'67 Sunroof cars? Anyone got the facts?

I got this inquiry from the website and I for one am intrigued. The Power Sunroof was an option that appeared on the Cougar before any other US vehicle. We know that some '67 Cougars, were built with the roof (well, at least one) because there are early pictures showing the '67 steering wheel through the open roof. Anyway, I am posting this here to see what you guys might know about this very very rare car.


Thank you for making available the documents. They are great. I am a member of the Connecticut ,now New England cougar club. My question is what information do have on 1967 cougars with a sunroof, it is my understanding that there is on in Texas . The car spent its whole life in Connecticut. I have a fair amount of documentation and
I have owned the car for more than 20 years. It is under a slow and steady restoration. If you have any leads I would appreciate it . Thank you for your time. Keep up the excellent work.

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My understanding is that there were between 100 & 200 67 Cougars equipped with a sunroof. I’ve only personally seen one that was in the hotel parking lot during the 2000 or 2002 West Coast Nationals. What I believe separates a 67 from future years is that it was not a factory option in 67 and therefore would not show up on a Marti Report. It essentially would be like a dealer added option and unless one had the original sales documents from the selling dealer that indicate the sunroof, it would be difficult to prove the car came that way. As you know, Bill, anyone could have brought their 67 Cougar to ASC and had a sunroof installed that would appear exactly as the 68 & up factory roofs.

So, I guess I didn’t respond with any facts as you requested-just my understanding. Maybe Royce, Pinkerton or Benoit will chime in with some actual facts.

If it was a 1967 yellow GT, that Jeff saw, I know the owner at time. The car has since been sold, and last I heard was in NorCal or the bay area. I can’t remember if the car had a Marti Report or not, or if it was listed.

What Jeff posted is what I have read/heard also.

Mercury let ASC installed sunroofs in some Cougars in '67 as sort of a trail run, but they were not an official factory option yet.

Although, you would think that if there were as many as 200 67’s sunroof equipped Cougars produced that more would be around now.

That is the one I saw. It was a driver quality car and we were all wondering if the sunroof was real. I never met the owner nor did I see any paperwork on the car.

I don’t think it’s that unusual. If you apply the standard 10-20% survival rate estimate for classic cars, there would only be 10-40 of them left.

^^^Agreed.

The sunroof factor could even swing that survival rate either way.

Could be that the survival rate of sunroof equipped '67 Cougars was lower than average due to the additional rust vulnerability the presence of the sunroof presents, or maybe the survival rate might be a little higher because these Cougars would be more coveted than the run-of-the-mill '67s.

Thank you all for the information,I will keep looking for information. Please forward any links or members who can help. :beerchug: :beerchug:

There were 1967 Cougars and Ford Thunderbirds converted by American Sunroof Corporation. I’ve seen about 4 or 5 1967 Cougar sunroof cars and one 1967 Thunderbird personally. All have been 390-4V cars. Speaking with Werner Meiss who used to work at ASC when these cars were modified he thought there were maybe 25 - 50 Cougars in 67. He remembered they were made to look foolish when the first Cougar would not start. A Mercury technician came to their shop and showed them that the tilt away wheel needed to be locked down to allow the car to start.

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Royce were the 1967 Cougars special factory test cars for the 1968 sunroof option? Or we’re they customer ordered Cougars sent by the dealerships to ASC?
Steven

I have also seen a '67 Lincoln Continental two-door coupe with an ASC sunroof. As a vaguely recall, it had some sort of idenfication plate/sticker on the door near the regular VIN/door tag that stated it was installed by ASC. Obviously someone took their car to ASC (or an ASC jobber) to have the power sunroof installed well before it was available as a factory option.

The sunroof was an option on 1960 Thunderbirds

Did the T’birds get a power sunroof in '60? Or was it manual?

Mercury marketed the 1968 Cougar as the first American car to get a factory power sunroof.

Hand crank and not ASC / Golde.

The Yellow California car referred to in this post surfaced here in Arizona last year still with it’s original black California plates. It is a true 1967, 390 XR7 Cougar. I was able to inspect the car in detail. The sunroof is not original to the car. It is actually from a GM car (Buick?). Note the large size of the sliding panel in the photos. The current owner (an older lady retired Judge) was having a local shop in Fountain Hills do some repair work on the car. The sunroof did not work, and the shop was planning to remove it, and put a non-sunroof roof back on the car. So this car does not appear to be one of the prototype 1967 ASC cars.




That vin number is getting up there. Is there somewhere that shows vin numbers by month, or is it know roughly how many were produced per month?
Cars had a few mods done to it looks like. Is that Golden Rod yellow?

I’ve seen this car many times in person at So Cal shows. It looks like a typical ASC sunroof to me. Do you have any better photos of the sunroof?

Hi I have a 1967 with a sunroof, I spoke with the original owner when he was still alive and he gave me the details. The car is in restoration.
Brian


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Very cool! What a great starting point

The 1960 Thunderbird sunroof is manual. Once unlocked, the sunroof panel drops down and is pushed open manually. There were 2536 models produced.