This 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator was found by Tony Begly in 1999. The car was a
Car Craft Magazine project car built by the guys at CAR CRAFT and DYNO DON
NICHOLSON. The car was Drag raced by Dyno Don on the track and the street. It was
shown all over the country and eventually given away in a contest sponsored by Coke. It
disappeared from sight until Tony found it. Performance Restorations performed a
rotisserie restoration on the car. We researched the car extensively to put it back
exactly the way it was built. We talked to Dyno himself and his mechanic who seams to
remember everything about the car. When we recieved the remains of the car the
original 428 engine block and heads were in the trunk. I built it back just as Dyno did it in
69. One thing that seamed odd to us was that the car had a full exhaust under it. I asked
Don about it and he wouldn't comment. His mechanic however laughed and told us that
was installed because Dyno was street racing the car at night. Those were the days! To
me the best part of the restoration was when I turned the key and the car came to life
with the open headers and the radical 428 for the first time in over thirty years.
Today the ultra valuable car resides in a private collection.

To the left is what was left of
the car. Notice some of the
gold basecoat and lettering
are still intact. To the right  
is the restored car. Below
are in process photos.

Below is the last installment of the Dyno Don build up in Car
Craft Magazine. I am currently looking for the other issues.