This 1971 Mercury Cougar XR7 is “from an estate and one owner”, according to the seller in Monroe, Washington. They have it listed on Hemmings for $10,000 or best offer and it sure looks like a winner.
What a beautiful car. This really looks like a hidden gem, it’s hard to believe that it has 91,000 miles on it. That’s only 1,936 miles a year over the last 47 years. In 1971, Mercury slightly enlarged the Cougar and took away the signature hidden headlights.
The seller says that this car was “always garaged” and that the “Original paint is in excellent condition”. It sure looks like the whole car is in at least very good condition. They have it priced almost exactly halfway between Hagerty’s #2 excellent and #3 good condition values and it’s hard to argue with that.
Green, green, and more green. Companies sure pumped out a lot of green cars in the 1970s. Not to mention green appliances, clothes, etc. I like having an actual color on a vehicle and now you’re lucky if you get to choose between a tan or a black interior. You’ve noticed that the seats have clear plastic covers on them, I’m hoping that they’re well-preserved underneath otherwise they’re just a way to sweat more in the summer.
This is Ford’s 351 cubic-inch Windsor V8 with a 2-barrel carb which would have had a very respectable 240 hp. The 4-barrel 351 Cleveland had 285 hp and there was even a 429 Cobra Jet with 370 hp. The seller says that they “had transmission rebuilt and muffler replaced” so it sounds like it’s ready to go. It sure looks like it could be driven home. Have any of you owned a second-generation Mercury Cougar?
I got one of these as a courtesy car around 1979-1980 when I was getting my Chevelle painted. I couldn’t believe the pick up this car had for the size of it. Burned through a few tanks of gas having so much fun keeping my foot buried in it.
The size of it? This is still a Mustang, with 4 headlights. Its not like this is a Mk IV or something.
Absolutely 71-73 Cougars are great! Cleveland power! Sequential rear signals, toggle switches!! These were still built with Mustangs, at Dearborn!!
Beautiful car, love the green. My dad’s ’66 Park Lane Breezeway had the same covering on the back seats… terrible stuff to sit on as a kid, but the seat sure looked nice when the car eventually went to the scrap yard.
We had a smoother version of that plastic on the seats of our ’64 Impala too. Dad got a few extra $ when he traded in on the ’68 Olds, but then it was the second owner who got to enjoy that nice new fabric in the Chevy. Never again!
Never understood the idea of covering seats, couches, lamp shades, etc. if it’s covered you aren’t enjoying whatever leather, silk, or random material that it’s made of. So why not just enjoy it for the time it looks nice and try to keep it as nice as possible?!!!
I always thought that this generation of Cougar went from feline to porcine, as the model got larger and heavier.
Now that I’m old, it looks like an attractive luxury cruiser. The 351 is a surprising performer, even in 2 Bbl form.
Not my cup of tea, but looks like it was well cared for over its lifetime. Kudos to the previous owner for the upkeep.
The Buick Cougar.
Had a black ’71 XR-7 convertible w/351 Cleveland a number of years back…restored it and it was fun in a straight line but I couldn’t ever got over that suspension – handled like a dog, unfortunately, even for a car of that era. Nice looking, though.
Bought a 73 in 76 for 3,000 yellow white convertible top courted my wife in it
There was a really nice green ’70 Thunderbird on here a few days ago and this cougar would go right with it, maybe for the wife or as a second car, back then.
It’s big just like the Mustang of the same year, but the Cougar wears the extra weight a little better.
I don’t know about that, man. The Boss 351 is one of my favourite Mustangs, and while I still prefer the earlier Mustangs (‘65-67 2+2, ‘68 GT coupe, ‘69 Mach l, etc), the ‘71-73 Mustang and Cougar grew on me over the many years I’ve been a gear head.
Was thinking more of the ’71 Mustang coupe body style here, which I never really liked, not so much the killer Boss 351. Yeah, I definitely favor the performance versions like the Cougar Eliminator or my all time favorite Looking pony car..the Boss 429 Mustang. This Cougar here would have appealed to a slightly different crowd.
When I was in college, I owned a red version of this car with a white vinyl top. I loved that car. Now, I would probably hate climbing in and out of it.
Hey Lance, my dad had a 1971 Ford LTD 2 door he bought in fall 1970; in fall 1971 when I was 16, we went to the Mercury dealer and looked at a 1972 Cougar XR7 that was red, white half top and white leather interior. I really wanted him to get it, but the guy wanted $2500 plus the trade; dad said he would do it for $1500 plus trade, but no deal, so we went back home with the LTD which I kept until after I graduated college.
BTW, I thought XR7’s had a standard leather interior, the best I can see under those covers it looks like a patterned cloth that matches the floor mats; was that a delete option on an XR7, anyone?
I did check oldcarbrochures.com; it shows that on the standard Cougar there is an available “Upbeat stripe cloth-and-vinyl may be ordered for hardtop models” but doesn’t mention it available on XR7; I guess back then you could make special orders if you wanted to.
http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Mercury/1971%20Mercury/1971%20Mercury%20Full%20Line%20Prestige%20Brochure%20(Rev)/image22.html
BillO
I never cared for the 72 Cougars… I hated the straight front bumper. Someday, I wouldn’t mind getting another one… probably a convertible. Oh hell, if I’m going to dream it might as well be a 71 XR-7 convertible with a ram air 429 CJ!
It is an optional interior. It put a $54.38 deduction on the price of a XR-7. I have the original window sticker for mine.
Lance, the straight bumper came out in 1973; the 1972 was essentially just like the 1971. 1973 brought the heavier front bumper, blacked grille and vertically segmented taillights, and last year of the sequential turn signal.
Bill
My mistake. I was thinking the straight bumper was 72. Thanks for the clarification.
Aside from the original, my favorite Cougar. To me, these were always a Mustang with that extra zing, until they began the slide to the Torino/Montego chassis, and eventually the 4 door Cougar wagon.( Good heavens, they DID exist), http://www.cougarclub.org/cougar-station-wagons.htm
This car was at least true to it’s roots, like the Firebird was to the Camaro.
And I grew up during the “green” era. Everything was green. My parents kitchen and bathroom were green, it was very popular in the 60’s and ’70’s.
It’s obvious someone loved and cared for that car. It would make a fine addition to many peoples garage.
Had a ’73 XR7, medium blue with white vinyl top, white leather interior with white hi-back buckets, 351 Cleveland 4-bbl. Would roast the tires without much coaxing. Loved that car!
Jim… My high back bucket seats were white leather, too. They really looked nice in a red car. It came with a Cleveland 2 bbl but it quickly got replaced with a 4 bbl. I swapped out the stock gears in the pumpkin with 4:11. If I let some of the air out of the wide ovals, I could pop the front end off the ground.
My eye shows that this is a 351C not a Windsor, (From the width of the rocker covers) but without seeing the VIN this is just an educated guess.
Although they say that they didn’t put Cleveland 2 bbl in 71 Cougars, I can attest to the fact that they did… mine came from the factory with a Cleveland 2 bbl carburetor… perhaps because it was a late year model.
Really most 351 2Vs in a 71 Cougar were Cleveland’s, Including mine that is a very late in the model year one.
I have *never* seen a ’71 Cougar with a 351 Windsor 2v engine. I owned a ’71 H-code from ’72-77, *not* an early production car, and it was very much a Cleveland two-barrel. I’ve worked on two or three ’71-73 Cougars with H-codes and all were Clevelands. Wikipedia’s entry says it’s a Windsor – it’s wrong – and I think everybody who writes about one of these is copy/pasting from Wiki.
I’ve seen and driven in both the 4bbl ran on regular and loved super unleaded had a ton of power even with a automatic.The 2 bbl.moters I have seen where all clevlands.
The VIN will not tell if the car has a 351W or a 351C in 2V form. The engine code H was used for both the W and the C in 1971.One would need to look for the VIN stamping on the block to see if it is the original engine. I do agree though that the engine in this car looks more like a C.
Don’t need a VIN stamping on the block to confirm Cleveland or Windsor. There are a lot of external visual differences. Shape of the valve covers, valve cover bolt count (8=C, 6= W)…shape of the front of the head castings ’cause a C head looks a lot different from a Windsor/289/302 style head. Fuel pump bolts are 12 and 6 on a C, 3 and 9 on a Windsor. Timing cover. Thermostat housing’s straight up out of the block on a C, comes out of the front of the intake on a W.
It’s a Cleveland, it’s the same as the one I had. VIN code would be H for a 351-2v whether Cleveland or Windsor so that wouldn’t help anyway. I owned a ’71, I’ve seen under the hood of a lot of them and I’ve never seen a Windsor 351 in a ’71-73 Cougar. You’d see either in ’70 – I can’t say or prove they never put a W in a ’71-73, but I know I’ve never seen one.
Really nice cougar here! Windsors were a thing of the past. 71 was Cleveland only. I had the pleasure of restoring a 71 429 CJ 4 speed version. (As usual, this site won’t let me load the photo)
I had a Blue and White 71, It had a Windsor motor 2 Barrel in it that blew on my christmas day night about 11:30 as I was going home after leaving my parents house. That was 1981. I found a used motor after the holidays and dropped that in there. Ran ok for a few months until the freeze plug blew out. Fixed that. Then another blew out a week later. Replaced the thermostat and maybe water pump and drove a while longer. Then reverse gear went out. I had about enough of that car by then and traded it for a brand spanking new 1981 Mercury Capri with a 4 banger. Pretty as could be. It would do 55 MPH up hill, down hill and off a cliff. I hated that car. LOL. I did have a lot of fun in that Old Cougar, It would fly pretty good when everything worked right. I absolutely hate green on a car. Other than that I really like this one in the add. I’d probably pay 8K for it if it was blue, black or white. Maybe even red. But nope not greeen. :-)
Wow. Memories. I had the same car (just a BIT worse off, after numerous Ohio winters and the salt covered roads). Had a 351 4 bbl Cleveland and a 4 speed! Man could that car do some amazing burnouts! Especially because it was probably 1000 lbs lighter due to all the rust! After driving it for a year, the motor/trans went into a Torino, car went to the junkyard.
This is my 71 XR-7 with the Blue version of the Upbeat cloth interior. It is a 96,000 mile car that was put away in about 1991.
[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/972/40867333085_d80daed2e4_k.jpg[/img]
[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5723/19987421184_6f3580feb3_k.jpg[/img]
The Green one this story is about is in the Monroe Washington area. This one is from Camano Island WA. It sold new at Olympic Lincoln Mercury.
Neal… that is an incredibly beautiful car. Color me jealous. It really makes me miss mine.
Add anther vote: Really NICE!
Nice!
I had a 71 XT7 with the 400M motor. White w/White Vinyl top & White interior. Nice car & performed quite well too.
The story says that the 351-2v in this car is a Windsor. It’s not. It’s a Cleveland 2v – same as the ’71 that I had from ’72-77. Ford may have used both Windsor and Cleveland 351-2v in the ’71-73 Cougars, but I have never seen a Windsor in any of them. The visual difference is unmistakable, but this has gotten crosswired since these cars were new and it’s still happening.
Most 71′ to 73′ Cougars with the 351W were rental cars.
Do you have documentation to back that up?