I remember this thread! Although Claude is no longer with us, its great to see his designs are still popular and being talked about. I went to work at Sig in 1976, and the original Kougar had been out at least two or three years. I left in 1978 and did participate in the tooling changes and new instruction book for the Mk II Kougar....so that would make sense if it was released in 1979. Every now and then I toy with the idea of building a double size Kougar as a tribute to Claude.

Jeff Foley
Product Engineer
Sig Mfg. Co 1976-78
Mr. Top Gun 2000,2003