Jay Leno

A blast from the past can still teach a few lessons

- 

As I get older I find myself getting more and more interested in 'Unicorns. These are cars the general public did not gravitate towards because they're either too expensive - or do not fit into any well-established categories like pony car, muscle car or sports car.

A good example of this is the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator I drove a few weeks ago, powered by the 428 Cobra Jet V8. This was Mercury's answer to the Mustang, a little bigger, a little heavier, more sound-deadening, more luxury features, electric windows, power steering, power brakes and so on.

More expensive, too. If you were an older guy, successful in business, you wanted something with the cojones of a Mustang or Corvette but with the luxury and sophistication of a Cadillac or Lincoln.

I found a car recently that fitted these criteria exactly a 1967 Pontiac 2+2. Don't confuse it with the Bonneville, the Grand Prix or the Catalina: until this point the Catalina was called a 2+2. In 1966 and 1967, a high-performance model became just a 2+2 HO, which stands for High Output, although the 'HO' does not appear on any of the badging.