1971 Mercury Cougar 429 Cobra Jet 4-Speed Convertible-Muscle Car Of The Week Video Episode

[@ricksidenstricker2144]

Stellar job on this episode. Ford really hit the styling ball out of the park on this one...IMO. It's interesting that no 429 powered automatic convertibles were made with factory a/c. This one has a 4 speed with air. The reason according to an article in a muscle car mag, was that the weight of the car was so great with the convertible and a/c with automatic, that the tires were not up to the task, requiring larger tires would have caused clearance problems, so Ford decided to offer air on automatic equipped 429 coupes, but not on vert's. One prototype with auto was made, and it was featured in the article. Beautiful Cougar.

[@MuscleCarOfTheWeek]

Thank you Rick!

[@christarbuck5068]

For 33 yr, I had 1971 XR7 Cougar 429 scj ,american moon roof, power windows, seats. Buck skin Brown, VIN 1F93J511751 bought for $250 1985. Drove it over 259K miles, Sold back to ford 42K

[@JamesPolley-g9c]

I have a 1971 XR7 Cougar. Red with a white vinyl top. Still original and in good condition. Like your channel.

[@tomnekuda3818]

The 429 motor could have been so much stronger if Ford would not have put it into the smaller cars or if the'd redesigned the tight engine bays of those cars. As such, the 429 exhaust ports had to nearly turn back onto themselves to fit. Even the DOVE-C heads could have been much better. I spent hours porting the exhausts to lead the flow upward and filled in the "dead" area with Devcon F to make them flow.....they were the size of storm drains but the tight turns made them miserable. I should have waited to get aluminum aftermarket heads but was strapped for money at the time. Good video.

[@anhiirr]

pretty bad ass convertible if you ask me. reminds me a lot of the olds cutlass

[@markreisen7038]

You truly think a Cougar resembles a Gutlees? You must be DELUSIONAL!! THE COUGARS REMIND ME OF A FANCIED UP GT350 OR GT500KR. The cutlass was never a direct competitor from GERIATRIC MOTORS.

[@anhiirr]

@@markreisen7038 i didnt mean it like that. I meant like a fully done out platform from a different brand. LIke a comparison to a curtlass to a base malibu or etc. Its nice to see a ford done to the max that the factory could offer. with "stock" parts. The body is more in the fairlane A body etc comparison. As far as a cutlass. Granted.

[@markreisen7038]

@@anhiirr Yeah I get what your trying to say, but the fact remains that the Cougar was based off the Mustang plat form and not a Fairlane/ Montego . These were smaller wheelbase cars and the styling may be generic motors because they were stealing some of Mercurys styling cues throughout the 70's. Just saying.

[@bgh70]

Very nice. I love the 4 speed and big block. Bet you can't find a console like that anywhere.

[@1972mercurycougar]

bgh70 Same full console as 71-73 mustang. It is in reproduction now in black only. Cougar and Mustang parts vendors. l love the 71-73's.

[@jonathancohen479]

I've always been ambivalent about this body style of Merc Cougar, but that 429CJ under the hood does alleviate any ambivalence on this car.

[@dominicsosa7405]

beautiful car

[@jeremythompson9122]

I agree. I don't think the 429 CJ/SCJ was available in the Cyclone anymore in 71 so you're options were very limited if you wanted to buy a Merc with muscle in 1971. I loved the 67-70 Cougar body styles. They were beautiful. My aunt bought a 68 GT-E 7 Litre brand new. It had the 428 Cobra Jet with the C6 automatic. Red with Black interior. Man oh man what a beautiful car that was and so smooth for the performance capability it had. If she would've ordered a 4 speed manual it would be an extremely rare car today if she still was alive and still had it. They built very few 4 speed 68 Cougar GT-E's with the 428 CJ. All the early production GT-E's had the Q-Code(I think)390 horsepower 427 Side Oiler but were all equipped with automatic transmissions

[@mikecude4167]

I thought these cars were hideous when I was a kid. At 41, they look good!

[@hanktorrance6855]

There was also the best of the non boss 429 engine...the 429 PI (police interceptor) which due to smaller valve diameters produced better street performance, a great package would have been to mate the PI heads to the CJ short block 🤩

[@rafaelquinones5110]

I freAkin loooove this car.😍

[@chuckselvage3157]

I like those 5 slot wheels

[@sharondiraimo]

almost impossible to find now compared to the magnum 500s

[@bwabwe1]

Have to say I love that body shape

[@rafaelquinones5110]

I'll take this car over a mustang...any day...😍 Love the style...pimpy and sporty...love it.

[@jswan9658]

Beautiful Car !

[@JuanSanchez-ub3io]

Beautiful car I love body shape

[@SidsCardShop]

The Traction-Lock doesn't work. The right rear tire lit up just like a car with a normal differential.

[@AgeCobra]

Like those rims .What are they?Nice Coug.

[@yyzwdm]

Beautiful!!

[@dominicsosa7405]

nice wheels and trim rings

[@markreisen7038]

What really SUCKSis that everybody and his DUMBER brother call them really whells. In fact they were an updated version of Fords GT wheels that ford used from 68-69. They were called the STYLED STEEL or as I like to call them GT wheels. Rally's! NOT!!!!

[@sheldonbaggs4634]

The cougar went throught a lot of changes. I personal like the color, engine package, and the 4spd. One the to note the center brake light on the drivers side was out or has a bad ground but all around a nice car.

[@Stucifer]

Did he even mention the sequential turn signals or rim blow steering wheel?

[@SteveHolsten]

Does the Brothers collection have any of the 74-76 Ford Elite's with the 460?

[@jeremythompson9895]

My dad had a fully loaded 74 Gran Torino Elite when I was a kid. It was yellow with a tan vinyl top and tan interior. Pretty nice car

[@Johnnycdrums]

A real beauty.

[@hotroddaddy-et4xg]

nice car.. quick too.. i've allways wondered why air conditioning when you have a rag top??they all built them too. even today they still manufacture them.

[@mister.dynamite]

*Nice*

[@tonyelliott7734]

With sticky tires and a 4.30 gear I bet it's a mid 13 sec. ET

[@lucasaldrich5949]

Hi there, I've been watching your videos for about a month now and almost half of the cars you have on here I've haven't seen in years like the dodge super bee and the Buick GSX. But I think you guys should start doing the old muscle trucks like the dodge lil red express and the Chevy 454 SS and the Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, that would be very cool to see especially the lil red express.

[@nickhlawka7073]

At 03:25 it looks like the A/C compressor is missing a bolt on the left side. Better get that fixed.

[@trevorb7645]

Aint nothin like a big block

[@alankulchecki3160]

anyone know the 5th digit on the vin for this car c code or j code? trying to figure out if my 71 xr7 c code had an optional hood scoop just like the one on this car

[@markreisen7038]

I think it's a "J" code.

[@barrysnider635]

A big shame a 429 Cobra jet is hidden under the hood of this !

[@jeremythompson9122]

I was never a big fan of any Cougar's other than the 67-70's but I still think it's a pretty sweet car because you never, ever see a 71 Cougar with a 429 CJ under the hood and a 4 speed manual trans. I don't think the 429 CJ/SCJ was available in the Cyclone in 71 so you were pretty limited if you wanted to buy a Mercury with muscle that year. Really this is the last true muscle car that Mercury ever built before all the emissions shit started in 1972 for Ford, Chrysler, and American Motors. GM started dropping all their compression ratio's a year earlier in 1971. Leave it to Government Motors

[@markreisen7038]

The 429 was still an option in the Cyclones and the big Marquis and Montego's was still an optional engine too.

[@johnwilkerson2195]

1971 thru 73' bodystyle

[@jeremythompson9895]

Many people don't like the second gen Cougar styling. I'm not one of those people. I'd take this car over a 71 Mustang 429CJ because they are more rare and the Cougar was just an overall nicer car than the Mustang. My personal favorite Cougar is probably a 68 GT-E with the 427 Side Oiler

[@christarbuck5068]

My defination was -- A black man's mustang. ALL POWER, LEATHER SEATS, POWET MÓN ROOF, WINDOWS. EVERY OPTION IN THE BOOK 1 OF 12 33YR DRIVING AND LIVED IM LUCKY. OVRR 250K ON IT MYSELF. SAD I KNOW PEOPLE WHO OWN ONE JUST AS LONG AND NEVER USE MORE THAN A QUARTER TANK OF GAS THAT'S SAD

[@stuartfitzsimons2786]

A quadrajet carb.? Heresey! What about the Motorcraft 4130 which was a direct copy of the GM quadrajet? Not big enough?

[@markelkins2218]

Thought it strange because my 72 439cj had the motorcraft spread bore never seen a quad on a Ford

[@markreisen7038]

It's not very common on the 429's but it was an option on the Cobra Jets. The reason they did this was a cost savings over the Holley carbs Ford used on their other big blocks. Kind of a dumb move. Not one of Fords better ideas. Quadra junk on a FORD!! PEEE YUCK!!!

[@crabbypapa3862]

@@markreisen7038 All CJ had the 715 cfm Quadrajet. Thunderjets had Autolite 600cfm. Holley 780 were SCJ. 1972 Motorcraft spread bore. The Cobra Jet ended in 1971 due to emission and leaded fuel. The spread bore Motorcraft was also used on 460's.

[@WPGinterceptor460Interceptor]

5:02.. why no posi??? never understood that... would definitely hurt 1/4 mile times

[@WPGinterceptor460Interceptor]

naw, most Fords did that... never understood why they didn't come up with a better diff back then, cost them 0-60 and 1/4 mile times

[@philthyco1]

He said it had track loc but it must be blown out or maybe swapped at one point

[@markreisen7038]

Track Lock was not the same as the Detroit Locker rear ends. The Trac Lock had a slipper type clutch that only engaged when the reverse gear was engaged and put back into drive .

[@floridaroadways]

Does it have power windows?

[@sharondiraimo]

Affirmative

[@floridaroadways]

@@sharondiraimo I prefer power windows. 😂

[@Tegridynews]

Basically a 429 Ford Edsel

[@jeremythompson9122]

Nah I wouldn't go that far

[@markreisen7038]

F.y.i. The Edsels had a 361 and 410 engines. The only thing close to the 429 was the 430 m.e.l. engine. And the 229 was one of the BADDEST ENGINES FORD EVER BUILT. Boss 9's FOREVER.

[@markreisen7038]

429 that is.

[@philthyco1]

traction lock????

[@Nickos1b]

The seventies dawn, the ugliness creeps in

[@jeremythompson9122]

The 67-70 Cougars were beautiful cars. The 71 and up not really. But anything with the 429 CJ is a pretty bad machine

[@andy26111]

tail light out...

[@andy0422]

That is one ugly car but its nice to know the the Brothers collected one. Its an important part of automotive history. Great show as always.

[@davidforsman5973]

andy0422 There's nothing ugly about mercury cougars!

[@dicarlo57]

this was during the tenure of semon knudson, who would not approve a design for production unless the front end included an ugly beak. look what he did to the '70-71 t-birds, and montegos, almost as ugly as the pontiacs when he was in charge at G.M. This was one of the many reasons Ford fired him

[@markreisen7038]

He must have been an ugly stick baby.

[@AlejandroP1980s]

@@dicarlo57 this design wasn't going to be for 71 but the cougar would look like the 1970 Mercury El Gato the cat concept prototype but never got approved that's why we got this not bad for me grande looks better than the grande on 71-73 mustang

[@wpcampbell491]

The only thing that I don't like about luxury cars or any car, for that matter, is the stupid fake wood grain finishs! I mean, seriously, fake wood? Why? These vehicles are supposed to be sporty, and I find nothing sporty about fake wood ! Put some faux-diamond plate tape on the dashboard, or paint the darn plastic , for crying out loud! Wood harumph!

[@markreisen7038]

I always thought the Engine Turned dash inserts looked better than FAKE WOOD too.

[@rrmech11]

Rare but ugly

[@sharondiraimo]

Like they say a matter of taste