The original owner of this once mighty Cougar has decided to part with it, so has listed it for sale here on eBay. It is located in Harwinton, Connecticut, and is being offered with a clear title. The seller has set the opening bid at $5,999, but at the time of writing, no bids had been made.
When the Cougar was new, it must have been an imposing car. In 1977 it was placed into storage in a dry barn and has remained there until recently. The first thing that I noticed was the sheer quantity of rust that is visible on a car that has been stored in a dry barn. I then noticed that the spare tire is a snow tire, and it started to make some sense. During its nine years of active duty, this Cougar has obviously seen some less than ideal driving conditions. The quarter panels and rear wheel wells on both sides are quite rusty, and the rust in the wells looks to have extended into the trunk floor to some extent. The bottoms of both doors are rusty, as is the bottom of the fender on the driver’s side. Trim covers the rockers, but I would be willing to bet that they are pretty bad as well. There is also rust in the floors to add to the equation. We don’t get any shots of the underside of the car, but what we can actually see probably doesn’t bode well for that area either.
The interior hasn’t escaped the ravages of corrosion, as there is surface corrosion visible on the lower metal surfaces of the dash. The dash trim, pad and door trims look to be quite good. The leather upholstery on the seats is cracked and split, and would require replacement.
The engine bay has also not been spared, with rust visible on the inner panels. The engine is the 390ci GT engine, which is backed by a 4-speed manual transmission and power disc brakes. The seller states that the car ran well when it was parked, but 1977 was an awfully long time ago. The sheer quantity of corrosion that is visible on various engine components doesn’t look good, and the seller doesn’t indicate whether the engine actually turns freely.
I’m pretty sure that when it was new, this Cougar was a nice and quite desirable car. A good Cougar XR-7 will command a really healthy sale price, but I look at this one and I battle to see it. To me, this car has so much rust and also has some pretty substantial question marks over the condition of the drive-train. To my mind, I think that the future for this particular Cougar probably involves becoming a donor car. What do you think?
They need to look up, because the roof blew off that barn many years ago. To bad, it’s a great car. (was).
Guess my question would be in addition to the roof issue- did anyone ever look in the barn all these years and see the ole Cougar was rusting away?
Oh, the sight of that Cat makes me nauseated. It’s not the storage on wooden blocks that hurt it, but rather all the years before that.
To bad vinyl top car. To much effort for this old guy.
Rust is all that’s holding this car together, it hurts to look at this once fine car. I know someone loved this car and truly meant to fix it one day, but you have to know when to say when. Now it’s in such a condition that nothing is going to be salvageable. Just one of the many, very sad.
Mustangs and Cougars of this era had galvanized outer rocker panels that rarely rust. However, it appears as though they might be the only rust-free panels on this example. The fit of the driver’s door – sticking out at the bottom rear – suggests chassis rust in the cowl area or poorly repaired accident damage. My bet is that this one is very, very rusty underneath.
Description seems like a tall tale. I lived most of my adult years in the NorthEast. I used vehicles in the winter for far more years, washed and maintained them properly. They never looked as bad as this wreck. Give me a “P” for parts car!
Some people take a little longer to make up their minds than others. This Cougar has paid for it too. Would have been a fun to drive sporty looking car, if not a bit off balance with that heavy 390, with a bit more class than the mustang. Maybe it will get saved.
I’ve got a 68 same color combo with the 390 as well. I would hardly call it “off balance”. I put rear and front sway bars on it. Drives like a dream.
It’s a shame with all the rust inside, under the hood, in the trunk and the lower section of metal .
The 390 4 speed is nice but the body needs to be stripped and blasted and cut out the bad and pain stakingly welded😮
I brought my mustang back from the grave but not wanting to take on another like this ….
I would bid 1200 and would take a couple years to rebuild as a weekend project . Just
me and my mig welder and wallet 😃
I’m afraid that cats 9 lives are all used up. What a shame.
The 390 does NOT offset the rust.
Shame, because I would love to own something like this. They don’t call rust a cancer just to be clever. They do because its accurate.
The 390 GT could be saved with a overhaul and the 4-speed is a rare piece, given it’s vintage. Is there a 9″ holding the back wheels together? Repurpose, reuse or recycle the rest.
As long as no changed it this car will have a 9″ rear. All 1967-1968 Cougars with a big block received a 9″ rear. Small block cars will have an 8″ rear.
it was nice when new not many ordered this way, not any more
Too much. I bid on a really nice rust free one recently that went for $12,500 ready to go nothing needed.
My dream car right there. Unfortunately, not my dream condition.
Yupp. PARTS Cat
Pull the drive line and part it out. That 390/4spd would be a great addition to multiple Ford body styles.
Wow, what a shame.
Rare…..and there’s your donor car…..
I am not far away from this car. I would offer to help someone with a pre-purchase inspection, but I can’t see the point. It may have been placed in storage in ’68, but it was far from dry. And with nine years of CT road salt exposure before that, it was probably rusty before they took it off the road. Too bad – this car is well equipped and would have been a lot of fun.
– John
What a shame this car has all the very good things going for it, then there is the rust. I restore trucks, no not pickups I restore trucks and learned a long time ago that rust to THIS level will hopefully never find it’s way into my shop. I made the decision years ago that I would pay a few thousand more for a vehicle if rust was out or at least far less, it’s worth it to me!!
110K miles on it in 9 years. had to have been driven in all seasons and not particularly well maintained.
I had this exact model car as a 20 yo in 1976 and I’d love to get another but this one is pretty challenging. Still no bids either. Maybe for 2 grand he’d get a bite.
I went to an estate sale in Overland Park Kansas that had a 1 owner matching numbers motor locked Chevelle SS 283, auto Convertable and a Triumph TR3 in the garage of a split level house. The entire basement contents, all the tools in the garage, and the cars looked like this Cougar. Many people don’t realize the moisture trapped in a structure if there is poor ventilation. They had $6k on the TR3 and $5K on the SS. I may go back on 1/2 price Saturday and see if they are still there. I’m a little afraid of doing that though
I cannot believe the rusted out and filthy condition of this car especially if he was the owner of it from new. It only spent 9 years on the road and then stored in dry barn ??? I believe something happened to this cat during those 9 years on the road that it was taken off the streets and stored. To be in the condition that this is it may have been in a flood. I had a beautiful black on black Cougar XR7 390 with the stock ford mag type wheels but mine was an automatic with wide oval tires in the early 1970,s.
I’d buy the 442 over this!!
Wow. Run.
And I thought I had owned the rattiest blue 68 XR7 on the East Coast.