Ford Research and Engineering 1970

**quick-bowtie** · #1 12-19-2013, 02:57 PM

Does anyone happen to know anyone who worked in the Research and Engineering Testing room at Ford in 1970? I bought a RARE Cougar and am trying to get some more history on it.

The car is 1 of 17 428 Cobra Jet 4 Speeds convertibles made, and 1 of only 4 with the Ram Air option and a 4 speed. The really cool part is this is the 1st Built (ordered in July of 69') and a Factory Test car sold new back to Ford R&E. When the car was found it had factory air conditioning which isn't listed on the Marti report but the guy who owned and restored the car swears that when he got the car it was original and never restored and had the cut outs where the air would have went along with the condenser still in place and the Air controls and venting in the dash which he said you could tell had never been touched. The car also is listed with 3.50 gears on the Marti report and when the car was found it had 3.00 and the only way you could get factory air was to have 3.00 rear gears in 1970. Being a factory Test car and being such an early car the story all makes sense to me and the owner/restorer is a knowledgeable well respected Cougar guy but Id love just to have some concrete evidence. Being 1 of 4 is already rare enough for me and it could possibly be the only surviving example but it would be 1 of 1 if I could prove the air conditioning.

69LM1 · #2 12-19-2013, 09:21 PM

I love the old cats. I had a 70 428 Eliminator and a 68 XR7 in the past. Great values and fun cars. Do you have any pics?

Rich

**Xplantdad** · #3 12-19-2013, 11:22 PM

That's cool!!

**quick-bowtie** · #4 12-20-2013, 01:00 AM

I'm not a huge mercury or ford guy for that matter I learned to night Cougars have buck tags and that the air conditioning is listed on the tag for this car. Pretty cool! I will try to post a couple of pics this weekend depending on weather up here.

442w30 · #5 12-20-2013, 02:48 AM

This is solely my opinion so take it with a grain of salt:

Get over the "1 of 1" thing because it's useless crap - the value in this car is that it's a 4-speed 428 CJ ragtop and not anything more. You state production figures, which I can only assume you got from the Marti Report, but you fail to state whether this is a standard Cougar or an XR-7, which is a very important distinction to make (and therefore stating "1 of 4" doesn't tell the whole story. Marti is not 100% accurate, which is why it's a good idea to get a Emminger Report (sp?) to complement the Marti - records do have human errors at times!

I also believe AC cars could get 3.25 gears, but it may depend on the application.

What you should do is call Marti and ask him to explain the "Ford Research and Engineering" distinction because it may simply have gone to a Ford employee who worked in that channel. Have you seen Marti's explanation of certain things?

http://www.martiauto.com/faqfocus.cfm?qid=104

Sounds like a cool car (I'd love to hear more about it or maybe you can post the Marti?) but keep your excitement at bay and try to learn as much as possible instead of getting sucked into the puffery that sometimes exists in the hobby.

**Keith Seymore** · #6 12-20-2013, 12:37 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 442w30</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is solely my opinion so take it with a grain of salt:

Get over the "1 of 1" thing because it's useless crap - the value in this car is that it's a 4-speed 428 CJ ragtop and not anything more. You state production figures, which I can only assume you got from the Marti Report, but you fail to state whether this is a standard Cougar or an XR-7, which is a very important distinction to make (and therefore stating "1 of 4" doesn't tell the whole story. Marti is not 100% accurate, which is why it's a good idea to get a Emminger Report (sp?) to complement the Marti - records do have human errors at times!</div></div>

x2.

Additionally, The Marti report breaks the combinations down so far it's difficult <span style="text-decoration: underline">not</span> to have a '1 of 1".

saw a Mustang that was described as "the only blue car with a factory block heater". Need I say more?.

To answer the orginal question: our contact with Ford racing in the early 60's was a gentleman named Dave Evans. I do not know how to contact him or if he is even still living.

Tom V is a current Ford Research/Development employee who is very active in the (Pontiac) hobby. Tom started working at Ford in the mid 70's and knows all the old(er) guys. He might be a good contact as well. Let me know if you would like to connect with him.

K

**quick-bowtie** · #7 12-20-2013, 03:18 PM

I totally agree 1 of 1 isn't a big deal and most cars can be broken down to 1 of 1's with paint or interior and other crazy items and I don't get into the fluff behind that stuff. But I think if you can prove your car is a 1 of 1 with factory air conditioning I think that's quite different story. There is quite a difference in desirability when you add High Horse Power, Ram Air, Air-Conditioning and a 4 speed together with other makes and models I think the same would hold true with this car.

Maybe the Marti report is wrong? I've never heard that before and from everything I've read online and in the Cougar forums its seems to be a general consensus that there were 17 Cougar XR7 Convertible 428cj 4 speeds made and out of those only 4 were factory Ram Air cars and this 1 of the 4 made with Ram Air.. The Ram Air is what Id personally think really sets this car apart from the others.. To me that's like saying a Shaker hood Cuda or Challenger is the same as a flat hood car which isn't the case. Then if you can take that 1 of 4 Ram Air and tie in air-conditioning and have that be the 1 of 1 factor well to me at least that's HUGE.. At least in my eyes this would be the Ultimate 70' Cougar and that has nothing to do with me owning it... just seems like it would be the most desired one.

**quick-bowtie** · #8 12-20-2013, 03:39 PM

It does list the Ram Air option on both the Eminger and Marti report. And both show the car selling back to Ford..

the Eminger shows:

Sold to:

Ford Motor Company
Room 1150 Bldg 5 R&E
Dearborn, MI

Ship to:

I R Building Garage
21500 Oakwood Blvd
Dearborn, MI

Sportyworty · #9 12-20-2013, 03:52 PM

Lots of cars were sold back to different Ford divisions. For some reason the Philco (radios) guys liked their Cougars. They were perks and used as pool cars. Your is an engineering car which could range from tires, sound proofing, perhaps A/C.
Here are past discussions on the car
http://www.mercurycougar.net/forums/...p-R-A-Test-Car

<span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">1 of 4 1970 4 speed 428 Cougar Convertibles with A/C.</span></span> For 1970 Cougar dropped the R code and the CJ cars were all Q codes. However the Ram Air option as you know was available just no longer a stand alone vin code to denote. Your car is extremely early in the model year so it may have been a promotion car as well. Watch your head as the new for 70 hood will get you just before closing after a look ha!

**Stefano** · #10 12-21-2013, 01:58 AM

Top "Cat" indeed. Very Cool.

Over the years of the Cobra Jets, I've had, a Mustang and a Torino, both appeared to have had factory A/C but it was not on the Marti Report. I believe that the Marti Report was not correct and missed the A/C on these two cars.

Let's do a Cobra Jet Display for MCACN VI.