Wowie, this is one nice car! The seller says this is an estate car and has traveled just 61,045 miles over the last 43 years, and it looks like it just rolled out of the showroom. They have this 1983 Mercury Cougar LS listed here on eBay in the great city of Cincinnati, Ohio. There is no reserve on this gem, and the current bid price is just $2,950!
I’ve always liked the sixth-generation Mercury Cougar and Ford Thunderbird, and we’ve seen some nice ones here on Barn Finds over the years, but believe it or not, this is the first 1983 Mercury Cougar shown here on Barn Finds. This has to be the nicest Mercury Cougar I’ve seen. The sixth-gen cars were made for model years 1983 to 1988 in this one body style only.
I don’t see a flaw on or in this car anywhere, inside or out. The Silver Metallic and Dark Charcoal Metallic Tu-Tone paint looks perfect. The notchback design isn’t for everyone, nor is the Thunderbird’s sloped-back body style. Maybe one of each would be good… This generation was really a sleek departure compared to the previous blocky, clunky design, and was again based on the Fox platform. Here’s what the trunk compartment looks like.
The seller says this car is rust-free, and it has always been kept in a garage when not in use. They’ve uploaded a ton of great photos, but there are no underside photos. It’s said to be just as clean underneath, and I believe it. You may as well, once you see the “extra” engine photo that I’ll include in the next paragraph. The Medium Red Cloth interior looks like new. It can be seen on page 3 of this 1983 Mercury Cougar brochure. How about that back seat?! It looks unused.
The engine looks good in the photo above, but it looks GREAT here! (Sorry for yelling) It literally looks brand new to me, that’s the cleanest engine I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a Ford 302-cu.in. fuel-injected OHV V8, which was rated at 130 horsepower and 240 lb-ft of torque when new. Power is sent through an AOD four-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels, and it’s said to work like new. The AC is cold, everything works as it should, and if all were right with the world, this one would be coming home with me on a fly-in, drive-home trip to Cincinnati. Any thoughts on this ’83 Mercury Cougar LS?
Wonderful write-up. Funny that currently on eBay there is a yellow one-family car like this as well. No comparison, though!
I agree SG, this is a very nice Cougar. It fits the 80’s quite well: two-tone paint, bright red interior, wire wheel covers. Ford sure did get the mileage out of the Fox platform.
Wow is a huge understatement. This has to be one of the cleanest early to mid 80’s Cougars we’ve seen yet here. And it’s got a 302? Very nice. The color combination is great, silver and the deep red interior is a natural together. If you’ve ever sat in these seats, or a comperable T Bird, they’re very comfortable. I prefer the earlier sqaure eyed T Birds and Cougars over the updated ones. But thats me. Great write up Scotty, this is a true Cream Puff.
Had a girlfriend that bought one of these new. It had the V6, it didn’t move very fast, but she could!
Those were the days!
I gotta say, this is a great find. I’m a little taken aback that it’s only 130 HP; is that right? I would have thought maybe a little more, particularly if it had the EFI. Throttle body?