The article just came out in the fall 2012 ATSOTC edition. One of the main prizes of the group purchase is the 69 XR7 390 original owner Cougar. Chris bought it brand new at the age of 19 and owned it until three years ago when he passed away of an unsuspected heart attack. He drove the Cougar some for the first seven years putting 52,000 miles on it and has been stored for the last 36 years since 6/14/1976. The Cougar wasn’t forgotten about and he still kept it clean and well preserved. A real time capsule of a Cougar and the plan is to clean up the original paint and interior and get it running again.
The attached pictures are how it currently looks since I brought it home. I started to clean it up some and installed a battery to see what I got. All the lights work, but the turning signals needs work (imagine that!) and the engine will turn over by hand. The starter is setup so that will have to be addressed first. It’s been on the back burner as I’m currently fixing a Jeep for my daughter to drive. Hopefully I’ll get back to working on it in November.
Nice Brian,
More pictures of the 69 XR7.
Interior pictures before cleaning it.
Engine pictures before cleaning it up.
So is that a late '69 car with the blacked-out cowl above the pinch weld? I forget where the changeover was.
Funny: I notice the little chrome mudflaps in one of the pics…those are vintage pieces…LOL
Looks like it has ‘flow thru ventilation’.
That is a really great find. Congratulations!
Was curious about the center dash vent and no A/C setup.
Is that a factory 8-track player I see? Very nice ride…leather and a console with only 52k… that 390 is just “broke-in”!
Yes, it has the “comfort stream ventilation” power vents. I now have two Cougar with this option as my Eliminator has it as well. I haven’t checked the cowl vent paint yet. The Cougar was built May 2 1969 and Chris titled it on May 19. Yes, it has am 8 track player and no antenna was installed? Is that normal for the am 8 track to not have an antenna?
The Cougar still has the original radiator hoses.
Another cool story Judy told me about Ryan and the Cougar. being 19 this was his get the girl ride. So, one of the first things he did was install the “Case Western Reserve University” sticker in the back window. The sterotype was if you went there you had money and were smart. He figure that would help pickup girls as they thought he was attending the school.
What a great find, I’d love to spend an hour or two just looking at it…all those great assembly details. I had a '69 coupe that had many of those original details (& I soaked them in)…but (in the 1980’s) it only qualified as a beat to $hit parts car (Mark P has the hood to that car now). It’s the kind of thing you want to be careful cleaning up, or not clean it up much at all.
Enjoy
Very Cool Find !
Correct I agree… That’s half the reason I haven’t dived right into it cleaning it up and work on getting it running. I’ve kind of stepped back going to take it a little at a time thinking it over first to make sure to keep the survivor part while making it presentable. It’s amazing to think that it has survived all these years basically untouched and in such good condition. I don’t want to disturb that.
You are a wise man. Patina is “in”, and that car’s got loads of it, in just the right places and in just the right amounts. More knowledge there than in several books…
The AACA developed a class for judging to encourage folks to leave cars in the original (if a bit worn) state, vs. performing restorations. It’s called HPOF (Historic Preservation of Original Features), and it is one of the most popular classes. It’s a way for owners of preserved vehicles to win top awards while preserving the original state of the vehicle as much as possible. I (and many others) spend most of our time at these shows perusing that class. It’s amazing to see.
I wonder if the CCOA has had any thoughts/discussion along these lines? Like attracting younger folks to the hobby, it’s crucial to pay attention to and preserve these types of vehicles.
I encourage you (& everyone) to check it out Brian: AACA – Antique Automobile Club of America – AACA – Antique Automobile Club of America
The placement of the XR7 emblem (original I assume) on the trunk is very interesting, different (further left) than most any I’ve seen (or have seen pictures of).
Looks great BTW and oh so original! I’ll bet the rimblow and rimblow pad are “to die for”. Congrats Brian.
I agree it is far to the left, and if I was restoring an XR7 I wouldn’t put it that far over. Took a good look at it last night and the trunk lid paint is original and the emblem has the same patina as the rest of the emblems. Can’t see where it has ever been touched or moved since it left the factory. The factory paint quality is poor compared to todays standards.
IT’S ALIVE!!! After letting it sit for a couple of months while I fixed a Jeep up for my daughter. I finally got back to working on the Cougar again. The started was stuck and wouldn’t spin. Got the starter off and man how I hate that top starter bolt on a FE motor. Sure enough it’s the original starter. I felt like I was opening King Tuts tomb peeling the paper gasket back on the windows to remove the brushes. Disassembled the starter and cleaned up all the copper contacts and bench tested it. Success… It seams to have enough zip to spin the 390 to life. Got the starter re installed (still hating that top bolt) and moved on to cleaning all the connections at the starter solenoid. I unhooked the fuel line to the carb and gave it a try. Yes away it went. Rolled it a few time for about ten seconds at a time until I seen the oil pressure gauge getting up to 40 psi which is an awesome site to see.
Moved on to the gas tank. Finally got the locking cap preyed off as the key I had to it wasn’t working. Looked pretty clean inside so I dumped a couple of gallons in it. Hooked a hose up to the line at the carb to see what was going to come out. Rolled the engine over a few times and got the gas pumping. A few rust flacks and a little bit of some varnished gas and then the fresh gas started flowing. Flushed about three gallon through it until i was convinced I had a good clean flow. Hooked the line back up to the carb and dumped a little gas in the carb. She fired right up on all eight with no disturbing sounds! Not getting enough gas flow in the carb to keep it running, so I ran it a couple more times by dumping a little gas in the carb. Getting gas out the jets, but not enough. Looks like the next step is cleaning the carb. First breathe of fresh air the 390 has had in it’s cylinders since June 1976!
Click the first image for the video 
Got the Marti report to verify what I know about the Cougar. Then I just goggle mapped the selling dealership. Sold at Wick Lincoln Mercury 15001 Euclid Ave East Cleveland Ohio. Looks like it was last occupied by Mike’s auto service. Not to prosperous now, but I bet it was a nice dealership at the time the Cougar was ordered. I have four key chains from the Wick dealership that came with the Cougar. One has the original paper stock tag with S610 as the stock number. I also got key chains with the same address calling it LaRiche Lincoln Mercury. I thought that was the name when I wrote the article for ATSOTC.
