Mercury capitalized on the Ford Mustang’s popularity with their upscale version in 1967, the Cougar. This 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 represented the marque’s European-inspired grand touring coupe, featuring leather and vinyl upholstery, full instrumentation in circular gauges, an overhead console, and Jaguar-like toggle switches in the simulated burled walnut dash. This triple-black example left the factory wearing Grecian Gold paint, and comes with some other non-original parts that few outside a museum will complain about. A rebuilt 390 V8 should bring more power than stock. It could be yours with a high bid here on eBay where at least nine bidders have the XR-7’s value over $33,000 as we go to press.
Maybe our Cougar experts can explain what’s going on with the non-XR-7, non-AC dash version of the high center dash panel here. Shiny black everywhere lends a slippery look to the well-prepared Cougar. I’d favor a black-and-white interior with the original gold paint, but the triple-black look boasts numerous fans.
The Cougar’s three-inch longer wheelbase and unique body panels show virtually no family resemblance to its Mustang stablemate until you pop the hood. The formal roofline and finned grille and tail light panels make for a sporty upscale look coming and going. Sequential turn signals operate via an electro-mechanical controller guaranteed to delight your inner Engineer. Newly mandated side marker lights identify this 1968 Cougar vs. the visually similar 1967 models.
After a rebuild “years ago,” according to the listing, the 390 cid (6.4L) V8 should make more power than the original two-barrel factory unit. What looks like a later-model or aftermarket air conditioning compressor and lines, MSD ignition box, and updated induction should have this Cougar working better-than-new. Mustang fans will recognize the inner stampings such as shock towers, core support, etc. as the two cars share most mechanical bits. A warmed-up 390 is nothing to joke about and should produce enough power to get you on the wrong side of the law with minimal effort… if you enjoy that sort of thing. Fit factory or more sedate rolling gear to this XR-7 and you’re less likely than Mustang drivers to get tested by every teenager bristling for a fight after adding a $300 pop-charger to gain 0.7 HP on Mom’s old Civic. Credit the seller for listing compression readings, undercarriage pictures, and other useful information. Would you take this upscale Cougar over a similar Mustang?
33k for a cougar,hard to believe!,
$58.00 for a large pizza, dozen wings and two beers is also hard to believe.
Gorgeous!
Nice looking Cougar! Looks very well kept. I like the black, it really accents the chrome. Those who complain about the price, the man has to start somewhere. You don’t see many of these anymore. Nice car man!
I like a working tach for that price Camino. Even with the
merc-o-matic autoloader. Always nice to know what the engine is doing.
$225,000.00 national debt for every taxpayer in the USA is harder to believe.
Not sure what happened, but high bid is now 24.1K, Reserve Not Met.
Lots of POR-15 on that frame, sure to be hiding something.
Two bidders made bid retractions, that is what happened.
Fo reals, Frank, that’s what’s up! (translation: I wholeheartedly agree, Sir!)
This cat has been for sale on Marketplace for close to a year. These 390 Cougars are sweet. This one though, with the color change and missing / changed pieces, I feel the price is a bit optimistic.
Dang, I was looking at eBay a minute ago and I just realized this Cougar was being bid up to 34k…I thought the price in the write up is was the asking price. On Marketplace it had been listed for 35k for months and months and months with no takers. I thought it was overpriced. Still do, but I guess the seller will get what they were looking for assuming the bids are real…
Looks really good in Black!
It’s not the bang shift cougar that’s for sure 😂😂
There was a time when I might buy a Couger XR7. But I ended up with a 69 Mach l and I never regretted it the 67 through the early 70s were really cool. In Ford’s usual way, they made the Cougars larger and larger. But when the offered it as a station wagon I drew the line. Too bad they were a great idea. I’m sure that the Cougars made Mercury a little bit more profitable.
You can say that again…oh, wait…never mind
There was a time when I might buy a Couger XR7. But I ended up with a 69 Mach l and I never regretted it the 67 through the early 70s were really cool. In Ford’s usual way, they made the Cougars larger and larger. But when the offered it as a station wagon I drew the line. Too bad they were a great idea. I’m sure that the Cougars made Mercury a little bit more profitable.
There was a time when I might buy a Couger XR7. But I ended up with a 69 Mach l and I never regretted it the 67 through the early 70s were really cool. In Ford’s usual way, they made the Cougars larger and larger. But when the offered it as a station wagon I drew the line. Too bad they were a great idea. I’m sure that the Cougars made Mercury a little bit more profitable.
We had a 68 XR7 we had all black dash same console no A/C
Todd,
The center dash section is a correct XR-7 part. It has been modified though as someone painted it back, removed the center A/C vent and replaced it with some sort of aftermarket piece that looks like it is to control the A/C.
The standard Cougar dash parts are totally different from the XR-7 dash pieces. They do not interchange. A standard Cougar does not have the woodgrain or the toggle switches. A standard Cougar has a one piece color keyed vinyl face instead of the woodgrain.
At first glance this appears to be a very nice car and then the little details come to light. The painted over door jamb light switches, the missing seat nut access hole rubber plugs, the missing transmission inspection cover, the aftermarket vinyl top mouldings, the misrouted power steering hoses or perhaps that problem is actually a worn out rubber insulator.
The tach probably does not work because of the MSD system. On a factory set up the ignition circuit runs through the tach. If the tach is not plugged in or does not work the car will not run. Whoever wired the MSD system probably bypassed the tach.
Always loved the exterior style, woodgrain dash and luxury options on the Cougar. The earlier generations were not too big. Ironically, the Cougar was redesigned for 1974 to be larger to compete in the personal luxury class just as the effects of the 1973 OPEC embargo began. But the 1968 Cougar was a larger sporty compact and was touted as more comfortable to cruise in than a similar large displacement Mustang. This car is not perfect as a show car and the price is too high for me but its unique look still resonates at age 57.
Great write up , and a great car
In the full description everything sounds great, then the Vin breakdown says the “8” stands for “1969”.
Maybe I’m being petty? I would drive it
and enjoy it if it were mine. Good luck to the new owner. 👍
For every seat manufactured, there’s an ass to fit it.
I just looked at the E Bay listing and it shows 39 bids with a high bid of $24100.00. That sounds more like what it is really worth with a color change and the other non stock items. I always liked this body style Cougar.