Although at the end of the leisure suit era, you could and should dig yours out of the attic for car shows when you arrive in this beautiful 1979 Mercury Cougar XR-7. This one can be found here on craigslist in Waterville, Maine, just north of Augusta, and the seller is basically giving it away with a $5,000 asking price! Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mitchell G. for the tip!
The fourth-generation Mercury Cougar was made for the 1977 through 1979 model years and is known by many as the luxury Cougar. I don’t know if Mercury Brass ever thought there would be wire wheel covers on a Cougar. The convertible option went away a few years before this generation, but now there was a four-door station wagon – at least for the 1977 model year, but it would be gone for 1978. A wagon was probably not on the original Cougar’s board of directors’ drawing board of ideas either.
The seller says this example has 157,000 miles and it sure doesn’t look like it. They go on to say that it was a daily driver 25 years ago but now just makes car show appearances, and it’s originally from Connecticut. With that many miles and being in the Northeast, I would want to see underside photos, but I don’t see any visible rust and the Jade green paint looks almost perfect from what I can see.
I don’t see any issues inside, at least from the above photo and that’s all we get for interior photos other than one showing the perfect-looking back seat. Even as a “luxury” Cougar and a top-trim XR-7 model, this one has Jade vinyl seats and no power options. Power disc brakes and power steering were standard on the XR-7 and it appears that this car also has air-conditioning.
The engine is Ford’s 302-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been factory-rated at 133 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through a three-speed automatic to the rear wheels and at two tons, this one should give a nice, smooth, quiet ride. The seller doesn’t say how it runs but I’m guessing it runs fine. Have any of you owned a fourth-generation Mercury Cougar?
An example of the type of car commonly seen in its day, but now gone from the market. And not only commonly seen, but highly desired and popular. Think of all the offerings from the manufacturers.
This example is fairly basic and has high mileage but looks good. The jade green/ white combination for Cougars (and Thunderbirds) was my favorite.
Unfortunately, my powder blue leisure suit wouldn’t match this car, even if I was able to get into it these many years later. (No, I don’t still have it.)
Working downtown in the early 90s next door to our city newspaper parking lot, every cub reporter and upcoming newsman seemed to have one of these, just clinging on to life on the road. Like you i thgt this jade green was the handsomest, but turquiose blue, robins egg blue and navy with gold top were there too. I always wondered if these guys had some old T-Bird/Cougar dealer connection in town or if it was a requirement in the paper biz as a newbie. I dnt know what they moved onto after these cars but for every one that vanished, room for 2 Civics opened up
Ha! Please provide photos or we don’t believe you had one, Bob. (just kidding)
Our family had a 1977 Cougar Villager wagon. Bought new that year. White with brown vinyl interior as well as the woodgrain on the sides. As far away from those glorious 60s Cougars as you could get. Ours was fairly well equipped having power locks, windows, AM/FM stereo radio, and cruise control. Another option was the top-of-the-line 400 ci V8. By this generation, the big block 460 was gone as an option. I liked that car because of all those options and we could stretch out on long trips in the back. Sadly, due to those lovely first generation emissions controls, the car was a slug. A whopping 163ish hp from 400 inches of V8. The malaise era. Sigh…..
Scotty, wire wheel covers were available on the original, 1967 Cougar. They were considered a “sporty” option in the 1960s. They were even available on the Olds 442 and Pontiac GTO.
Thanks, CCF! I thought I looked back and figured that there would have been wire wheel covers, but I must have missed them. Thanks for the update.
As CCFisher has posted a wire wheel hubcap was available as an option from the very beginning of Cougar production in 1967. They remained an option for just about every year of Cougar production after that. Well maybe not for the last generation known as the jellybean cars. I am not up on those years.
Gone
I have one of these with a 351 Windsor that I would trade for that ’65 Maurader in a heartbeat!
Whoops, Marauder!
One word of warning. My mother had one of these that was destroyed by fire with only 60k miles on it. The fire started because of what we found out was a known problem with these cars and that is a short rubber fuel line that goes into the front of the carb. They were prone to crack and when they did they actually spit fuel directly on the distributor cap. Moms car ignited immediately when she tried to start it in a mall parking lot.
I had a 77 w/a 351 and loaded. Not a muscle car but great on the freeway and got good gas mileage. Poor man’s Mark V.
My HS friend’s older sister had one, dark blue with the Chamois half-top with matching interior. A pretty snazzy combination. Hers had a 351 but it was a long way from the 351’s glory days, was a cruiser, not a bruiser. She did have the upmarket dash with Tach and a full set of gauges that looked really great as well. Once my buddy got his T-top Trans Am, she wanted the T-tops as well and had them installed at a place in Miami (T-tops South) that did all sorts of aftermarket installs. The Cougar with the tops off on a warm Ft Lauderdale night was one of the greatest cruising cars ever.
These are the least desirable of all the Cougars. Save for that early 80’s thing. But that Jade green paint does evoke memories of those 8 track Black Sabbath tapes, that changed tracks right in the middle of your favorite song!
I have a 79 cougar light jade metallic with white trim and interior, with honeycomb trims. It has 45000 original miles with the 351 modified. It rides like it’s floating on air. It was a head Turner when I bought it new and still is.
Gone In 60 Seconds!…..well not really. But, when I went to see the listing (I was really willing to buy, and go after it) it was gone!!!. 25 years ago, I had its’ twin. But, oh, well……
I had a 1978 version with plush upholstery & 351M…Beautiful car !! Ride was smooth as glass!!
Oh man, this was my first car! A ’79 XR7, white with a burgundy vinyl interior and a 351. I owned it from 37,000 miles to 93,000 miles and sold it for $3200.
It was not a good car – I still have anxiety dreams about it passing smog, the brake master cylinder failing in traffic, the way it would sometimes stall on freezing mornings coming down “the hill” (a 1700′ drop) forcing me to brake and steer with no power assist, overheating on the way to school, that time I was driving my dad somewhere and he said “Turn on the AC, it will be fine” and then it was really not fine. :P But it was my first and I would have bought this one to experience the whole thing again. :)
I’m kind of glad it has been sold otherwise I’d be scrambling right now. :)
Great looking cougar from when life wasn’t quite in focus just yet.
I was the Original Owner of this car. Which I bought this brand new. She served me well. I sold her to someone who was going to resell her after he put work in her .. I hope the next person to own her will have as much fun as I did with her.