Back in the 80’s – I’m how old? – CP bought an old 1962 Cougar. He knew I wanted one, still do as a matter of fact. It wasn’t in bad shape but needed an engine. He said, “That’s no problem.” I was so excited! I love the sleekness of that car and I chose a ’62 because that’s the year I was born. Shhhh…you don’t need to know how old I am. Lol.

For my birthday that same year, he asked me to choose a color for my Cougar. He wanted to take me to pick out paint so that when he was finished fixing her up, he could also paint her. Note: If you missed my post,The Paint Job, you should check it out but be aware that my Cougar was purchased long before that fiasco.

I knew I wanted my Cougar to be a shade of purple, so when we went to the shop to order the paint, I was able to look through binders with many different color samples. That helped a lot. I chose a striking shade of medium-dark metallic purple. I could barely wait to see my purple Cougar and finally drive that baby! No one else had a purple car! I would be the envy of the entire town, I thought! (Actually, people would have thought I was completely bonkers because purple was not a cool color for a car back then.)

My Cougar had followed us from place to place as we moved, but CP never did a damn thing with it. He never bought an engine to rebuild. He never painted it. He never did anything. 10 years passed and it still sat. I had given up, no doubt.

As I was searching for a photo today, of a 1962 Mercury Cougar to share with you on this post, I became increasingly baffled! It appears that in the early 1960’s, Ford had a design contest. The winning design was originally called the Cougar but later became the famous Mustang that we are all familiar with! The Mercury Cougar (that I adore) in a much different design, came 3 years later. Here’s a photo of the original Ford Cougar – see the Cougar emblem on the grill? That is definitely NOT the car of my dreams.

Below is a 1967 Cougar and it is definitely the one I dreamed of having for so many years. I don’t know where I got my information about the year of the car. Most likely, from CP and I just took him for his word because I thought he knew cars. Hahaha. My Papa (paternal grandfather) had a Cougar in a kind of piss green. I wanted it so badly (and imagined it in purple) but I thought it was a ’62. The body design is just amazing, in my opinion! Maybe someday I’ll get my Cougar, ‘eh?