Mike,
Cougars came with 4 speeds! I was 16 in 1969 and got a job at a family owned local Texaco gas station at the bottom of the employee barrel. Worked a 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. shift on Friday and Saturday night. I was foreman in charge of the crew (me) for cleaning the bathrooms...... oh boy..... Go in and take every paper article out, and hose her down with a garden hose.
Anyway the number two guy at the station bought a brand new medium dark blue R Code Cougar. All I remember was the 428 badging, spoiler, and cool stripes on the hood. 4 speed car. I really had no idea what a car I was looking at!!! One of the baddest cars ever built in the Muscle Car era!
In the mid 70’s I converted my first Mustang (Fastback, 289, C code, auto car) to a 4 speed. Went to a local wrecking yard and what was laying there with no motor? A totaled 1969 or 1970 white R Code Cougar!! The white hood had two black stripes (3 stripes narrow, wide, narrow) from front to back around a hole in the hood interrupted with 428 CJ! It was also a 4 speed car which was gone, but all the clutch linkage for a big block was there as were the 31 spline axel's and nodular iron 3.90 4 pinion trac lock.
Looking back as we all do, the car in my faded memory was not “totaled” and fixable..... Long long gone now....
Rob
