KTL Restorations Celebrates 50 Years Of The Mercury Cougar

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In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Mercury Cougar celebration at the Carlisle Ford Nationals, Blue Oval enthusiasts and Cougar connoisseurs like the folks at KTL Restorations out of Danville, Virginia, are gearing up for the party in style. The Virginia-based shop specializes in “returning cats to their original Nine Lives status,” as Rob May of KTL Restorations put it.

Tom started an auto repair shop initially performing smaller jobs such as floor pan, electrical, and mechanical work. Their reputation of quality led to full restorations. — Rob May, KTL Restorations

That’s because the shop, owned and managed by Kurtis Thomas Lawrance and Crystal Warren, was built on the premise for the love of all things Mercury – more specifically, Cougars. Kurt and his crew plan to display more than three prime examples of these rare cats at Cougar Club Of America’s main event this weekend (June 2-4) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Prior to the full-blown restoration of Cougars, a rich history spans in the Lawrance family from where they came from, to where they are now. Thomas (Tom) Lawrance, who was Kurt’s father, was a Vietnam Veteran with a hunger for Mercury Cougars. So much in fact, that Tom’s father (Kurt’s grandfather) was able to save some of his hard-earned money back to purchase him his own Cougar when returning for the war.

Tom was able to purchase a one-of-one built cat, a ’68 Cougar finished in Nordic Blue with the 390 cubic-inch V8 option (opting for this engine, as it was $1,000 less than the big, bad 428). However, after a few years of owning the ’68, Tom opted to purchase another cat instead, as he originally wanted the big-block version.

Tom's 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator with a 428 cubic-inch SCJ V8. (Photo credit: KTL Restorations)

Tom’s 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator with a 428 cubic-inch SCJ V8. (Photo Credit: KTL Restorations)

“After enjoying the car for a couple years, it was traded for a Competition Yellow 1970 Eliminator with the big 428 engine,” Rob May said. “Tom started an auto repair shop initially performing smaller jobs such as floor pan, electrical, and mechanical work. Their reputation of quality led to full restorations. Tom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and very sadly passed away 18 months later in April of 2014. Today, both Tom’s first 1968 Cougar and the Eliminator are in Kurt’s possession.”

In honor of Tom and the Lawrence family, Kurt and his team have restored three Cougars to debut at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Mercury Cougar.

1967 Mercury Cougar

Here, we see Richard Taylor’s 1967 Mercury Cougar finished in Polar White. Rocking its standard, non-vinyl top hardtop and an automatic transmission, this cat is equipped with a 390-cubic-inch FE V8, and was in near original condition, according to KTL Restorations.

“After being put up on jack stands, the dry clean body was realized,” Rob said. “Initially, the rebuild was to get the car to be a mechanically sound daily driver with good visuals.”

However, after the folks at KTL explained the rarity of this Cougar (including the 1 of 1 Marti report), the plan was a full restoration. To many efforts, more and more things were returned to their original status, and the project ended up as a concours effort, with more than 1,000 hours of labor in 2010 and 2011, according to KTL.

1968 Mercury Cougar XR7

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“A recent build revived was this 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G with the Dan Gurney Special package,” Rob May said. “KTL told us that this car is one of only 619 XR7-G cars, and that this car was one of the last examples off the assembly line for the G series. Power is provided by its original, all numbers matching F-Code 302-cubic-inch V8, featuring a two-barrel carburetor and four-speed manual transmission. The vinyl top is equipped with a sunroof, and the total restoration was completed in a limited amount of time.”

Rob told us that this was accomplished thanks to the sheer dedication by KTL, and the XR7-G now sports a new Candy Apple Red finish.

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“While known for their restorations to factory specifications, KTL went out of the box building a 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7 Resto-Mod,” Rob said. The 347-cubic-inch SBF V8 powerplant, paired with a Flowmaster exhaust, modern fuel injection, and a MSD ignition is estimated at more than 400 horsepower. The Cougar’s V8 engine is mated to an AOD automatic transmission, providing plenty of motivation to get the cat down the road.

“There are several suspension upgrades to help the car corner like a cat, and the four-wheel disc brakes stops the Boss wheels quickly. Black on black with a silver two-tone bottom paint scheme ensures this car stands out in a crowd.” Rob concluded.

Want to see these Cougars in person for yourself? Be on the look out for KTL Restorations‘ trio of Cougars at the Cougar Club Of America’s main shows in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, this weekend.

About the author

Harrison Noble

Living in San Diego for most of his life, Harrison was exposed to a variety of cars at an early age. His passion for anything that is fast, or has a V8, brought him to Power Automedia.
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