Ford and Mercury products featuring the 428 Cobra Jet are runners, vehicles not shy about racing Brand X on the drag strip. Certain CJs were quite popular, like the 1969 Ford Cobra (CJ standard) and Mustang Mach I (CJ optional). However, there are also some cars with the CJ that were quite rare. This 1969 Mercury Cougar XR-7 is one of them.
Of course, since nothing is easy in life, Cobra Jets can be confusing. In the case of 1969s, FoMoCo offered the CJ in two versions: the basic CJ was the Q-code and, if you wanted ram air, Ford substituted an R in the 5th character of the VIN. In the case of this Cougar, which one you chose affected the look: if you ordered an R-code Cougar, it came with a hood scoop with black or silver stripes running from the scoop to the nose; if you opted for the Q-code, the hood was flat like those with the standard 351. As such, a Q-code Cougar was quite unassuming and made for a good, um, Q-ship.
On this AutoHunter Cinema video, Jalopy Jeff goes over the fine points of these rare Cougars. As an upscale XR-7 with the Q-code Cobra Jet, it’s one of 39 built with an automatic; to compare, another 96 R-codes were built with the same transmission. Painted Medium Blue metallic over a white interior with blue components, this Mercury was spec’d out for luxury but has the suds to take care of business.
