Folks:

In the world of collecting vintage Heuers, it just doesn't get much better than this, at least for me. This Carrera was an eBay BuyItNow late last Wednesday night (July 4th), and it arrived today.

I will be writing more about the Cougars (and this Carrera) in the near future, but the quick summary is as follows:

• the SCCA Trans Am sedan racing series began in 1966, with a group above 2.0 liters and a group below 2.0 liters
• the Trans Am series was intended for the new American made "Pony Cars", initially Mustang, Barracuda and Dodge Dart (above 2.0 liters), as well as the Alfas, Cortinas and BMWs (below 2 liters)
• the Trans Am series was very successful, and Chevrolet Camaros and Mercury Cougars joined the field for 1967
• the 1967 Mercury factory team included an amazing line-up of "all-star" drivers -- including Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Peter Revson and David Pearson
• the factory Cougars were built by the highly accomplished NASCAR car-builder, Bud Moore
• the Trans Am series was a manufacturers championship, rather than a drivers championship, and for 1967, the Ford Mustangs edged out the Mercury Cougars by a score of 64 to 62; the Chevrolet Camaro was third, with 57 points and the Dodges finished fourth, with 11 points
• the Mercury brand was owned by Ford, and Ford quickly realized that having the Mercury Cougars beat the Ford Mustangs in the 1968 season would be a bad business decision
• Accordingly, Ford pulled the plug on the Trans Am Cougars after the 1967 season, so that they were raced only during the 1967 season.

Jeff