Hello everyone,
I was unsure as to where to post this question or if it was even a good idea,but you folks have always helped me out in the past so I thought I’d ask. I have a 69 XR7 428 Super Cobra Jet Drag Pack car that I am looking to sell. I bought it in Oct. of 2015 from a dealership in Alberta Canada eh. It once belonged to Scott at WCCC and is the real deal R code numbers matching 4 speed beast. I’m told there was once a binder with all of the documentation about the car, but unfortunately it was not in the car when I got. Yeah it sucks I know. I was able to get a bunch of info by talking to Scott at WCCC because apparently he remembers everything. I will include all the info in the ad.
So I just got it appraised this week and I was given a fair market value of 74K. That seems a little high to ask for the car, isn’t it? I was wondering what anyone on here would price it at or pay(top dollar) for the car? I am going to advertise it for sale soon so I need to come up with a good starting price, that if negotiated down a bit would be fair and still make me happy. So please let me know what you think and I really appreciate the help. I hope I have gone about this correctly and not made myself look too foolish.
Thanks again,
J.B.
here are a few videos of the car:
In todays market on Cougars. I would ask $70,000 and be happy at $65,000. You can always bring it to the 50th anniversary in Dearborn and advertise it for sale.
It is a 3 condition wise.
Here’s the rough draft of the for sale ad:
Cougar Ad.
I am selling my 1969 Mercury Cougar XR7 428 Super Cobra Jet R code.
This is a numbers matching XR7 with the Drag Pack car equipped with:
428 SCJ motor with a Holley 4 barrel carb.
4 speed manual transmission with a factory Hurst shifter.
Power steering and power brakes.
Original exhaust from Ford in 69.
Currently the car has 103,200. Miles on it and the odometer reads 3,2XX. Miles .
Car runs well and all of the important stuff works.
History:
The car was originally special ordered at Lago Lincoln Mercury in Los Gatos California by a gentleman that was coming home from the Vietnam War. The car lived out it’s youth in the San Hose California area. He drove it until a carb fire in 1982 and then it sat parked until Scott from West Coast Classic Cougars purchased it in 1994. His restoration went from 1996-1998 and he had the car painted in 2000. He sold the car in 2013 to a gentleman in Alberta Canada, then I bought it in October of 2015.
The car was supposed to have a binder with it that had all the documentation and history of the car in it, however when I received the car there was no binder(long story). I did however manage to get a lot of info about the car from Scott at WCCC. He was kind enough to fill in many of the blanks for me and here they are:
Non-factory items added prior to 2013:
Power steering, was originally manual.
Rear brakes have been upgraded to 2-1/4" wide. (drums and backing plates)
Restoration plans were for the addition of air conditioning. Got as far as the under dash parts.
1970 rear defog.
1970 bolt in tinted glass.
1970 Hurst shifter with custom adapter plate mounted to 1969 top loader tail shaft.
Rear axle ratio has 3.25:1 traction lock installed. (factory was 4.30:1). Has original factory non-N, nodular case, with 31 splined axles
All leaf and coil springs are original to the car as of 2013.
Fuel tank changed to 22 gallon tank, from a 1970.
Passenger side door mirror was added.
Misc:
He never installed the rocker mouldings.
Rear interior sail panels with courtesy lights were not installed. The trim guy filled that section with head liner material.
Shoulder belts not reinstalled.
He had a tilt column installed.
The antenna is aftermarket, It is fully collapsible for use with a car cover.
It came with bumper guards, He didn’t like them and left them off.
Vinyl top mouldings have been powder coated gloss black.
Engine was rebuilt in1991 with the following:
OEM block bored to 0.040".
Cylinder heads had hardened valve seats installed.
SCJ Crank is 0.010" - 0.010".
Original SCJ piston rods with ARP bolts.
Comp Cam 268 cam installed.
Vintage Ford FE adjustable rockers with cupped push rods.
Engine compression ratio 9:1.
The exhaust pipes and mufflers was original from 1969.
Distributor is original to the car and was rebuilt with the addition of Pertronix.
The engine was rebuilt for reliability using a 69 Holley Carb.
Since I have owned the car I have:
2016
Replace the rear bowl on the carb to a period correct one that does not leak.
Had the carb professionally rebuilt.
Had front wheel bearings & seals replaced.
Had new spark plugs put in.
Had the oil & filter changed.
2017
I had an adjustable clutch pedal stop installed to even out the pedals.
I had the wheels balanced and rotated.
Front end alignment done.
I replaced the burned out bulbs in the instrument cluster.
I replaced the clock lens with a new one)old one comes with the car).
I spent hours under the dash getting the heat/AC vacuum motors to work properly.
The car is set up for AC except for everything under the hood, but the heat, defrost and cool air settings work fine.
This is an awesome car and a blast to drive. If you know Cougars, you should know about this car.
Dave,
as Scott mentioned and I stated in the ad, part of his restoration was to add AC to the car so the correct plenum was put in, but the vacuum set up was a mess. I ended up replacing a vacuum motor corrected the routing of and replacing many of the vacuum lines for they had become old, hard and brittle. Then I installed the vacuum motor under the hood that goes in-line with the heater hose and gets shot off or closed when the AC or fresh air is selected. Now everything works as it should if anyone wanted to complete the AC installation. I also have an original lower dash from a non-AC car that could go with this one.
Good catch Dave,
Thanks.
Scott,
awesome find! I just pulled the 2 pieces off of the thread to go with the car. Great story on finding the original owner. I just ordered a Marti Report for the car yesterday, but a hard copy wouldn’t hurt right?
Thank you thank you thank you!
J.B.
I wonder if that number (53) is for both Q-code and R-code XR-7 HT SCJ’s. Info I have indicates that 48 were Ram-Air SCJ 1969 Cougar XR-7 2-door hardtops - 33 with 4-speed / 15 with Automatic.
I don’t have much info on the Q-codes or Standards though, beyond the Eliminator stats.
*By the way, you REALLY need to get on the previous owner about that folder of documents! That is incredible history and it is a shame that it was seperated from the car!
Got to love a low number car either way.
Mike, I contacted the previous owner after I bought the car and his reply via email was, “it went with the car”. That was back in late 2015. I recently befriended him again and he told me he would look for it and that his wife was the best person to contact about finding it. I sent her a nice gift in the mail with a lovely note asking her if she could try and locate the “file” that had all the info in it. At that point I didn’t realize the info was in a binder. I may give it one more try and see if she can look for a binder instead of a file.
I also was recently in touch with the the guy that did the appraisal on the car for the previous owner and he knows everyone who’s hands it went through to get to me here in Boston. He said he would give those folks a call to see if by chance they might have it. I’s a long shot, but worth the effort.
Great car. Scott let me drive it, so I know the power it has! If it was me, I would slowly start to put the car back to factory stock, as that is where the most $$ is. Add the rocker moldings, correct antenna, Non-AC lower dash, etc. Some items from 1970 are better however, and I would keep those, like the 4 speed shifter and bolt in window glass. Good luck with the sale, it should sell quickly as it is a high quality car!
428Cougarguy,
thanks so much for your input. I was tempted to put the car back to factory stock. I have the correct lower dash and some old rocker moldings, but I’d prefer to sell the car as it is and let the next owner make those changes if so desired. The car needs a good home, perhaps where it is warm year round and can be driven a lot more than I have. I just posted the for sale ad on here today if you have not seen it yet.
Thanks again for your verification of an awesome Cougar,
Joe B.
