69 Shelby Cougar Convertible?

Is anyone familiar with a 1969 Cougar Convertible Once owned by Caroll Shelby? It was featured in a Muscle Car Review Magazine August 2009 issue. Is this a legitimate Shelby conversation? Can anyone Verify if this is legitimate? Thank you in advance!

I remember a red ‘69 Cougar convertible that had some Shelby parts on it that was claimed to be a legitimate Shelby conversion - not sure if you are referring to the same car.

Carroll Shelby “owned” a lot of automobiles - especially when it became apparent that any Shelby connection increased a car’s value.

By 1969 the Shelby American facility at LAX had shut down, the Shelby operation had been taken over by Ford, split up into 3 companies and Shelby Mustang conversion (along with the Cougar XR7-Gs) had been subcontracted out to A.O. Smith in Ionia Michigan, closer to Dearborn.

So, where was this Cougar “converted”? Who performed the conversion"? Are there any photos or documentation?

As they say in the Shelby camp, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”.

  • Phillip

That is the vehicle I am referring too! It was featured in a magazine in 2009, is there any way to verify that the car was actually carol’s cougar? Someone must know. Maybe? Is there anything in the cougar registry about this vehicle? Thanks in advance.

there was a member here with a red ‘69 Convertible that had a bunch of Shelby parts off a 69 Shelby Mustang. He called that one his Shelby Cougar. It was Red with possibly a White interior. His user name was Oldwood.

I have not seen anything to back up the claims.

This Cougar was discussed and met with much skepticism over on the SAAC forum many years ago.

  • Phillip
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That red convertible with parts off the Mustang, came up for sale in the last couple months.

“In 1968, Mercury released the XR7-G, a limited-run Cougar with parts from Shelby Automotive. Named for Dan Gurney, it featured Shelby-sourced fog lights, hood pins, and consoles, built at A.O. Smith’s Shelby plant. Most had a 302 or 390 V8 (315 hp), but 14 got the 428 Cobra Jet (335 hp).” When Mercury took on Shelby - FAST LANE ONLY

It seems that if there were a legitimate “Shelby Cougar”, especially a “one-off”, it would be easy enough to find on the web. Of course, even though you should not use others’ names, you can call your cat whatever you like.

Yes, Mercury contracted with Shelby Automotive to convert a run of 1968 XR-7 Cougars into XR7-Gs and Shelby Automotive subcontracted out the work to A.O. Smith just as they were doing with that year’s Shelby Mustangs. Shelby Mustangs got unique Shelby VINs and had Shelby badging, neither of which the G received, so, while they definitely orbit in the Shelby universe they are not “Shelby Cougars”, they are XR7-Gs.

  • Phillip
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The Cougar you are referring to is for sale at Cars-on-line now.

I checked out the listing. Sort of absurd. Who lists a car with pics only of an article on the car from 17 years ago? You cannot even read the article. I emailed and asked for updated photos. Let’s see.

The listing has been up for months. It is odd that there are no current photos.

Nobody responds to inquires either. Likely a scam.