Does anyone know the history of this car? Seller claims its a 68 ordered with a 67 interior. I have seen pictures of the car before so it is pretty well known. Just curious.
https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/185117526952298/?media_id=0&ref=share_attachment
All I can add is the owner has had it on display inside the main building at Carlisle a couple of times.
'68 XR-7 F code by VIN. Probably a theft recovery or fire that got turned into a race car. They transplanted a '67 standard interior.
They did a very good job. I wonder if the 68 vin tag is under that 67 dash pad. Paint looks original on the lower dash too.
Frank Wurtz was the original owner of the car. He lived in Paulsboro, New Jersey. He passed away within the past couple years. I met him at the 2003 Cougar Nationals. He did not bring his car. If you can find some old photos from Atco Dragway in the late 60’s you may find some pictures of the car. I thought Dave Garron bought the car.
Steve
Steve, Frank passed away just last fall just weeks after his wife of many decades. Dave Garron did not purchase the car and true to the Facebook ad the car is being sold by a friend of Franks son. I was told today by a 55 year friend of Franks that the car was never in the rain.
You might want to ask if the VIN on the title matches the one on the car’s inner fenders.
I am leaning toward this being a '67 standard. My guess is that to race the 428CJ in some class, the engine needed to have been available in that year, in that car. So a '67 wouldn’t do. It would be a lot easier to add the '68 side markers and rear Cougar script emblems than to do the entire interior. In particular that appears to be a '67 column. Regardless, it is an interesting car with an interesting racing history. I’d like to see more pictures that might reveal more of what is specific to each year.
I agree with Bill. Rear view mirror appears to be a 67. It’s unlikely anyone would have gone to the trouble of changing that.
I wonder how many torque boxes it has.
It having one torque box or two is easy to identify. I was told the drivers side door cant be opened enough to see the door tag but they have received an offer of 40K from a well known Dallas Texas shop (GM), Hopefully I will be able to take a look at it on Saturday its parked about 10 miles from me.
Im being told the car is a 67 so the title situation is a big red flag, I dont think its going anywhere anytime soon.
I could get a title for it , that’s not a hard thing to do. The owner just needs to find out how the process works in their State. Some States are easier then others .
I highly suspect this, as I know someone that did exactly as you described. He had a 67 and wanted to run a 428CJ in NHRA Stock class. They made him put side markers on his car in order to make it “look like a '68”. They never made him change out the interior. Interesting thing on that swap - the 390 (S code) combo was actually better relative to it’s class than the 428CJ. Ordering a '67 interior in a '68 sounds a little sketchy and would be a pain for the factory to do a “one off”. Two of the differences that come to mind are the arm rest locations and as mentioned, the steering column. I’m not sure they could have legally sold it with a '67 interior because of the safety features added for '68. It’s a really cool car, but I’m thinking some of their info is not correct.
This is exactly what happened to this car it maybe being sold through Carlisle events at one of its auctions in the fall they have very high expectations, the car is a 67.
What complicates the matter is someone has hand stamped the 68 Vin into the aprons.
