1968 Mercury Cougar 427

The Cougar was Mercury’s version of the Mustang, but never really had the image status that the Mustang enjoyed. Very few people even knew about the GT-E 427 option. It all had to do with positioning.

Mercury positioned and marketed the GT-E in-between the Mustang and the Thunderbird. They still had the old business model called, “start’m out with a cheap car and let them work their way up to a Lincoln.”

The 390 horsepower 427 had 460 lb.ft of torque, but was only available with a C-6 automatic trans. So how serious was mercury about the GT-E being a real muscle car? As a result, Mercury only sold 602 GT-E optioned Cougars in 1968. So if you didn’t know about the 427 GT-E, you’ve got lots of company because most of the rest of the muscle car market didn’t know about the car either.