Lincoln-Mercury Press Kit

It has long been the custom of automobile manufacturers to use press information kits (now more commonly known as media kits) as their primary means of spreading the word about their new models.  Back in the classic Cougar era, major automotive publications, like Motor Trend, Car & Driver and the automotive editors of newspapers like the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, would receive personal attention from manufacturers' public relations departments (typically including an invitation to test drive the new model), while the rest of the nation's media received press kits.

Typically press kits were either sent by mail or handed out to automotive reporters attending the major annual auto shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  What was included in a press kit varied, but the basics were almost always a news article about the car, an eight-by-ten glossy photo and a caption for the photo.

Those are precisely the items included in a Lincoln-Mercury press kit released on January 18, 1968 announcing the new XR7-G.  The kit came packaged in a 9" x 12" envelope bearing a color rendition of the XR7-G badge.  The return address on the envelope is:

Public Relations Department
Lincoln-Mercury Division
Ford Motor Company
3000 Schaefer Road
Dearborn, Michigan 48121

Lincoln-Mercury's XR7-G press kit included an 8 x 10 b/w glossy with caption and a news release.  Given that Dan Gurney is featured prominently in the press release, it is a little surprising that the photo used in the press kit isn't one of the many publicity shots we've seen of Gurney and the XR7-G prototype.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Famous race driver Dan Gurney wrote the formula for a new type of personalized sports car -- the Cougar XR7-G -- which will be introduced at Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in early Spring.

    Gurney took the Cougar XR-7 and added to its European road car features some special touches of his own, including a fiberglass hood scoop, road lamps, a racing mirror, competition hood lock pins and an optional power-operated sun roof.  The sun roof will also be available on other Cougar models.

    As a final endorsement, Gurney added the letter "G" to make the identification read "XR7-G".  This designation and seal of approval appears on the instrument panel and on the roof pillar, dick lid and grille.  It gives assurance that this is a car with personality -- one that makes the driver fully aware of its eagerness and ability to meet all road demands and to respond obediently and instantly to all commands.

    The new personalized Cougar was shown publicly for the first time when Gurney unveiled the car at the national meeting of the Sports Car Club of America.

 

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    The interior of the XR7-G reflects the European flavor and reputation for precise handling, superior craftsmanship and sports car elegance.  Like the Cougar XR-7, which is attracting almost one-third of all Cougar buyers, the XR7-G is enhanced by the generous use of glove-soft leather on the standard bucket seats.  A burled walnut-finish instrument panel incorporates full European car instrumentation.

    In addition, the XR7-G has a unique sports console with wood-grain inserts and a real walnut shift handle.  Door panels are trimmed with extra-thick "super puff" padding and feature handy map pockets and door assist straps, as is the custom in foreign sports cars.  The steering wheel is wrapped in a simulated leather vinyl cover which remains snugly fitted under all weather conditions.

    The XR7-G will carry the same performance power train combinations and axle ratios as the basic Cougar, with a 302-cubic-inch two-barrel V-8 engine as standard.  Optional engines are a four-barrel 302, a 390-2V and a Marauder 390-4V GT.

    Dan Gurney is one of the most celebrated American drivers in world competition.  He won the 24-hour LeMans road race last year and was the first from this country to win a Grand Prix championship race in an American-built car.  He captained Team Cougar which won four Trans-American sedan races in the Sports Car Club of America competition this year and set lap records at five of the road courses.  Gurney is the only driver to win the Riverside 500 stock car race four years in succession.

    As founder of All American Racers, builder of the American Eagle, Gurney saw eight of his cars take the starting flag in the 1967 Indianapolis Memorial Day 500.  A resident of Corona del Mar, Calif., he is a member of the Lincoln-Mercury Sports Panel, a major activity in the marketing of the Mercury line of cars.

 

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68/7199
1/18/68


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    The Mercury Cougar XR7-G -- a new type of personalized sports car -- will be introduced at Lincoln-Mercury dealers in early Spring.  It offers such European road car features as a fiberglass hood scoop, road lamps, a racing mirror, competition hood lock pins and an optional power-operated sun roof.  The sporty road car influence is emphasized at the rear by European quad exhaust ports through the sheet metal.  Radial ply wide oval tires (FR70-14) are mounted to specially styled wheels with a unique spoke pattern spider.  Race driver Dan Gurney wrote the formula for the new Cougar, and as a final endorsement, added the letter "G" to make the identification read "XR7-G".

 

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Public Relations Department
Lincoln-Mercury Division
Ford Motor Company
3000 Schaefer Road
Dearborn, Michigan - 48121
(313) 322-2250