Sometimes in life, we come to own a project car that never moves past the point of bringing it home. This 1969 Mercury Cougar XR7 has that feel to it, as the seller notes he only understands the health of the car as it relates to going backwards and forwards in the driveway, never having seen the open road while in his care. It certainly looks like it should be road-ready without too much effort, and the seller reports the non-matching 428 CJ fires up with ease. Find it here on eBay with bids to just over $10K and no reserve.
Despite the engine being non-matching, some of the original parts were retained. The seller notes the carb, intake and exhaust manifolds are the numbers-matching components, and that the engine was rebuilt by the previous owner. It would seem that previous owner had access to the original mill and was forced to make alternate plans, but did retain as many of the original parts that he could. The listing notes that the carburetor was just recently rebuilt, and there are numerous new parts. There was a vinyl top at one time, but it has since been removed.
Among them are the starter, motor mounts, water pump, three-row radiator, hoses, fuel pump, and fuel lines. The engine bay looks better than the outside suggests, but the seller does disclose the PCV and A/C systems are missing. Smog parts have been removed and are in the trunk. While it does fire up and run with relative ease, the seller notes that he hasn’t gotten it far enough out of the driveway to verify what the C6 transmission will do once it’s on the open road and churning through the cogs. The good news is it will move onto a trailer with ease.
The interior looks quite complete, with attractive green buckets and full center console, and fake wood trim that still presents well. The seller agrees that the cabin is a high point, with an uncracked dash and good door panels, and notes that the backseat is in excellent condition. The headliner will need replacing, but that’s fairly typical for a car of this vintage. While the paint is tired and there is rust, nothing is catastrophic on this car, and it seems like an excellent starting point for a project you won’t be afraid to drive in anger given the non-matching drivetrain.
As a teenager, I always loved the styling of the Cougar. One of my middle school guidance counselors drove a new one circa 1967 and in high school a neighbor across the street owned a new one circa 1972. This particular example still needs lots of work including the air conditioning system. Would be a good project for someone with lots of cash and patience.
A no reserve auction on a rare car needing some love and attention. Some Cougar enthusiast will get a great project when the bidding ends.
Steve R
Yep, if you’re bored with restoring Mustangs try restoring a Cougar. This one deserves it.
Lance I am with you on the Cougar a good friend in HS has a 69 with a nice 302 and a 4 speed it was bright yellow (not my favorite color) it was a really nice car and very fun to drive!
Bad Cougar, with that 428 in it, I hope whom ever gets it road worthy drives the pants off it. I can imagine this would be a handful to drive at full throttle, just as it should be.
Must be fairly rare too, most Cougars I remember were fairly docile with 302 or 351’s, which never left any impression on me at all.
In `69 the ONLY 302 was a BOSS 302! G-Code. Anything, but Docile!
Yes, they were a handful! My cousin has a red convertible and wrapped it around a utility pole before it was six months old.
Just rode by a convertible 428 Cougar in mint condition in Berkely. Parked on the street. Spent my high school days riding my friends 4spd 428. These cars are better looking then the more common mustang. And the cobra jet is s beast! Love the Cougar great cars. Great memories. If only I could afford this one.
Owner’s of ’69 stangs would beg to differ to you on the looks & as far as commonality goes, there are nowhere near as many ’69 stangs left today as there are ’69 camaros.
Nice car, good price. Hope the rust isn’t too bad.
Seems like a decent car and a good project as long as the bidding doesn’t get crazy. But why not get it running, put some tires on it, fix the power steering, sort the brakes out and maybe even fix the AC. It seems to me that if he put perhaps $1k into it would sell it faster and he’d easily get back his investment plus more.
The air conditioning alone would be more than a grand, but you have a very valid point. It is so close to being a fully functional car, it would be very worth while to get it to that point, then sell it.
I have a bunch of cars I am unloading so I have liquid cash to cover expenses for a while & so I don’t have to pay storage. That is what I am doing…getting them to the point they could be driven cross country & then advertising them for sale. I believe it would be financially prudent for the owner of this Cougar to consider doing the same thing. Could be a GREAT car!
Great car but the driver side front fender looks like a different color to me and the hood doesn’t seem to line up that good!! It’s a cougar that you would want nevertheless!! At the price it’s at I’d like to be a player on this car!!!
It is a possibility that this car took at least a light hit to the front at some point in time. The hood is no longer a ram air hood and the hood pins holes are not even there. The right side grille has the lower bar cracked. There are no photos showing the inner aprons or the radiator support, those might help determine if it was hit. The replaced hood is not a big deal, it is easy enough to cut the needed holes for the hood pins and the ram air. At least it looks to be solid and not rusted out along the front underside.
Love the & would buy it, if I didn’t already have and just bought a 68 XR7 GT390 fully loaded 4-Speed. Such an awesome car but I think Grandma ordered it with those colors and granny had a led foot.
This car needs to be brought back to its glory and he said the carb needs some adjustment but it was just rebuilt. Not good but eather or anyone could dump 5 grand into it getting everything working perfect then drive it with the patina look.
Update: I just lost out – it sold at 12,100, just above my limit when I considered what I would need to spend to address condition issues and shipping. I will now turn my attention to cold beer and my next project: drunken grilling.
Sold already! Great project. Drove a 68 Cougar with a 302 back in the 70’s and early 80’s. Great Car always wished I would have held onto mine.