Hey Guys, this looks like a great site so I thought Id better introduce myself now my Eliminator has arrived.
Nothing to get too excited about because it looks like crap atm but most of my projects usually start the same way. My cougar has been in Australia a while now and originally came from Arizona, it needs a full resto but has potential with options like sunroof, trim, colour etc.
Im in the process of finishing a XA GT coupe which has been on the go for nearly 5 years and should hopefully be back on the road before the end of 2013.
I dont know a lot about cougars except for the similarities in Ford 351 motors, fmx’s and 9" diffs like the aussie GTs.
This one will be a long term job for me so I will probably ask lots of questions but will also try to contribute where I can.
cheers Brett
That certainly looks like the car John Benoit had here in Washington about 10 years ago. I seriously considered buying it at that time but with the quarters just hanging on it and needing everything, I passed. Sure will be cool when it’s restored.
i got it from a bloke in QLD that imports mustangs, muscle cars etc all the time.
It also seems like it has a sister car over there somewhere with the same options?
The title, date 2001 and name from Arizona is all i have atm but will try and get more details.
Below are the only photos I have been given when it was still in USA, but I cant see a sunroof in the pics?
Yes its a BIG job but it keeps me out of trouble
ive done up a few FORDS over the years inc XW XY XA & XE Falcons but never a Mercury.
Condition wise the cougar would be most work for me to date, because its the body, paint, (everything really)
Anyway, I can enjoy driving the coupe while I plug away at this one, and there is no turning back now.
Cheers
The XA was a bit of an unfinished project but had just had the body painted when I got it. It took quite a while (and expense) to find a lot of missing parts like all the power window regulators, switches etc as they were all gone when i bought it. I like to retain as much originality as possible but will compromise on safety stuff like better seatbelts, and engine performance parts. The cougar will probably end up the same, Im not a stock standard paint dabber type and the car wont be a trailer queen either.
Thanks for posting the link, the ‘Frankeneliminator’ does look like mine!
The seller gave me a better bonnet and boot lid (less rust) plus guards so I cant complain.
A quarter has come from some poor cougar so I guess its better / easier to replace the whole panel rather than cut n patch it.
I started stripping it down on the w/end and nasty surprise no 1 was the floors behind the seats look like the sunroof was left open for a few years! Isnt Arizona supposed to be a hot dry place? (where bandits live)
Anyway, a whole new floor could be on the cards.
Hertz was (and still is) a rental car agency, and back in the day they had a “Rent-A-Racer” program (you probably know of it from the 1966 Shelby GT350-Hertz cars). For 1970 they ordered about 100 Cougar Eliminators with the factory sunroof (not sure if they ordered any non-sunroof E-cats). I believe there were only 102 or so 1970 Eliminators made with the sunroof, so basically if you have a sunroof Eliminator then it was almost certainly a Hertz rental car originally. Also, all of the Hertz Eliminators were built with the same options ~ PS, PB, AC, 351 eng, FMX auto trans, deluxe interior, but a variety of color combinations. From the looks of your Marti report, only the California Hertz cars received the CA Emissions.
IIRC, all the sunroof Eliminators were produced around the same time, so their VIN numbers generally fall in a certain range as well.
So, what makes a Hertz Eliminator special? It is loaded, and it has a sunroof
Plus it is one of those extra “history of my car” things that alot of people love.
Edit - now how cool would it have been if all the Hertz Eliminators had been black with gold stripes? Oh man… I think I just had a cargasm! LOL!
Thanks Mike
Id heard about the Hertz Mustangs before being flogged all weekend / drag raced etc then handed back on a Monday morning before, I didnt know about Eliminators tho. Is there any way to confirm mine was ordered like this? Im wondering about the deluxe interior part as well (thanks Gry) what this actually is or if a console etc should it be on the marti report as an option?.
Yes, the deluxe interior option should be listed on the Marti report. If you haven’t got one you should get one as it will for sure tell you how your car were from factory. If I remember right all the Hertz Eliminators had the same date code 01D.
Here is some info on the sunroof cars, from posts by the Eliminator Registrar (Dave Wyrwas). Hertz cars had the Standard interior, IIRC. The pic of your Marti shows your car as a white standard interior. You could email the Eliminator Registry - I bet Dave can give you more details on the Hertz cars, as well as the history on your car.
(where bandits live)