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 * Home
 * Photographs
   * My 351 Cougar
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 * Cougar Warranty
   * Cougar Warranty 1967
   * Cougar Warranty 1969
   * Recall due to a seat defect
 * Advertising Gallery
   * Advertising Gallery 1967
   * Advertising Gallery 1968
   * Advertising Gallery 1969
   * Advertising Gallery 1970
   * 1967 Advertising Postcards
   * 1967 XR-7 Introduction Postcard
   * Advertising Gallery Other
 * Cougar Road Tests
   * Cougar Road Tests 1967
   * GT-E Prototype
 * Cougar Wrecks
   * Cougar Wrecks 1967
   * Cougar Wrecks 1967-1
   * Cougar Wrecks 1968
   * Cougar Wrecks 1968-1
   * Cougar Wrecks 1969 1
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   * Cougar Wrecks 1970
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   * Mercury Cougar
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   * Cougar XR7-G
   * XR 7G Package
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   * Eliminator
   * Introducing The XR7-G
 * Commercials
   * Commercials 1967
   * Commercials 1968
   * Commercials 1969
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 * Paint Samples
   * Paint Samples 1967
   * Paint Samples 1968
   * Paint Samples 1969
   * Paint Samples 1970
 * Drag Racing
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 * Super Cat
   * The Super Cat
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 * Nascar Racing
   * Homologating The TransAm
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 * Special Cougars
   * 1970 Mercury Cougar El Gato
   * Special Cougar
   * Sports Special 1969
   * Ultimate Mystery Cat GT E
   * One Of A Kind Find
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   * Eliminator Defined
   * Ski Pac 1969
   * Calypso Coupe 1968
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   * The GT-E prototype story
 * VIN Decoder
 * Dataplate Decoder
   * The Warranty Plate
   * Body Type (from Door Tag)
   * Exterior Color
     * Exterior Color 1967
     * Exterior Color 1968
     * Exterior Color 1969
     * Exterior Color 1970
     * Exterior Color 1971
     * Exterior Color 1972
     * Exterior Color 1973
   * Interior Trim
     * Interior Trim Color 1967
     * Interior Trim Color 1968
     * Interior Trim Color 1969
     * Interior Trim Color 1970
     * Interior Trim Color 1971
     * Interior Trim Color 1972
     * Interior Trim Color 1973
   * Date
   * DSO
   * Axle
     * Axle 1967
     * Axle 1968
     * Axle 1969
     * Axle 1970
     * Axle 1971
     * Axle 1972
     * Axle 1973
   * Transmission
 * Other info
   * 1969-1970 Mercury Cougar
   * 380HP For Less Than $2,000
   * Cougar Rarity
   * A close look at the 1967-1968
   * Benchmark Cat
   * Classic Cougar FAQs
   * The Cougar Eliminator
   * Definition of Horsepower
   * Braking System
   * Mercury Cougar 1967 - 1973
   * Traction Control Systems
   * The Holy Grail?
   * Motor Trend Car of the Year
   * Miss Teenage America Cougar
   * FE Oiling Mods
   * 1967 - 1968 Cougar Tune-Up Charts
   * 1969 Cougar Tune-Up Charts
 * Restoration and Repair
   * 1969 Door Windo Glass Repair
   * Restarting an Old Engine
   * Tail Light Restoration
   * Restoring Brake Valves
   * Troubleshooting Sequential Turn Signals
   * Repairing power steering
   * Convertible Inner Rocker Repair
 * Paper archive
   * Accident form
   * Warranty Application
   * 1971 vehicle inspection form
   * Gulf Safety "CAR-CHEK" SERVICE
   * Colonial Lincoln-Mercury receipt
   * Boomershine Pontiac
 * For Sale
   * Dutch Cougar
 * Guest book


MERCURY COUGAR XR7-G

The year 1967 was sensational for Lincoln-Mercury, with the introduction of
Cougar exceeding all sales forecast expectations.  The Cougar racing team was
very successful as well, placing second in the SCCA group II sedan racing
series, known today as TransAm.  Dan Gurney was the team captain of the Cougar
racing team and, as part of his contract, Lincoln-Mercury could use his name and
likeness for advertising and promotion.

Taking advantage of their agreement with Gurney, L-M introduced a sales
promotion during the 1967 model year with an option package called the Dan
Gurney Special.  The package consisted of a sticker on the passenger rear
window, chrome engine dress up kit and turbine wheel covers.  The Dan Gurney
Special option continued into the 1968 model year, but only included the window
sticker and wheel covers.

During the 1967 and 1968 model years, Cougars with the Dan Gurney Special Option
package were identified by a sticker in the passenger side rear window.



 

Then, during the 1968 model year, Lincoln-Mercury introduced the XR7-G option,
which was also promoted through the use of Dan Gurney's name (the G stood for
Gurney).  The existence of two Gurney option packages has caused much confusion
among collectors over the years.  To clear up any misunderstandings we have
provided a comparison chart (below) of the equipment included in each option
package.

Introduced during the 1968 model year, the XR7-G was the second and far broader
Cougar option package associated with Dan Gurney.



 

DAN GURNEY SPECIAL AND XR7-G OPTION COMPARISON

Dan Gurney Special Option:

Vinyl seat upholstery and standard Cougar interior.  Body code 65A.

Dan Gurney Special sticker in the passenger rear window

Turbine wheel covers (1967 & 1968)

Chrome engine dress up kit (1967 only)

XR7-G Option:

XR-7 interior including leather seat upholstery, wood grained dash with
tachometer, trip odometer, oil pressure and amp gauges, map lights and rear seat
courtesy lighting. Body Code 65B

Unique interior console with switches for fog lamps and sunroof (even on cars
without sunroof!)

Aluminum running cat valve covers were installed sporadically during production

Aluminum wheels made by Rader (early cars) or Cougar styled steel wheels with
XR7-G center caps

Lucas or Marchal Fog lights in a unique front valance panel

Bullet shaped remote controlled racing side view mirror

Fiberglas hood scoop, non functional except 428 CJ

Functional hood scoop with ram air on 428 CJ models only

Chrome locking hood pins

Vinyl roof covering

Leather door pull straps

XR7-G trunk lock cover

Vinyl wrapped steering wheel with gold Cougar emblem

Dashboard identification Cougar XR7-G in gold

Wood shift knob with inlaid gold running cat (automatic equipped cars only)

XR7-G badges on passenger side headlamp cover and C-pillars

Rear valance with chrome cutouts for slash cut “pipe-in-pipe” exhaust tips

A third, extra loud horn, made by Delco-Remy

 

The XR7-G project assigned to Shelby Automotive. By 1968 Carroll Shelby was
losing control of this operation, partly because he had lost his lease on the
Shelby production facilities on LAX airport property in Los Angeles,
California.  Because of this, 1968 Shelby Mustang production was moved to the
A.O. Smith factory in the suburban Detroit, Michigan area.  A.O. Smith was the
fabricator of Corvette fiberglass bodies from 1953 until 1966 under contract to
GM, and the firm was happy to get the work since GM had taken the Corvette body
contract in house.

Somehow it was decided to build a Cougar with a performance orientation similar
to the Shelby Mustangs.  Dan Gurney has maintained in interviews over the years
that he had nothing to do with the XR7-G other than posing for advertisements. 
Carroll Shelby was on the board of directors of Shelby Automotive and was
involved in the day to day decisions to some degree.

Dan Gurney has always maintained that he had nothing to do with the XR7-G
besides posing for photos, like this shot taken with an XR7-G mock-up.  Note the
1967 style rear view mirror and the non-production side marker lights.



 

The XR7-G was Mercury's equivalent to a Shelby Mustang.  Like the Shelby
Mustang, vehicles were delivered to the A.O. Smith facility in groups for
conversion. A.O. Smith fabricated the fiberglass hood scoops in-house.  Many
other parts were out-sourced.  The original concept of the G included aluminum
"Rader" wheels made by Trans American Products, an after market wheel
manufacturer.  The emblems on the steering wheel, trunk latch, headlight cover,
and roof pillars were sourced from ASCO (not to be confused with ASC).  Fog
lamps were made by Lucas or Marchal.  The outside rear view mirror was made by
Talbot.

Some of the XR7-G components installed by A.O. Smith (clockwise from upper
left): hood scoop, wood automatic gear shift knob, fog lamps, and styled steel
wheels with XR7-G center caps.



 

Because all XR7-G consoles have a sunroof switch it could be assumed that all
cars were originally intended to have a sunroof, however internal Shelby
documents show us that there were cars ordered both with and without sunroofs. 
In any case most XR7-Gs were shipped to another Detroit area contractor for
sunroof installation.  The American Sunroof Corporation (ASC) was started by a
pair of German immigrants who had previously worked in Germany installing
sunroofs. Heinz Prechter and Werner Miess were the first two employees of the
company.

According to Mr. Miess, finished XR7-Gs arrived at the company on rail cars
along with standard Cougars. The headliners were carefully removed and sunroof
assemblies made by Bosch were welded in place. The original headliner was
unstitched at the rear bow and then new material sewn in to make a single panel
for the sunroof area.  Some XR7-Gs also received a separate fiberglass access
panel to cover the mechanism at the front.  After the sunroofs were installed a
vinyl top was applied.  Finished cars went back to Fomoco for distribution
through regular channels.

Sunroofs were installed in both XR7-Gs and other Cougars by American Sunroof
Corporation.



 

Original XR7-G Pricing

To purchase a new XR7-G back in 1968 you had to order an XR-7, plus the XR7-G
option package and the required options associated with the G option.  Thus, the
1968 purchase price of an XR7-G would have been as follows:

Cougar XR-7

$ 3,231.91

XR7-G Option (includes all G items plus vinyl roof)

666.95

AM Radio w/Antenna (required option)

61.40

Power Steering (required option)

95.00

TOTAL (not including tax and transportation charges)

    $ 4,055.26

 

The car you could have purchased for the price in our example would have been a
302 2V powered XR7-G with a three speed manual transmission, drum brakes and a
heater.  One such car was produced, however most cars were ordered loaded with
such options as:

Air Conditioning

    $ 360.40

Tinted Glass

30.25

Power Disc Brakes

64.85

 

Add in one of the optional engines, and the typical retail price of a new XR7-G
easily exceeded $4,500, and the window sticker on a fully loaded car could add
up to more the $5000.  That kind of money would buy a brand new Thunderbird or a
nice used Lincoln in 1968!

 

The XR7-G In Today's Market

Classic Cougars are finally receiving the respect they've long deserved among
classic car enthusiasts, and the demand for rare "limited production"
models--GT-Es and XR7-Gs, for example--is on the rise.  XR7-Gs equipped with 428
Cobra Jet engines (all with Ram Air and functional hood scoops) are in the
greatest demand among Gs, since only 14 were produced.

Rarity, in itself, seemingly has little to do with today's values, as evidenced
by the fact that the most common Gs produced--the 188 XR7-Gs produced as Hertz
rental cars--are the second most sought after variant.  The Hertz Gs are nicely
optioned cars with the 390-4V engine and sunroof, and the added cachet
associated with the Hertz "Rent-a-Racer" program puts these cars solidly above a
similarly equipped non-Hertz XR7-G.

Badge of distinction!  When L-M placed this medallion on a Cat's grille and
C-pillars, the car instantly became a very special Cougar.



 

XR7-Gs powered by one of the 302 engines (2V or 4V) are popular among
enthusiasts who like to drive their cars to shows and on other occasions.  Of
course, in terms of numbers produced, the rarest of the XR7-Gs is the single 302
2V car produced with a three speed manual transmission.  Strangely, if this car
exists today and were sold, it would be among the least desirable XR7-Gs. 

Prices in the Summer of 2001 are likely to be in the $20,000.00 range for a well
restored Hertz XR7-G, and history shows that prices won't go down in the
future.  XR7-Gs with 302 4V power are a good deal in the $15,000 range for
nicely restored examples.  Consider that it would cost twice that to restore one
and the numbers are even more attractive! 

The most sought after XR7-Gs are those equipped with the 428 Cobra Jet ram air
engine.  Only 14 of these cars were produced.



 

The Rader Wheel Story

The original plan was for all XR7-Gs to be equipped with Rader aluminum wheels
made by Trans American Products.  However, problems must have developed early on
because the Rader wheels were recalled by Ford.  In a letter to Mercury dealers
dated May 7, 1968 the factory had this to say, "Subsequent to the announcement
of this vehicle and the start of production, we have found that air leaks may
develop in the attachment of the rim to the cast center section.  We have also
found some wheel retaining nuts that have become cracked due to improper heat
treatment and certain dimensional variations in the wheels."

Dealers replaced the original wheels with Cougar styled steel wheels at no
charge to the owner.  How many cars were actually produced with Rader wheels and
when production changed will probably never be known.

This is the Rader aluminum wheel originally intended for the XR7-G.  Tire
sealing and metal fatigue problems apparently led to their replacement with
Cougar styled steel wheels.



 

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