This very handsome two-passenger GT sports car would have made a timely contender to the popular Corvette String Ray. Cougar II featured a fastback roof, conceaied "pop-up" headlamps, and a serious, fully instrumented interior.
Powertrain was a high-performance 260 cu. in. V-8 engine that connected a four-speed transmission with a console-mounted gearshift lever. It was claimed that Cougar II was engineered to reach speeds in the 170 miles-an-hour range. When interior air pressure exceeded 15 pounds per square inch, a reliefpanel across the rear of the passenger compartment opened automatically.
This panel was required, since there was the possibility that at high speeds, the extreme pressure against the rear window might blow it out. Cougar also had a unique spring-loaded window-lift mechanism that allowed adjustment to the curved side windows.
The Cougar II, the third of the X-Car group, was named after the Cougar I which preceded it by a scant 18 months. It was the most radical of the first three show cars and was not based upon an established Ford platform. Instead, the iridescent candy red car was constructed on AC-Cobra tube frame (Chassis #CSX2004) obtained from the newly-created Carroll Shelby Enterprises in California. However, the chassis set up had to be modified: To clear the hood, the high-performance 289 Ford engine was moved rearward in the chassis. Intended as a response to the powerful and lithe Ferrari, it was the most competition-oriented of the first three X-Cars.
The Cobra II was probably the most beautiful of the three X-Cars, but was the least influential in terms of styling. This fastback coupe was designed before the Corvette Stingray. Built on a Cobra frame, the 289 K-Code powered car and wire wheels set a styling standard that was hard to replicate. The candy-red car still exists today.
The Cobra seats and steering wheel were retained, while a new, more futuristic instrument panel housed the original Smith's instruments. Leather padding was added to the dash and center console. The Cougar II featured Rudge-Borrani wire wheels dressed in Goodyear T-4 race tires, pop-up headlights, and a Candy Apple Red lacquer exterior with a stainless steel roof panel, assuring the car would create quite a buzz in the impressive Ford Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
After the World's Fair, the Cougar II was shown a few more times before dropping out of sight. It's whereabouts were unknown for quite some time. Then in 2004 the car resurfaced. SAAC-member Jeff Burgy found the car at the Detroit Historical Museum and brought the car to the 29th SAAC convention in Ann Arbor, MI. The "Cougar II" dream car has not been shown since 2004 an is currently on display at the Detroit Historical Museum in Detroit, Michigan. The car will be featured now through September, 2010. The Detroit Historical Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI. This is an opportunity you don't want to miss to see a piece of Ford history.
Source: www.conceptcars.it; www.thelynxproject.org, http://www.detroithistorical.org/
Images: www.shorey.net
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