THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF AN ORIGINAL OWNER

By Ed and Denise Drozd

I arrived in Vietnam in March of l969, attached to the 101st Airborne, 3rd of the 187th Division. After five months out in the bush, I finally found the opportunity to visit a P.X. at the Division's base camp. It was quite an experience to once again see merchandise and actually watch a real U.S.O. show. Banners and flags from the big three automakers hung from a quonset hut. Curious, several buddies and I walked in. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler had sale s personnel just like back home. The deal was to order a car on the spot, pay NO taxes, and the car would be waiting for you when you returned to the States. They had brochures and took orders just like a dealership back home. Having put in a year and a half overseas, I was really cut off from what was being produced, except for what I would occasionally see on leave. This had not been a priority, since I was in a place I wasn't sure I'd return from. But now the end of my two years in the army was in sight. Discussion among the group turned from "if" we would buy, to "what". However, I didn't order that day.

Around three months later, I cut out a picture of a 1970 Cougar Eliminator and sent it to my brother back home. I told him to order one so it w ould be waiting for me. He ordered the car at Bristol Lincoln/Mercury, in Bristol, CT because (believe it or not) the price was better at the dealership even with the taxes added. Go figure!

I finished up my time in February of 1970. When I got home, there she was, sitting in the yard waiting for me. Shiny, sleek, she was a real eye-catcher in Competition Gold. I was "back in the world" and had wheels, too.

The next few years took a minor toll on the car. In August of l970, the front was hit while parked in a lot, causing damage to the grill. In l971, another car made a sudden U-turn in front of me, causing a twisted front bumper. Two months later, while returning home after picking up my wife's engagement ring, I almost lost the car to a Camaro . It was a rainy night on a dark street, and the Camaro had no lights on. I stopped fast enough to only have my already twisted bumper (from the previous accident) severely damaged at its end. Also, my fender extension was torn off, along with some she et metal damage about 6" back. The Camaro, only weeks old, was creased from front to rear, sustaining major damage. The driver tried to blame me for the accident, but when I asked him to point to any car without headlights on, he didn't have a leg to stan d on.

After our engagement in l972, my wife would use the car from time to time. One spring night after dropping me off at my parent's home, she was harassed by a Chevy on a long, lonely stretch of road. Frightened, she told me she was afraid to let him in front of her, so she didn't. The speedometer had been disconnected for some work earlier that week so she had no idea how fast she was going. I asked if she remembered looking at the tachometer and she calmly replied, "Yes, the needle was past the f our". In gearhead terms, that's 120 mph!

Married in October of 1972, we rented in an apartment complex forcing us to leave the car in a large, unlit, unsupervised parking lot. One night in the winter of '73, the phone rang at 1:30 a.m. As I got up to a nswer I thought, "this can only be bad news". It was the New Britain police, and did we own a 1970 Mercury Cougar? "Yes, and are you going to tell me it was stolen?" Yes, it was...by two fourteen year olds who escaped from the Meriden School for Boys t hat very night. We drove to New Britain to retrieve the car in our only other wheels, a beatup 1957 Ford pickup. As we left the station, the desk officer told us the kids couldn't even see ove the counter. The only comment the driver had was "Boy, was that car FAST!" "And by the way, here's your key", the officer said dryly as he handed me a chewed up flathead screwdriver. The damage to the car was light. The steering wheel collar was broken, and the rear valance was torn off. The car was repaired, and insurance pa id in full for the damage.

Deciding that apartment life was not for us, we saved to buy our first home in June of 1974. Adding on a garage the following year, the car was finally housed for the first time in her life. Being out in the wea ther for five years straight was beginning to take its toll.

One day in the summer of '75, my wife was driving behind a pickup full of furniture. The truck stopped and proceeded to back up intending to hit the driveway, but hit my car instead! Now it was the other fender extension to be damaged as in the previous accident with the Camaro. I must say at this point, that in all the accident cases, the car was always repaired with new parts and I was compensated by each indivdual's insurance company.

By 1980, the overall condition was still good, but it started to have minor rot in the floors and rear quarters. In 1981, my youngest brother (now heavily into cars) persuaded me to take the Eliminator off the road for some restoration work, insisting I wa s sitting on a classic. I took his advice and bought a very secondhand 1965 Old Cutlass F-85 for $300.00. It was held together with "a lick and a promise", and lots of duct tape. I convinced my wife to drive it because it had power steering (a giant le ap into the 80's) and "you can't even but a LAWNMOWER for $300.00". My wife still hits me with that one every now and then. She "sings" it, actually...

My brother took charge repairing and repainting the body in his spare time. Two months later, it was in reasonable condition. Daily driving was never done from that day on. We used the car only for cruising and special events. Our first special event was to bring home our new daughter, Lindsay Marie, born in November of '81.

Sometime in 1982, I found out about the Cougar Club of America, joined, and have been a member ever since. At around the same time, I received an odd phone call from this kid that heard about my Eliminator. He said he never saw one except for in pictures. Could he come over wi th a friend and take some pictures? and did I have any parts for sale? This is almost comical because today he is a walking wealth of knowledge on Cougars. Most everyone seeks HIM out for parts and information. He is self-taught, and has done extensiv e research, to become one of the most informed members in the country. Much of the information he gathered while restoring my engine a few years ago. His name?...Ken Gucker, former president of the CT Cougar Club.

From 1983 to 1993, I began stocking N.O.S. parts in hopes of restoring the car to its original showroom look. I went to my first Cougar Nationals in 1993 at Matamorros, PA taking 3rd place in the Eliminator class. I learned much from this show, and made many new friends. This was all it took to set my interest in Cougars to new heights.

In the past ten years, I have had two goal. The first was to restore my Eliminator, and the second was to own a 1969 Cougar convertible. The convertible was purchased soon after seeing it at the '93 Nationals, and my Eliminator is getting the finishing touch after 1 year of constant effort by some very talented people. I did lose the convertible when it arrived, to my wife, but if I ask she'll let me drive it. Lindsay is now on her way to 15, and taken he r first driving lesson in the convertible. Our second child, Matthew, age 11, is starting to show interest asking why I let her drive it first? Need I say more? The trouble starts...

UPDATE: This article was written in 1995. The Eliminator is now completely restored and has taken first place in the Cougar Nationals East held in Southbury, CT in l996, and again in Atlanta, GA in 1998. It has also taken "Best of Shows" in the '96 Nationals, and in Manchester, CT in 1997. My daughter, now 17, drives the car she came home in as an infant, and has pulled her first "hole shot" (under my supervision), and drives the convertible when my wife's not looking, and my son, 14, is counting down....