Ringbrothers Custom ’68 Mercury Cougar Is A Thing Of Beauty

Walk through any classic car show, and you’re bound to see more than a few early Mustangs in attendance, all in various states of condition, from stock to highly modified. But oddly enough, you rarely see any Mercury Cougars, despite the fact that they shared the same platform.

Me, I’ve always had a soft spot for Cougars of this era, as my Mom had a ’70 Cougar when I was born, and that’s what me and my sister rode around in growing up, and later replacing it with another two-door sports car – because that’s just how she rolled. Needless to say, her Cougar made quite an impression on me, and I get excited anytime I see one in the wild.

Ringbrothers, the world-renowned custom car builders and parts manufacturer responsible for some truly epic SEMA builds, has worked its magic on a number of Ford’s in the past, but never a Cougar. So they decided to give the red-headed stepchild the restomod treatment, and as you can see, the results are pretty incredible!

Feast your eyes on Ringbrothers 1968 Mercury Cougar restomod, which makes a healthy 460 horsepower from its Ford Coyote 5.0-liter V8 engine connected to a 10-speed paddle-shifted automatic transmission borrowed from the Ford F-150 Raptor. A manual transmission seems like it would have been a better option for a muscle car, but they must have had their reasons.

Ringbrothers gave the Mercury Cougar a frame-off restoration that included new floor pans & transmission tunnel, new performance suspension by DSE, Baer brakes, and HRE forged three-piece wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. The Ringbrothers team sourced a new bumper, grille, hardware and badging, all re-finished in chrome to look as good as new. A custom Flowmaster exhaust with headers provides an aggressive growl.

The Ringbrothers “Coyogar” got a fresh BASF paint job, finished in Augusta Green Metallic, an original Mercury factory paint color in 1968. Ford fans may know this color as Highland Green, which Steve McQueen made famous in the movie Bullitt. Ford offered this color again when they reintroduced they Ford Mustang Bullitt, and it’s a great color.

As for the interior, it too got upgraded for the times, with plush leather seats and upholstery, a new woodgrain dash, and aluminum pedals, among other touches.

“We put our heart into each car we build, and this Cougar is no exception. The finished product is mild and classy, yet any enthusiast instantly knows that it’s not stock. I imagine this is what Mercury designers would have come up with if they were building the Cougar today,” said Ringbrothers co-owner Jim Ring.

Originally, Ringbrothers planned to show off their bitchin’ kitty at the SEMA Show, but due to the pandemic, those ideas were scrapped. But they hope to show off it to the public soon when things get back to normal. And who knows, maybe when people see what is possible with the Cougar platform, we’ll start seeing them rise in popularity!

What do you think of the Ringbrothers 1968 Mercury Cougar restomod?