1969 Pontiac GTO Drag Races 1969 Mercury Cougar Cobra: Video

If you’re into muscle cars, then 1969 was one helluva year. Now, we’re taking it back to that vehicular golden age with the following video, which features a 1969 Pontiac GTO going head-to-head with a 1969 Mercury Cougar in a best-of-three race down the drag strip.

Once again coming to us from the Cars And Zebras YouTube channel, the video is about five-and-a-half minutes long, and includes some interesting specs and info on both of these rides, plus racing at the end. Naturally, the whole video is done in the usual Cars And Zebras style, complete with fart jokes and innuendos.

Let’s start with the 1969 Pontiac GTO, which brings a 400 cubic-inch Ram Air III V8 engine to the party. The V8 has a compression ratio 10.75:1, yielding an output rating of 366 horsepower at 5,100 rpm and 445 pound-feet of torque at 3,600 rpm. The go is sent rearwards through a four-speed manual transmission, plus 3.90 rear gears. As the video host points out, 6,143 examples of this particular configuration were produced for the 1969 model year. With driver, vehicle weight is set at a rather hefty 4,034 pounds.

Headed over to the other lane, we find the GTO’s opponent – a 1969 Cougar Eliminator. With the Eliminator package installed, this two-door sports a variety of special equipment, including bucket seats, upgraded instrumentation, a front spoiler, black-out grille, rear wing, a hood scoop, and some stripes. More importantly, however, this thing is running the 428 Cobra Jet V8 under the hood. Compression ratio is set at 10.6:1, while power ratings are set at 335 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 440 pound-feet of torque at 3,400 rpm. A three-speed automatic transmission is on hand for cog swaps, with 3.90 gears in back. Weight with driver is less than that of the Pontiac GTO, tipping the scales at 3,829 pounds. This particular configuration is also relatively rare, with only 162 produced.

Which of these two muscle machines will take the win? Hit play to find out:

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