Who’s The Boss? Robert Bartram Ready to Mix Brawn and Style in Unlimited Iron Mercury
As a sister company to Ford, Mercury debuted their version of the Mustang, the Cougar, in 1967.
Marketed as an upscaled version of the Mustang, the Cougar offered nearly all options that could be had in the Mustang, but with a decidedly unique style.
Robert Bartham’s 1969 Cougar also got the XR-7 upgrade, which included a simulated woodgrain dash, black faced gauges and full instrumentation, toggle switches and an overhead console. But that’s where Robert veered off the path of originality and into the land of big tires and lots of power.
Robert’s Cougar packs a 547 cubic inch Ford powerplant and Jon Kaase-designed Boss 9 semi-hemi cylinder heads. A healthy dose of nitrous from Induction Solutions on top is not laughing matter, and a beefed up C6 transmission backs it up with a Gear Vendors Overdrive for better cruising manners.
After being a co-driver on Hot Rod Drag Week in 2016 and 2017, Robert debuted the Cougar to the drag-and-drive world in 2021.
Running in Hot Rod Drag Week’s Ultimate Iron class, Robert’s best pass of the week came on day three courtesy of an 8.77 at 153 mph.
But then he fell off to a 10-second run on day four, and had to drop out due to a broken trailer hitch and a broken front rim.
Robert looks forward to trying his hand at Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive for the first time, and will enter the Unlimited Iron class in hopes of averaging in the 8-second range.
“For me, drag-and-drive events are more about the friendships made along the way,” said Robert. “I’ve never done Sick Week, but I do look forward to the shorter drives with more social and hotel time.”
- Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Robert Bartram.