1968 - 1968 Mercury Cougar “Eliminator” Funny Car (#1)

Dyno unveiled their Cougar in May and recorded a 7.85 during its first outing. Don picked up Coca-Cola as a sponsor and his Cougar was the first car to be sponsored by the soft drink manufacturer. Tragedy struck the Nicholson camp in July while in route to Detroit after the Super Stock Nationals. Crewmen Jim Campbell and Wally English were hauling the Cougar north from Pennsylvania in a heavy fog when they rear ended a stopped semi-truck. English who was riding shotgun was killed in the collusion. The Funny Car was torn from the ramp truck and received extensive damage. The chassis would be repaired and a new body installed prior to the car joining Mercury’s Streep Scene exhibition.