Each '69 XR-7 "Rocky Mountain Special" (RMS) was ordered with tinted glass, white vinyl roof, white vinyl and leather (FA) interior, tilt steering, power steering and power disc brakes, console, immersion heater, heavy duty battery, E-78X14 white sidewall bias ply tires with deluxe wire caps, AM/8-track stereo, bumperettes and door edge guards. The only variation in the options list within the RMS fleet were six that came without deluxe seat belts.

My attention was first drawn to this unusual Cougar in 1989, when a friend who was racing Cougars showed me what looked like pretty decent fenders from a '69 Cougar that was headed to the crusher. The fenders clearly had touches of purple in places that a repaint hadn't reached. I asked about the condition of the rest of the car, and was told it was similar to that of the fenders. So, I went for a look.

After a short trip to where the car sat, exposed and near certain death, I saw that the body also showed clear evidence of factory purple paint, which wasn't available as a standard Cougar color in 1969. I thought to myself, "Cars were painted purple in the '60s, but when was the last time I saw one?" I could not recall if I ever had seen one, but felt I was onto something with this hulk.

When I first saw the car, all that was left of it was a shell. Most of the rest had been stripped and sold long before I arrived on the scene. Gone were the doors, seats, dash pad (the gauges were face down in a pool of water), interior and exterior trim, suspension, brakes, steering and differential, including the housing. The entire wreck, ironically, had been rescued from the wrecker by its previous owner. Now, it was on its way to my home, where I had been stockpiling '69 Cougars and parts. I bought three and a half Cougars that weekend, and had enough parts to build "PurrpleCat," as I call my RMS. But shortly after assembly, I had to let the car sit, as I attended to my driver Cougar, business matters and other demands of a busy life.

About seven years after I assembled PurrpleCat, I painted it in a custom blend color, as, at the time, I did not know about the correct color, WT9083, a Dupont code. The first I heard of WT9083 was from Marvin Hillyer, who worked at Universal Lincoln Mercury, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the time the cars were new and supplied the RMS Cougar for the insurance company lease. Marvin owns a '69 RMS today, although it's now painted Calypso Coral. Most RMS Cougars were repainted another color and resold after the leased fleet returned to Universal in 1970 or '71. Most ended up in Canada's western provinces-British Columbia, Alberta and, I think, Saskatchewan—although the distribution may have been wider.

In an odd coincidence, I met a lawyer who participated in court action against Rocky Mountain Life Insurance in the early 1970s that led to the company's closing. I was responding to a service call for a man who couldn't unlock his '68 Mustang. I arrived in PurrpleCat, and the gentleman made a remark about my "Mary Kay" car. I corrected him about its origins and that's when he told me about his legal work. In another unexpected encounter, I met, at a car show, a Canadian Classics magazine writer who once owned an RMS and, upon hearing that I had restored one, offered to write an article about my car. He did, and a copy of that December 2000 article is available at http://pages.cthome.net/cougar/crazy.htm.

Today, few of the 98 RMS Cougars remain. The CCOA registry lists seven, and I know or have heard of three more, for a total of 10. That's about 10 percent of the original total—a typical survival rate for cars of that era.

PurrpleCat has sat again for another three years since I drove it last. The engine has been replaced with a correct, fully rebuilt 1969 351-4V and FMX transmission combination. In 2001, correct wire wheel caps were added and, last year, PurrpleCat got new leather on its front seats and vinyl in the rear. I still need to replace a broken rear leaf spring and align the front end, which hasn't been touched since I installed parts from an 81,000-mile donor car 12 years ago.

The only deviations from stock on my car are 1971 IMCO emissions components and a Ford electric choke. Otherwise, I have tried to correctly return this Cat to its former Purrple glory.

—Ray Harwood, CCOA #8138