I received a very interesting phone call yesterday. A guy looking for a 1968 Cougar hood latch mechanism. I told him, sure I have one. Then I asked what car it was for, and he said it was for a 1968 Cougar GTE that will be going into the auctions in January. I asked him which GTE it was, thinking it was Dave Blake’s Black Cherry one that had been local here in PHX for many years, before being sold a few years back.(thinking someone restored it, and now was bringing it back to auction). He said no, it was a Red Car. He said the car is local here somewhere, wrapping up some restoration work before going into the auction. He said we could go look at is sometime in the future. I will him up with him tomorrow to deliver the hood latch and get more into on this GTE. So the question I have is anyone auctioning off their 1968 Red GTE this January? I checked the Barrett-Jackson and Russo-Steele sites, but saw no GTE listed in their consigned cars for sale.
Russo owns a GTE and is auctioning it in jan. Not a consigned car.
So far it is not listed on their site. http://www.russoandsteele.com/auction_vehicles.php?auction_pk=141&search_text=&run_day=&caryear=&page=1
It will be neat to see photos of the car being presented. Certainly a reason to stop by Russo this year.
Since it is not listed yet, I can’t be positive, but I believe it to be the one they sold last year that turned out to be a rebodied car that was not listed as such, and their previous purchaser returned it to them as misrepresented (which it was, but it wasn’t R-S’s fault, they didn’t know it either). This one was consigned to R-S by a broker out of Las Vegas or Reno (can’t recall now which), without disclosing the fact that it was rebodied (which the broker knew for certain because I notified them of the fact, and they later changed their own advertising to reflect the facts). So … R-S sued the broker and now has to resell the car. What a tangled tale !
On the subject of the Black Cherry car…I was so frustrated trying to buy that thing, I just gave up. But it is a REALLY well optioned car that would be beautiful restored. Unfortunately, it has been too high priced to obtain by anyone, it appears, and I really wonder if Dave wants to sell it ever…
I know it might be a bit of a struggle to straighten it out as it was once hit by a TRAIN 
haha.
But boy it’d be neat to see a high-dollar buyer just grab it and invest a couple years and $80,000 into a restoration, because it’s a primo candidate for elite auction someday. I find it sad that it will likely just sit and sit there.
The train wreck GTE is in the hands of a competent restorer and he is serious about restoring it correctly. He has bought some very high end parts from WCCC as of late (like original restored side mouldings) which tells me it will in fact roll again in the not so distant future. Stay tuned…
Well that is good to hear! (shows how out of the loop I am)
Geez - guess it got smacked from the side!
Unique front G valence or side mirror are worrisome enough, but you get hit just about anywhere on a GT-E and you’re liable to mess some rare trim or body piece up
In any event, the more high-end Cougars that are visible out there the better!
-Phillip
I have pictures of the train wrecked GTE in my photos stack somewhere, as that GTE was sitting for years and years. I remember it was hit so hard on the driver’s side that the passenger side quarter was also bent out about 1-2 inches…
If the car in this topic turns out to be the rebodied GT-E that R-S owns I’m sure they would disclose it or at least I hope they would. How many red GT-E’s have been rebodied? Wasn’t there one with a white top and another with a black top? How many GT-E’s have been rebodied that are known overall?
Steven
Yes there are two red ones out there with exactly the same problem.
428cougarguy – Please, please look for that picture, as I have never seen it, and would like as much information about where, when, who, why, etc. for the master record; it is possible I can identify “which” GT-E is was. Thanks. Jim
Jim,
If it’s any help, I’m sending you an email…big pics don’t work too well here.
(EDIT) I also sent a Marti Report and another he had for a car that may or may not still be in his hands
B
Brian,
If you could post the Marti Report it would be neat to see.
It might be a good year for you to attend the auction and seek out another project GTE…
Brian, the attachments aren’t there … at least I can’t open them.
Right click on “001.tif” for the Black Cherry XR7 GT-E
then click “View Image”
then open with (Browse) “Microsoft Office”
Black Cherry XR7 had rear shoulder harness, tilt, AM/FM, console, style steel wheels.
as well as…
- Console
- Tinted Glass
- Deluxe belts
- Front Seat Headrests
- Black Vinyl Roof
This car was an “Order Type Retail” which means the dealership in Sunnyvale, CA ordered this car with a pricey long list of option goodies to sit on the showroom and impress their customers. It was also ordered 7/12/1967 but was not built until 2/06/1968. Yet not sold until 1/09/1969.
So either the dealer kept it and drove it for 11 months for their enjoyment or they had a hard time selling it.
I notice from several GT-E Marti Reports that the STOCK order type GT-E’s are usually the really well optioned GT-E’s.
Thanks Tom. Got it 