There is a 1968 Mercury Cougar Convertible for sale on Hemmings. Looks pretty nice.
Interesting car. Some of it I like and some of it I hate.
Other than possibly the roll bar and the roof support panel, it doesn’t look like there was any structural stiffening done to this car. It must have some significant cowl shake.
The good news is that most of the hard stuff is done, as long as it was done well. I’d gut the interior and start over but that’s mostly because I hate those seats and how high the folded top is sitting in those pictures. I’d also need to change the wheels to a more positive offset, if possible, and get rid of the graphics. So, for me, the price would have to drop by around $10K minimum to make it worth considering.
Definitely needs a full X frame and subframe connector system at a minimum. To bad the car was far down and on a rotisserie and they did not add the convertible subframe bracing. And at this point it would be a huge effort to add that.
I am a guy all about the stance of cars. They do not need to be “in the weeds”, but that car looks like a four wheel drive! Yuk! The graphics do not blow my skirt up either. What is with the carpet color!
By again, to each his own. I predict it will sell and the new owner will love what he bought! As long as the keep their arms off the door jam area on the top of the door when they hit a bump!
Rob
That is not a roll bar, that is a surfboard rack. It is exhaust pipe with padding over it. If you put this on a hoist and watched the gaps as you elevated the car you would see a lot of flex. The hardest part of a conversion is custom building the upper part of the quarter panels which was not addressed here, they just ran their Sawzall along the vinyl top trim.
Since I couldn’t see what they might have done to anchor the bar or give it some strength, I elected not to knock it but I tend to agree with your description of it.
Hey Don I’m waiting to see your other convertible.
What’s wrong with that? As long as it’s finished nicely (hard to tell from these photos) doing so retains the Cougar’s unique profile and you don’t end up with an extra wide panel ahead of the trunk lid, which to my eye screws with the long hood/short deck proportions of the car. This approach does require customizing the drip rail and you can’t use Mustang trim.
I am having a lot of fun with this red one and it is a great practice template for the black one. There is not a lot of guidance out there for building a 68 Cougar convertible so working through the last guys mistakes is great form of education. Just got the 3.50L Tru-Trac from the builder so soon the car will once again be a roller after many years.