbox with 3.50:1 Traction Lok rear.
Inside, Mercury continued its performance barrage with high-back bucket seats and a Hurst T-handle shifter, Boss Eliminators being four-speeds only. Laid out across the flat-black camera-case instrument panel is an elapsed time clock and full gauges for amps, fuel, water temperature, oil pressure, and an 8,000-rpm tachometer. Clearly, Mercury outdid Mustang’s Boss 302 inside.
The term Top Eliminator was familiar to drag racing buffs, but to Mercury fans the term simply meant “hot Cougar.” Car Life wrote, “Think of it as a family car with guts and you’ll be happy with it.”
Evolutionary design changes characterized the 1970 Mercury Cougars. They included a new vertical grille and a forward-thrusting front end. Promoted as “America’s most completely equipped sports car,” the new Cougar grille had a center hood extension and an “electric shaver” style insert. Its design was reminiscent of the 1967 and 1968 models’ grilles.
