We’ve all heard of the Hertz’s Shelby Mustang Rent-A-Racers. Not all of us have heard of the cousin to those cars, the Mercury Cougar Rent-A-Racer. For those interested in the lesser-known version, this 1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G found here on eBay, might be worth checking out.
The seller states that this is one of the 188 Cougars produced for Hertz Rental Car in 1968. According to the listing, it is fairly complete but is missing some G specific items such as trim, horns, shifter and exhaust tips. Hopefully, these missing parts wouldn’t keep an interested buyer from restoring a neat piece of Mercury history.
The more concerning aspect of this project is not uncommon for a lot of projects: rust. Unfortunately, said rust isn’t just limited to the sheet metal. A combination of outside storage and part removal has created rust within vital engine components. It’s said that this Rent-A-Racer still maintains the original 390 4V GT engine between the fender wells. The big question becomes whether or not this engine could be saved. Another unfortunate problem with the 390 was a conflict between the valve and piston, which lead to a non-original head being swapped for the original.
The seller states that some of the sheet metal had already been replaced when the project came to a halt. The seller states that their reserve is “reasonable”, which is a very subjective term. What might this rare cat go for at auction’s end? And what kind of value might this car have if fully restored to its original Rent-A-Racer beginnings?
This car has mini sunroofs everywhere …
The 390 sounds in bad shape but possibly save able.
I think this person feels he has the
holy grail..it’s over 4000 With..reserve not met.
I think if one puts 35 grand or more in this they could be operational 👍👀😜 on top of the crazy ask of course
This car may not be THE holy grail but it is on the top 10 list of collectible Cougars. I do not know what the reserve is but I doubt that it qualifies as crazy. Fully restored this is at least a 75K car.
wow, cool maybe but that is some bad rust. I have done allot of rust work and ure its fixable but still wow!
I guess that the 67 xr7 with the 6.5litre that we have,that is
99% rust free,and runs great with a rebuilt 390 engine,and is mostly
complete,and pretty straight..,must be at least 10G ..?
that car is almost a shell,and has rust,and body issues,
might be a $2500.00 car at best to me,as you can spend about $5G
and get a much nicer car to start with.The leather seats alone will cost
big money to have re-done…nice cars,but will sadly,always play second fiddle to the Mustang…,I have one of those also..lol..
Yes, I would think that your 67 XR-7 6.5 litre car would easily be worth 10K. Probably a lot more depending upon what other options it has and what condition other parts of the car are in. How good is the paint? What condition is the interior in? I have seen asking prices of 40K for really nice ones.
Yes, you might find a better condition Cougar for 5K but it will not have the G package for that price. This is a rare car and if you want one you will need to pay up. This seller is well known in the CA Cougar community and is straight up with what you are buying.
What does a super nice “G” front valance and the matching fog lights alone bring these days?
I also think that spare sunroof roof that comes with this car might be worth at least a grand.
Unfortunately, like you said, the cougar always played 2nd fiddle to the mustang. I always preferred the early cougars over the mustang tho, in my eyes they are a much cleaner design, and more stylish.
Gurney cars are getting hard to find. Hope someone saves it! Not for the faint of heart!
I just located and bought this 1968.5 Cougar R-Code 428 Cobra Jet, Ram Air, 4spd, 4:30 Traction Loc, factory Rear Staggered Shock car. Supposedly the only “Drag Pak”1968 Cougar built out of the 64 428 4spd cars produced.
Was sold new at Spitzer Ford/Mercury in Elyria Ohio. Was a drag car in its early life and I am trying to figure out who raced it.
A 428cj 1968 Cougar GTE sold for $224,000 in survivor condition in 2015.
looks like a little hot wheel car!
sharp. i like the black on red color combo. needs redlines for tires.
These came with it. Redlines on Styled Steel Wheels. :)
Yours is the REAL find! `68 GT-E’s aren’t non-existent; there is a couple around that pop up for sale now and then. But a CJ 428 like yours?! Now THAT’S super rare. James, yours is probably the Holy grail of Cougar finds! Even worth more than any `69-`70 Eliminator When restored!! Great catch!
Here is the Marti-report. I have ordered a “personalized” Marti report to detail the rarity. The Marti website says these take 10-14 days. It’s now been 23 days so I’m hoping he is finding out lots of cool extra details. :)
The Cougar aficionados seem excited about it.
No doubt James car is quite a score, but isn’t the 427 GT-E the real holy grail of Cougardom, other than the Boss 429 equipped one?
I’m full of envy. Please consider keeping all us posted as to your work, or just some more pics now and then. Truly a WOW of a car. Thanks for sharing.
Here is where it was buried in Sarasota Florida for 15 years. Visible from the street. Evenhad a “428-GT” license plate. Several people had tried to buy it over the last 15 years but he refused to sell. I had contacted him about a 1969 Cyclone Spoiler Dan Gurney car he had and he asked me if I wanted this one too. When I asked how much, he said “$1,000 and I am not negotiable”. Needless to say….. I bought it and the Cyclone.
Great snag James! I am glad it is going to a car nut. I hope I never run into you at a poker game, I can’t believe you kept a straight face when he said $1000 bucks. Also can not believe BF did not do a write up, this is historical and what Barn Finds is all about. Thanks for posting James, best of luck, Mike.
How about a full-length article on your car? Incredible find and it would be interesting to learn more.
I had sent it to Barn Finds last week but it didn’t make the cut, then they posted this one.
Absolutely amazing! I’m full of envy too, but so glad it went to someone who will appreciate it. I can feel your excitement in your posts, and that’s what it’s all about!!
Oh my God!!!!!! I just got stuck to myself!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!
James,
You have the Holy Grail fo the Mercury Cougar line.
We were Ford ,Lincoln Mercury DEALERS in San Diego.
The 390 has a Multitude of Problems!
The Head swap alone makes the car Questionable!
The outside storage cost you your Super Car.
Not only is the Cougar 2nd to the Mustang the 390 adds so much Weight to the Front of the Car.
The 289 Mustang was a Tough Competitor for the 390.
The 428cj is Lightning fast to the 390 that has ended up 2nd to the lighter 289, and to bring in Handling makes it Second again!
Every part Especially Body moldings and Factory Package products are a Must for this Car.
UNFORTUNATELY your Diamond is just Coal! UNLESS YOU HAVE THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT THE CAR NEEDS TO BE RESTORED!
WE. STILL HAVE NOS PARTS FOR SOME OF THESE SPECIALTY REBUILDS . A PAIR OF RUNNING LIGHTS CAN GO FOR AS MUCH AS 20K. YOUR SUN ROOF FOMOCO STAMPED 5K.
BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!
BAY SHORE.
The NASCAR 429 BOSS IN THE CONVERTIBLE is a 3 of 300.
Too bad Hertz doesn’t still do that stuff. It’d be awesome to take out a new Hellcat, ZL1 or something like that and just beat the living snot out of it like these things had done to them. 😁
They did recently with the ZHZ C6 Vette.. I rented one in Vegas probably 5-6 years ago. Was basically a stock C6 ragtop with a tacky paint job.. I guess it beat running around in a Sebring, though.
The appalling lack of driver skills and knowledge today is exactly why rental companies rarely rent this style of car…
They still do ! I need a business trip car for 4 days I booked a maxima online but when I got there I saw a line of RT Challengers Mustangs and Camaros. Only 100 bucks more and I”m crusing in a Challenger RT. The roads to Clovis NM are terrible but at 100 mph over them they feel great.
That vinyl top really took its toll.
Karguy James – You have an amazing find. You need to restore it back to original condition to really get the big bucks. Good luck!!
Can’t say for sure but the first picture appears to be the same car that popped up in a Northern Michigan Craigslist ad last year. Will never forget seeing a brief description of a 390 Cougar with a dirt cheap asking price and the ad being gone within a few hours. After seeing the other pics I can now understand why they where asking so little!
Rent a Ruster
About 1980 we drove up to the big Atlantic City, NJ vintage car auction. One of the cars we brought back was a 1968 Cougar GT-E 428, a VERY RARE car, as only 37 were made with the 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air engine. Our car was red with silver bottom, black vinyl roof, and tan leather interior. That car was crazy insane to drive at high speed on any back road that wasn’t 100% straight!
Put an ad in the Washington Post newspaper to sell it, and a young “rich kid” from northern Virginia came out with his parents. He had recently turned 16, and wanted his parents to buy this Cougar. I actually tried to talk them out of buying it, as I feared the likely consequences. The kid was smokin’ the tires so often during the test drive, I ended up taking control of the car, & drove back to the farm.
I actually wrote on the bill of sale that this was a collector car originally intended for racing, and was a very powerful car. I also wrote that the car was intended for experienced drivers only.
Good thing I did, as several months later I got a threatening letter from an attorney in Virginia, stating that the family claimed I had sold a high performance race car to them, without disclosing it was dangerous. Seems the kid wrecked it within a week of it’s purchase and put himself into the hospital for a very long time.
I wrote back to the attorney and suggested he take a look at the original bill of sale I had provided. I guess he found a copy at the Virginia Dept of Motor Vehicles [back then they required & kept the bill of sale paperwork], as I never heard back from the attorney or family again.
That was the last time I let a potential buyer drive a high performance [or very valuable] car until I had it sold, or at least a sizable cash deposit.
Wow, that’s crazy! Glad you protected yourself.
Bill,
Can you tell us anything more about the GTE? As a part of the Cougar Club we try to track as many of them as we can. Do you know if the car was totaled? Or was it repaired? Is it possible that you still have any paperwork with the VIN? I understand that you may not want to post certain types of information on a public forum and if you do know more and want to put it into the club’s hands you can go to our website, http://www.cougarclub.org and fill out a form there that will only send it directly to our main database manager. Thank you for anything you can offer.
I have no info on what happened to the car, I suspect it was totaled, but don’t know for sure. My antique car shop was struck by lightning in 1996 and everything was destroyed in the fire. Since I never registered & titled the car in my name, there are no Maryland state MVA records on it. Virginia DMV would have the vehicle information, but without the owner’s info I don’t think there is any possibility of accessing the info on the car, especially after almost 40 years have passed.
Also, thinking back, I believe the vinyl top was light brown, not black.
I will say that we had trouble with the wiring in the engine compartment melting and shorting out, and ended up re-wiring everything under the hood. One time when the alternator fried [for the second time] I coasted the car to a stop [pissed off at the additional electrical problems] and roughly shoved the shifter handle into park, only to have the shifter release button pop out onto the floor, making it impossible to shift out of park, resulting in the car being stuck in heavy traffic on a main road. I ended up crawling under the car to unhook the shift lever, to put it into neutral so we could move it off the road.
Bill,
Thank you for the reply. I am going to see what we have on our records that may shed more light on this car. On a side note the vinyl top was most likely black as black or white were the only available colors. If it did have a light brown top then it most likely was replaced at some point in time. It sounds like the shifter handle was just adding insult to injury.
I have worries about the angle iron ” roll bar “
They still do ! I need a business trip car for 4 days I booked a maxima online but when I got there I saw a line of RT Challengers Mustangs and Camaros. Only 100 bucks more and I”m crusing in a Challenger RT. The roads to Clovis NM are terrible but at 100 mph over them they feel great.
The subject car has far too many issues for me to deal with. My pockets are not that deep and, for this one, my interest is just not there. Basically, I really like these Cougars. Terrific styling, engines, etc. Then, to make it a performance car…?? Yeah!!
Yeah Patrick, Cougars only won their class in Trans Am racing for a few years despite being heavier/longer than mustangs.
Performance Car Yea!
Unbelievable score there KarGuy James at that price…..my FE XR7 with the Cougar style steel wheels….yes they were different from the Stangs….didn’t even get a second look in the 1990’s even as a one owner and the senquitional lights working….go figure…
Cathouse,
I called a former mechanic of mine and asked him if he remembered the Cougar GTE [yes], and he said the top was 100% black.
Thanks Bill. I am still looking into what information we may, or may not, have on your old GTE.
Bill,
I have been in contact with our GTE Registrar. What I can tell you is that there were no R code GTEs built painted red with black vinyl top and saddle interior. We know this because Kevin Marti has provided our registrar with the records of every GTE built so we do know every color combination made. Perhaps the car was repainted a different color, perhaps the interior color was changed. Or possibly it was not an original GTE but had the GTE lower silver paint added. We do have a car in our database that is a close match however it is an XR-7 R code but it did not have the GTE option package.
Shock towers, problematic headlight doors, and rear turn signals,leaky slave cylinder for power steering, with big block can’t access spark plugs, lousy handling. One was enough for me.Never again.