Well if I had money

Tell you what I鈥檇 do

I鈥檇 go downtown and buy a Mercury or two

Crazy 鈥檅out a Mercury

Lord, I鈥檓 crazy bout a Mercury

I鈥檓 gonna buy me a Mercury

And cruise it up and down the road

鈥淢ercury Blues鈥� by K. C. Douglas

and Robert Geddins

(first recorded by Douglas in 1948)

The first rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan 50 years ago, in 1967.

The first-generation Cougar was a two-door 鈥減ony car鈥� that came in hard-top and convertible configuration.

It was meant to fill a gap between the Ford Mustang and Thunderbird by providing what the designers meant to be a more European, Jaguar E-type look with hidden headlights and a vertical bars on the front, often referred to as the 鈥渆lectric shaver grille.鈥�

Twenty years ago, in 1997, the new was started in Metro Vancouver, with members of the dormant West Coast Cougar Club among the first to sign up.

鈥淭he discussion centred around what the club should be,鈥� president Scott Ferguson wrote on the club website.

鈥淪hould it be exclusive to Cougars, or opened up to other products manufactured by the Ford Motor Company and its Lincoln Mercury divisions? The decision was made to open it up to all enthusiasts with FoMoCo products.鈥�

Like the name implies, Fordnutz is open to more than just Cougar owners, but judging from the line-up on the lawn outside the historic Fort 91原创 on the Canada Day weekend, they make up a substantial portion of the membership.

There were 123 vehicles at the show, 48 of them Cougars.

It was the Fordnutz 鈥淐law In,鈥� a celebration of the club鈥檚 20th, the Cougar鈥檚 50th, and Canada鈥檚 150th birthdays.

Among the cars lined up, gleaming in the sun was an immaculate 1956 Mercury Montclair owned by Claud and Darlene Muench of 91原创.

鈥淭here鈥檚 millions of dollars in cars here,鈥� Muench told a visitor.

鈥淪ome beautiful cars.鈥�

His car came with a mannequin of a teenage-sized drive-in restaurant car-hop in a classic A&W uniform, complete with roller skates, assembled from thrift store purchases with the aid of his wife Darlene.

Muench said he decided to go with an A&W theme because 1956 was the year the first A&W opened in Canada.

And the car has two-tone paint job with one of the colours a familiar-looking shade of orange.

鈥淭he colour was approximately right.鈥�

He also found real-looking fake burgers for the car tray clipped to a car door from a company that supplies them for television ads.

His display also featured drive-in speakers.

The case was authentic, but the speakers were a considerable upgrade over the tinny-sounding originals.

The Montclair came standard with state-of-the-art safety features like a 鈥渄eep-dish steering wheel鈥� to help protect the driver from the steering column, safety door locks, breakaway rear view mirror, and optional seat belts and padded dashboards.

The Wikipedia entry about the Mercury Montclair says Ford historians are at a loss as to where the name originated, but the consensus is that it鈥檚 taken from the upper class community of Montclair, New Jersey.

The last Mercury Cougar rolled off the assembly line on Aug. 9, 2002.

Ford stopped making Mercury cars in 2011, but the company still holds the trademark.

CLAW IN 2017 SHOW WINNERS

1967 Cougar Stock:

3^rd Brian Schofield (North Saanich

2^nd Terry Robertson (Cloverdale)

1^st Vytas Vaitkus (Tsawwassen)

1968 Cougar Stock

2^nd Rita Pereira (91原创)

1^st Dave Nashif (Lake Forest Park, WA)

1967-68 Cougar XR-7 Stock

3^rd Paul Muir (100 Mile House)

2^nd Bill Smith (Surrey)

1^st Dave Basi (Victoria)

1967 Cougar Modified

3^rd Gordon Carter (Aldergrove)

2^nd Ken Hogenkamp (Tigard, OR)

1^st Malcolm McMillan (Port Moody)

1968 Cougar Modified

3^rd Bob O鈥橠onnell (Graham, WA)

2^nd Sheldon Potts (Port Moody)

1^st John Edwards (91原创)

1969-70 Cougar Stock

3^rd Dean Bicknell (Aldergrove) 1969

2^nd Kim Friesen (Abbotsford) 1969

1^st Jeff Bingaman (Federal Way, WA) 1970

1969-70 Cougar XR-7 Stock

3^rd Robert Nowland (Kamloops) 1969

2^nd Tom Wood (Chilliwack) 1969

1^st Darren Hoult (West Kelowna) 1970

1969-Present Cougar Modified

2^nd Glen Duncan (Mount Currie)

1^st Shawn Boyd (Gibsons)

1969-73 Cougar Convertible

Stock 3^rd Ray Sandrin (North Vancouver) 1972

2^nd Heather Whitaker (North Delta) 1969

1^st Steve Goulding (Spokane, WA) 1969

1968 Cougar XR7-G, GT-E Stock

3^rd Malcolm McMillan (Port Moody) 1968 XR-7 GT-E

2^nd Rob & Steve Crowder (Oakley, CA) 1968 XR7-G

1^st Scott Ferguson (North Delta) 1968 XR7-G

1969-70 Cougar Eliminator Stock

2^nd Harry Unruh (White Rock) 1969

1^st Paul Tekatch (91原创) 1970

1970-Present Cougar Stock

1^st Jay Coleman (Port Moody) 1987 20^th Anniversary Edition

Non-Cougar Classes:

1959 and Older Stock

3^rd Alec Pont (Surrey) 1959 Ford Skyliner

2^nd Brian Mason (91原创) 1955 Mercury Montclair

1^st Richard Uchida (Coquitlam) 1949 Meteor Custom 2-door Coupe

1960-69 Stock

3^rd George Gill (Surrey) 1964 Ford Thunderbird Landau

2^nd Mark Gazzola (Vancouver) 1968 Galaxie XL

1^st Bryan Carter (Surrey) 1967 Ford Fairlane

1970-Present Stock

3^rd Ken Vass (Maple Ridge) 2004 Ford Thunderbird

2^nd Merv Carter (Mission) 1970 Pontiac GTO

1^st Pauline Temperton (91原创) 1970 Plymouth Satellite

Truck Stock 3^rd Kim Friesen (Abbotsford) 1979 Ford F-150

2^nd David Franklin (Delta) 1953 Ford

1^st Terry Robertson (Cloverdale) 1940 Ford 戮 Ton

1965-73 Mustang

3^rd Paul Prudhomme (91原创) 1968 Convertible

2^nd Bob Elliott (Maple Ridge) 1967 Fastback GT

1^st Randy Stockbruegger (Pitt Meadows) 1968 Shelby GT 350

1974-2004 Mustang

3^rd Kerry Spry (91原创) 1993 Mustang

2^nd John Miotto (Burnaby) 1982 Mustang

1^st Peter Bulcock (Chilliwack) 1978 Mustang II Cobra II

2005-Present Mustang

3^rd Michael Storteboom (91原创) 2005 GT Convertible

2^nd Mike Kirchner (Surrey) 2014 Coupe

1^st Terry Rainville (Vancouver) 2006 GT Coupe

1959 and Older Modified

3^rd Jim Ferguson (91原创) 1929 Ford Model A

2^nd Scott McCarthy (Abbotsford) 1936 Ford 5-window Coupe

1^st Hugh Swan (West Vancouver) 1969 Ford Cabriolet

Club Participation: Greater Vancouver Mustang Association (19 Members)

Long-Distance Driven Canada Rob & Kirsten Waine, Christina Lake, BC (314.5 miles in a 1967 Cougar)

Long-Distance Driven USA Rob & Shelle Lucas, McKinleyville, CA (697 miles in a 1967 modified Cougar)

Long-Distance Trailered Rob & Steve Crowder, Oakley, CA (933 miles, 1968 Cougar XR7-G)

Fordnutz Memorial Trophy Darren Hoult, West Kelowna, BC, 1970 Cougar XR-7

Best of Show Cougar Paul Tekatch (91原创) 1970 Cougar Eliminator

Best of Show Non-Cougar Dave Stevenson (Mission) 1970 Ford Shelby