Mercury joined the “pony car” battlefield in 1967, the same year as the Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird. That gave FOMOCO two entries to compete against GM’s two entries. The car would quickly become Mercury’s best-selling auto and helped bring more youthful buyers into their showrooms. The first generation of the Cougar was in its third year in 1970 and saw 70,000 copies built, with just 4,000 of those being drop-tops. The seller has owned this ’69 Merc for 40 years, but it’s spent the last 30 in an airplane hangar. Located in Vero Beach, Florida, this Cougar is available here on craigslist for $7,500. Our thanks to Steve P for this tip!
If you were shopping for a pony car in 1969 and wanted a little more panache than the Mustang, you strolled into a Mercury dealer and picked out the Cougar of your choice. The convertible was the least popular offering, at just 2,232 copies of the ”standard” edition and another 1,997 of the XR7. The seller’s car is likely from the former category.
This Cougar still has its original 390 cubic-inch V8 engine with a 4-barrel carburetor. The motor was rebuilt about 30 years ago, but only saw 50 miles of use before going into storage. Other older work included replacing some of the front-end suspension components, refreshing the automatic transmission, and redoing the brakes. New Michelin tires were added, but all this work was done three decades ago and some of it like the tires are going to need to get replaced yet again.
The dark green paint is faded and may or may not respond to polish. We’re told the body has a few dings and there is some Bondo in the left rear quarter panel, but no damage is due to any kind of accident. At 114,000 miles, much of the car will need restoring. The photos provided don’t show any of the entire automobile and the condition of the interior and top are largely unknown.
$7500 may be a good for this, but there is no way to tell from the horrible crappy pictures. SMH!
Could be a sweet deal but have to agree photos are terrible.
Suggestion: Respond to the Craigslist ad and ask the guy to provide to you or even post – better photos.
I have to believe that some people really don’t understand the importance of good pics.
I buy and sell guitars on Craigslist regularly and see this same thing over and over.
Sweet! I buy and sell guitars too, mostly buy and rarely sell, lol. One of my favorites that my wife made me sell in 2020 was this 61 SG Junior in TV yellow. It was really hard to do, but I am getting over it now..
A 61 Junior. Very nice. We all had one that got away, just like cars. Mine was a lefty B.C. Rich Mockingbird bass ordered from Bernie Rico in 1980. Traded it a few years later for ….. something… Sigh.
Very nice btw I play guitars and those look very nice!
@370zpp- Very nice Mockingbird!
I still can’t believe people don’t know how to present a vehicle for sale. It would be nice if it was out of the garage or hanger and better pictures. What I don’t understand is what’s up with those ballast resistors near the brake booster or master cylinder looks like the wiring is a little funky. Being a 390-4 bbl and convertible it’s worth looking into. Good luck to the next owner 🐻🇺🇸
Ad. Deleted by owner.
I would be real worried to see if there is any inner frame rail rot. The door is not closed all the way which was indicative of inner frame rail rot. The body sags when the rot sets in and the door becomes very hard to shut. I have had One that way and another that was not so I am quite familiar with this issue. Its a very expensive fix to correct it. Otherwise its a great car to pick up at that price with the 390 in it. Its a standard Cougar not an XR7. Thanks
If the ad was already deleted by the owner, someone gave them the $7500. If it was in NC, I’d have been over then in an instant with cash in hand.
Very cool car-but too scary to buy without inspecting in person- and I live diagonally across the U.S. (que the Sleepless in Seattle map sequence). I bought a ‘68 Cougar that was originally a 390 car. It was a challenge to repair the effects of the considerable weight and torque on the glorified Falcon unibody. Add the fact that it’s a convertible…Scary. Don’t get me wrong, I love these cars- but carpe diem.
You are exactly correct. I also have a 68 with the 390 in it. It would be tough to find the parts to put a 390 in one without the correct heads and exhaust headers.
What does “refreshing the automatic transmission” mean? Never heard that before. Is it a rebuild, new hoses or just new fluid?
Good question on what refreshing means. It could mean many things. If I had a quarter for every time see the word restored applied to a car that looks like lipstick on a pig, I could pay cash for my dream 67 L79 Corvette. Most folks today do not know what a dictionary is. Never did. Restored means returning an object to original condition. Not slopping on paint and putting on stupid aftermarket wheels and a modern stupid Bluetooth whatever. It drives me more insane than the word original, used to describe a car after new seat covers, new paint and engine rebuild.