In painting, it’s hard to lay down the brush, just as in writing, it’s hard to lay down the pen. So many times, the first edition is the best, and I think that is true with the Mercury Cougar. Subsequent Cougars were often attractive, but the ’67 was the cleanest and purest of the bunch; even the seemingly insignificant side marker lights on the ’68 model somehow marred the look just a little bit. I’ll even go so far as to say that the ’67 Cougar is the most attractive Mercury ever built, although the ’49/’50 isn’t far behind. Enough of my exuberance. This Cougar is listed on eBay in Sacramento, California, and it’s a driver that looks substantially rust free.
The seller is so confident in the car’s condition that they claim that it “just needs a paint job,” although the various dings and dents cast some doubt on the ease with which that can be accomplished. The engine (and power brake booster, for some reason) have benefitted from a “craigslist rebuild” (pardon the expression) in Ford Blue (or a close facsimile). The data tag shows this to be an A-Code car, which means it came from the factory with a 225-horsepower 289 four barrel. The seller says that everything works, including all lights, and it has a new water pump, radiator, and exhaust system. As an aside, those big aluminum radiators look fairly conspicuous under the hood, but they certainly do their job well, at least in my experience. Behind the 289 is the C-4 automatic, a punchy and reliable combination.
The interior was originally Code 2G (Light Ivy Gold Crinkle), although it appears that some custom upholstery has supplanted the original vinyl in addition to some non-stock high-back front buckets. A custom headliner has also been installed. The danger of personal customizations is that you assume that others will share your taste, and that can limit the pool of potential buyers. Personally, I would have preferred stock upholstery, but I understand that original material can be expensive. Cougar upholstery kits, however, seem to be readily available.
Even with its flaws, this Cougar looks great in its Lime Frost paint (the perfect color on a Cougar, in my opinion), although I’m not certain that “patina” is the right look for a car this classy. It’s certainly not getting in the way of your driving and enjoying the car for now, but the price might be a sticking point: The opening bid is $15,000, but there have been no takers so far. Nevertheless, solid first-year Cougars bring good money, and I don’t think this one is too far off the mark. I’ll pass the baton to you in the comments: What’s the right price for this Cougar? (And is it the best-looking Mercury?)
The Mercury Cougars are elegant cruising coupes. Always liked this model.
I always loved Cougar sequential turn signals. Still remember watching them in amazement as a kid. The first generation is my favorite by far. And I agree with Adam about the color too. Although I saw one in a deep emerald green once that just looked right on it. It complimented the lines nicely. I prefer a stock interior too. Like Stan said I always liked this model.
When I was a kid we had a 1967 cougar XR7 in emerald green. It was a beautiful car. Came from the factory with Magnum 500 rims. In 1977 my dad traded it in on a new 1977 Mercury Cougar XR7 in the same shade of green. I remember he only got $500 for trade in. A few years later in the 1980’s just the Magnum 500’s were worth more than he got for the whole car.
Magnum 500 wheels were not available from the factory on any first generation Cougar. What your car probably had were the optional Cougar styled steel wheels. They are a 5 spoke wheel along the lines of a Cragar SS wheel.
Nope they were Magnum 500’s. I know what they looked like. Even have an old picture of the car. The center caps on them had the “walking cougar” logo. Was it possible that they were added? Maybe, Dad bought that car used in 1973 to replaced our rusted out 65 Mustang. But they were beyond a doubt Magnum 500 with cougar centers.
If memory serves, the styled steel factory wheels for 67-68 Cougars were the same basic wheel as the Mustang from a couple years prior, with cougar head logo on the center cap. I think yours being used means it had a nice upgrade early in its life to those M500s! I was planning on putting them on a 4 speed Granada a few years ago that an elderly man was selling locally.
I’m open to the idea that they were an upgrade, it wouldn’t be the only upgrade that the first owner did. I just assumed factory because of the center caps. But the car was upgraded with an aftermarket intake and Holley carb, plus true dual exhaust. The previous owner had placed the Holley equipped decal on the one quarter window and a Thrush Bird head decal on the other quarter window. I remember being sad the day we drove off the lot in that new land yacht and left it sitting there. Dad had kept the rusted out 65 mustang and it became my first restoration experience and first car, but I often wished he had sold the mustang and kept the cougar.
The 67-68 Cougar styled steel wheels have quite a few differences from the Mustang styled steel wheels. They are not the same wheel. The blue running cat logo on the center cap is what was used on the 1969-1970 Cougar styled steel wheels. The 1967-68 Cougar styled steel wheel center cap was black with the Mercury man head on them. If your car had actual Magnum 500 wheels on it then they were added by a previous owner and not by the factory.
The 1967 Cougar ranks high on my list of all-time favorites. They were classy-looking, had good performance, were well-trimmed, and were well-executed. This one looks fairly solid, and the seller lists quite a bit of work done so far. But to bring it to the next level, there still is plenty of work to do. Dents to repair, paint for sure, maybe re-do the upholstery and carpet, the “craigslist rebuild” engine compartment (good phrase Aaron).
I hope our resident Cougar expert CATHOUSE chimes in.
It’s a great candidate for a sympathetic restoration. The paint is pretty far gone, too far to buff out, the interior, though not worn won’t appeal to purists. You could do a lot worse, but it’s still likely overpriced, at $15,000 plus the cost of work needed for paint and other projects you are close enough price wise that there a lot of options available to potential buyers.
Steve R
This one looks touched up after it sat for a long time – car shows ??
Need underside shots and more details.
Sequential taillights work ?
Headlights come up on their own ? Heater work ?
Burn oil? Shift clean … leaks?
Owned a ’68 Cougar from ’77 – ’82 and really liked it – after replacing the tired 390. Was a GT and XR7 combo with 4 speed (only 4% had the stick that yr). Tired car and needed TLC (paid $700) but I got to spend time learning, including pulling an engine.
I would really look this Cougar over closely and see what is missing. Why the Alum rad?
Best HS pal David had a ’68 at the same time and it looked new. Got the pics from ’80 with us blissfully under the hood of his gold Cougar “DT” (his version of GT).
He loved that Cougar insanely.
Cougars gen 1 are awesome but do not get in over your head.
Good luck.
Sounds like a boss Cougar you had Torino. At least this one doesn’t have a vinyl roof to deal with.
Thanks Stan – these are really good daily drivers once you get the need-to’s fixed. Drove to college back and forth from Louisville to EKU for a few years and was my first stick shift.
I missed the terrible (!) neglect/poor engine maintenance history when I bought – that can be worse than abuse sometimes I feel. Take a big critic with you when you look over one of these older classics or you may spend years tinkering/fixing. Just saying!
Would buy another one but have 5 years into getting the Torino back on the road – scarce parts.
Right on the vinyl roof!
I live about 2 hours from where this car is located. Rust generally isn’t a problem, it doesn’t show signs of rust beyond a sunburn, it never snows where the car is located and it isn’t humid, only cars near the coast rust and they rust from the top down. I bet if you could take the entire car apart with a set of hand tools without stripping or breaking any bolts. In the 80’s and early-90’s the wrecking yards were full of cars that shared this cars outward appearance that me and friends took a lot of parts off for our own projects or to resell.
As for the aluminum radiator, Sacramento averages 90’s to 100+ high temperature from June through early-October.
This looks like what you’d typically in an old unrestored car until the early-2000’s when they started disappearing, often sold overseas or back east after online ads took over. Sellers from this area that are used to selling into the local market often don’t think about posting pictures of the undercarriage because it’s not a big issue. Any interest party from a rust prone area would ask the seller for pictures and I’m sure they’d send them.
This looks like a pretty honest car that’s had an interior “upgrade” but hasn’t cycled through a bunch of owners that have progressively made it worse. It looks like a good starting, but at a lower price.
Steve the 4 Barrel Autolite added 25 ponies and some tq.
Merc-o-matic autoloader appreciates that.
3.00 rear gear ⚙️ 👍 is ideal for this ride. Agree w what you’ve said 🏁
It seems like one out of every two 67/8 Cougars I see for sale are this same light green. Must’ve been one of the most, if not the most, popular colors for those years. 15k seems a bit steep considering the condition.
Overall this looks like a pretty solid car, however as always an in person inspection would be best. It does not appear to show signs of the normal rust where the front and rear aprons meet the shock towers so it might be rust free. I am not sure why the writer of this article says that it has a custom headliner, it looks like a stock headliner to me. If you look at the background in several of the photos you can see all the original stock seats so perhaps they will come along with the sale. I think that the price is a bit high but all it takes is one person who just has to have it.
See what Kevin Marti says about the Magnums. There are Very Few people who can match wits w/Cathouse!
Lime Frost Poly
I knew someone that had a ’67, turquoise with a white top and interior. Always liked the ’67 ’68. This one needs work but it’s a great start. I’d ditch the re upholstered Pinto seats for some stock seats though.
Not a bad example of the “gentleman’s Mustang”. It’s got the drive train I’d want, the tried, trusty yet tittilating 289/C4. And the interior? While not stock at least the person didn’t decide to stuff it with black mohair on the seats and dash. There are a few this-and-thats that need to be looked at in person. That pulled-out rear bumper is of interest for example. It appears overall to be a nice car, but the seller’s 15k opening bid requirement may be a bid optimistic-no takers so far.
Fall of ‘68, I’m a HS senior. My father’s golfing buddy has a wholesale car business and has one of these in Burgundy, Black interior, 289 automatic. Tried his best to get the old man to buy the car for me. I got to drive it for a couple of days, and as we all know it was a great handling car. Needless to say it didn’t happen.
I’d pull the trigger on this but there’s that unfortunate “custom” interior in a terrible color combination and I can’t imagine any exterior color change that would make it look any better.
Its been maintained the last 2 years he says. Original plates and paint? Not many left unbutchered like this one. 15 is ambitious though
Nostalgic memory. My parents and grandparents bought General Motors cars when I was growing up. But I remember vividly the day I first saw a Mercury Cougar. It was June of 1968 and I believe mom had me go into the junior high school to probably pick up my report card and end of year supplies. The guidance counselor had a stunning Mercury Cougar parallel parked against the curb near the main entrance. I had seen a Mustang convertible a friend of my parents drove to our house but the Cougar’s sporty but luxurious looks made a positive styling impression I remember a half century later.The car for sale has the same bodystyle as the Cougar I will never forget.
With the dented rear fender and possibly tweaked bumper and questionable headliner, it seems way overpriced. I think that a 7K price is all it is worth. I have an XR7 Cougar and I love them. This one could be a money pit.
I had a 1969 cougar, maroon with a red vinyl interior. 351 Windsor with auto trans. Loved that car. The only add on was chrome reversed rims with baby moons.
The picture of the speedometer says mileage is 29380, and that is what is written in the eBay ad. IMO seems really beat up for that low mileage.
The seller is clever enough to not state that it only has that mileage, just repeating what the odometer says.
Asking price is bit optimistic for the base model Cougar. I do like the A code with the front disc brakes. Looks like the sequential lights were upgraded with the digital box in the trunk. Wish it had factory ac for us older folks.