By Brian Brennan – Photography by Fuelish Media
It’s always fun to imagine what might have been. That’s especially true for the 1968 Mercury Cougar. Back in the day, the Ford Mustang was a huge success. Interestingly, it may be considered even more popular today with hot rodders. The fastback version of the early Mustangs is currently a favorite among hot rodders. So, what happened to Mercury’s Cougar fastback? Well, it never materialized, but it should have!
Released in 1967 and named Motor Trend Car of the Year, the first-generation Cougar, internally known as the T-7, shared its chassis with the 1967 Ford Mustang revision. The first-gen Cougar had a 3-inch-longer wheelbase, bringing its length to 111 inches. Interestingly, both the Mustang and the Cougar were based on the Ford Falcon of that era. The 1968 Cougar included federal safety updates, such as side marker lights and front three-point seatbelts. Although both models shared similar chassis architecture, you could distinguish them by their unique grilles, badging, and lighting features.
And that brings us to JF Launier of JF Kustoms (JFK) in Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada. A couple of years ago, at the Detroit Autorama and then at the Grand National Roadster Show, this 1968 Mercury Cougar fastback—titled “The Predator”—was displayed under the JF Kustoms banner. It should be noted that the owner of this one-of-a-kind Cougar fastback is Kevin Mindel, another Canadian, who is an active participant in the team that has brought the one and only 1968 Mercury Cougar fastback to life. There were 3-1/2 years of morning-to-night labor, as well as 10 years of inspiration to pull this project together.
Part of the fun of building this hot rod was showing it off. Hot rodders of all ages would look at the car, admire the styling and the powerful underhood details, but everyone knew it wasn’t a “real” car. Until! In the display that followed, the 1968 Cougar fastback appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a Feb. ’67 issue of Motor Trend showing the Car of the Year—remember, it was the 1967 Cougar. But the magazine was laid out so you could see both the front and back covers simultaneously—and guess what: the back cover ad was for “The Exciting New Mercury Predator.” Here it was —the very car, with its colors and styling, right there for everyone to see. Back in 1967, there was the Cougar fastback—it was real, but none of us had ever seen one. Well, there’s a reason we never saw one: it didn’t exist. The back cover ad was a clever “sleight of hand” trick where JF had an ad for the fastback produced and swapped out for what was originally there. A little tongue-in-cheek humor is always appreciated, but honestly, Mercury should have built the fastback—it looks amazing.
The chassis is built on a handmade, custom frame by JFK with Gary Yorston doing the work. The frontend is independent, featuring QA1 coilover shocks and a 1.25-inch custom front sway bar, while the rear suspension is another custom piece from JFK with a 1-inch custom sway bar and Panhard bar. The rearend is a Ford 9-inch with a modified Strange centersection, 4.10 gears, and Strange axles. Braking is handled by Wilwood, with drilled-and-slotted rotors and six-piston calipers in the front, four-piston calipers in the back, all connected via a Wilwood master cylinder.
The eye-catching detail underhood is arguably one of the most impressive hot rod motors any of us would love to see in our projects. It is a 529ci Kaase Racing Engines Boss Nine V-8, built by Jon Kaase Racing Engines, producing a relatively modest 770 streetable horsepower. The massive V-8 features an aluminum aftermarket block, heads, and plenty of ARP hardware, including head studs for maximum clamping power and a Hilborn stack injection system with a JFK custom-fabricated air cleaner. The Holley Dominator EFI management system is paired with an MSD ignition, a smoothed water pump, and a custom fan shroud designed to resemble a factory piece. The exhaust system is custom work from JFK and Gary Yorston, using 2-1/2-inch pipes running back to a pair of handcrafted JFK mufflers polished in-house. Did we mention the abundant chrome and polish that make this “supersized” V-8 an impressive sight when the hood is raised?
The trans is a TREMEC TKX five-speed with a JFK-fabricated shaft arm and handle, while the shifter itself is a TREMEC. Resting behind the transmission is a 9-inch rearend with a posi-equipped differential, fitted with 4.10 gears and Strange Engineering axles. The car rides on a custom suspension developed by Gary Yorston, featuring custom coilovers, four-wheel disc brakes, and Mike Curtis custom wheels. One-off wheels come from Curtis Speed equipment, specifically designed and built for the Cougar Fastback. They are 18×8 in front and 19×10 in the rear, with Pirelli 245/45R18 tires in front and 325/40R19 tires in the back.
So, how did the actual 1968 Mercury fastback body come about?
JFK took an original 1967 Cougar and combined it with a 1967 Mustang fastback shell. The build, which took 3-1/2 years to complete, amounted to around 11,000 man-hours, derived from the JFK shop (a seven-man team) and numerous subcontractors involved during the process. JF was responsible for installing the 1968 Mustang roofline onto the Cougar. There are several custom touches, such as the quarter-panels, rear bumper, taillights, hood, fenderwells, and colors, and, surprisingly, the body is channeled by 4 inches. The necessary bodywork was handled at JFK, and the custom color was also a JF effort, while the actual paint application was done by JF, Dave Launier, and Dave Hartman. The offset striping on the hood, roof, and decklid was completed by Michael Kurkura.
The fastback’s interior was designed to look “stock” with additional factory-installed features. For those familiar with the Cougar of this era, you’ll remember that wood trim was common, so JF kept this look and added interior accents machined from aluminum, along with extra 3-D–printed items. Richard Schick of Razor Customs built the dashboard, which houses a complete set of custom Classic Instruments gauges featuring the Mercury “Cougar” logo. (Did you know that the original Cougar used in television commercials and print ads was named “Vercingetorix”? “The sign of the Cat” appears on the tachometer. Who the heck was Vercingetorix? A Gallic king known for uniting the Gauls to fight the Romans.) Lee Baxter’s Hot Rod Interiors was instrumental in achieving the “factory looking” interior. The seating consists of a pair of custom front buckets and a rear bench but is divided to look like a pair of buckets. Baxter’s handled the Hydes’ leather and the German square-weave carpeting. We mentioned earlier that the shifter came from TREMEC, but the shift arm and a simulated woodgrain knob that matched the wood accents were all JFK. The steering column is a custom unit from JFK, while Schick of Razor Customs made the steering wheel. Owner Kevin was also instrumental in the interior design and coordination. Having hands-on involvement is always a great way to keep one’s interest going strong.
Well, there you have the rest of the story. The Cougar fastback that never was but should have been. The car is loaded with detail and will take some time to go from one end to the other, with tasteful custom touches throughout. The result is a nearly factory-looking fastback Cougar with one heck of a monster V-8 that will move it down the road. MR
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
