It’s not a super rare occasion that a low-mileage “Luxury Liner” from the 1970’s pops up for sale here on Barn Finds. They usually fall into the Cadillac Eldorado, Lincoln Mark IV, or Buick Riviera category…an expensive luxury car bought by an older person of means who protected and pampered his or her baby (and probably let their car pick out the paint color of their climate-control garage). Well, here’s one of those very low-mileage ’70’s garage queens with only 9,827 miles on the clock. The twist is that it’s a Mercury Cougar. Sure, it’s their flagship XR-7 personal luxury coupe, but it’s still a Mercury, not the usual Lincoln or Caddy that we feature. I’d love to know the story behind this particular time capsule, wouldn’t you? Mitchell G. spotted this cream puff Merc (thanks, M.G.) that is at a dealer specializing in low mileage vehicles in Ocala, Florida. It’s listed for sale here for $19,999.
By 1979, the 4th generation Cougar had split from its original Mustang cousin and was now a counterpart of the Ford Thunderbird. I think Mercury did a pretty good job of trying to make it look more “Lincolnesque” (especially the rear end with a trapezoidal-shaped Continental-type deck and Mark IV-inspired horizontal taillights). Based on the high number of provided photographs, the original Medium Dark Metallic Orange paint – one of seven new colors for ’79 – is glossy and presents beautifully. The color-matching aluminum wheels are a nice touch and the tan Landau padded vinyl roof and matching body side molding trim are pure 1970’s. I’m also digging the large cat emblem hood ornament that supported Mercury’s “Sign of the Cat” marketing theme. I’m not spotting any flaws with this XR-7. It looks literally showroom new.
The XR-7’s interior is trimmed in a color that Mercury called Chamois. The pleated vinyl “Twin Comfort Lounge Seat” looks comfortable and like-new as does everything else in the cabin. Roll-up windows keeps it from being in the Lincoln category, but the XR-7 is a stylish, comfy cruiser for sure. Standard equipment included power steering and brakes, automatic transmission, cut-pile carpeting, and, of course, rosewood-tone appliqué on the instrument panel.
Under that long, aircraft carrier hood rests the optional 351-cubic-inch V8 with only 9,827 miles on it over the past 47 years. It’s paired with a smooth Select-Shift automatic transmission. With 163,716 units sold for the 1979 model year, a Mercury XR-7 isn’t a low-production collector car by any means. But one in this kind of original, unaltered, showroom-new time capsule condition is. Could this be the nicest surviving one out there?
I always thought these Cougars were nice looking, and a great alternative to a T Bird or Lincoln. I remember the trunk having a padded vinyl insert to match the vinyl top, we had a Lincoln Mercury dealer close to my parents house and there were a lot of Mercurys in the area back then. A friend of mine had one, I just remember the 351 2 barrel had a lot of work to do to move these big cars around. Looks like a Beautiful find, great condition.
The padded vinyl section on the trunk lid was a part of an optional package. Not all 1979 Cougars had it.
I agree with Dave. This is a sharp car, in very good condition. Those colors work great together. Lots of eye-catching trim. I would prefer buckets with the console with the sport instrumentation, but overall it is a nice piece. It would have that 70’s float-down-the-road feel, which isn’t all bad.
I hear ya Bob, although the bench and column shift work nicely here too. So sweet almost have to leave it original… But a 4-bbl, dual exhaust, and a set of 3.27 gears ⚙️ wouldn’t hurt. 💁♂️ Awesome car RD. Thanks for the article 👍
nice looking and good colors. now find a fish for 20k.
I like it. The color combination looks great. Judging by the plumbing under the hood I think it has AC, but I’m only seeing what I’m guessing are vents on the passenger side? The split bench is OK with the two armrests.
You can see the compressor plain as day in the picture under the hood.
Yes, this car does have factory A/C. You can see the dash vents, the one for the left side is the first large circle beside the instrument gauges, the one in the center of the dash and the one for the right side of the dash. If you look closely you can see the A/C controls on the heater control panel. Under the hood you can clearly see the A/C compressor and the A/C heater box extending into the engine compartment. What this car does not have is power windows and the dome light with map lights.
This seller – Burnyzz – sells a lot of cars on the Hagerty auction site, most at No Reserve. They always have nice stuff and have seen several bargains be had.
I’ll take the Pontiac in the background
I believe the interior is vinyl yet the seller lists it as leather. Otherwise this presents beautifully and looks to be genuine. But personally, whenever a dealer misrepresents even the most minor and obvious detail, I get a little nervous.
I bought a similar XR-7 new in 1977. The one shown is apparently orange. Mine was copper. I remember people at work asking how I could afford a new Lincoln on my entry level salary. Unfortunately, the transmission gave up the ghost every 17,500 miles. Years later I spoke to Ford engineer who said the transmission issue was well known within Ford, but they decided not recall them.
This is a very nice car and will be a future collectible it turns out to be all true statements. Considering it is a 47 yr old car, very clean looking cold combo and interior and being a premium car as a mercury although priced a little high would be a good investment in the long run but still needs to be thoroughly checked out by an appraisal outfit well worth spending a couple of hundred of dollars to make sure there are no surprises…
Get an inspection. Appraisers just tell you what you want to hear.