Folks,
Longtime member on another board, former owner of a '69 R Code and now the surprisingly happy owner of a '71 M code XR-7 convertible 4 speed ( AC, PS, PDB, AM/FM, power windows, tilt, intermittent wipers) Was never a huge fan of the 71-73, but absolutely love them now. Well built cars, comfortable, great chassis, cheaper to own and restore.
Tom
Gorgeous Cougars!
Nice Cougar.
Where did you find it.
Looks like the one from MN.
The '71 came out of San Diego, and is a DSO 84 car. Given the number of options on the car, I’d guess it was an executive vehicle. Doubt Mercury would chose such a conservative color for a show vehicle.
The R code I bought in 1986. It was delivered new to Colonial Lincoln Mercury in Virginia Beach to my buddy’s Dad, a Navy Captain. It lived in Charleston SC until 1980 when it moved to Boston and was stored. I sold it in 2005
Beautiful cars. I happen to like the fat cats, and would like add one or possibly a '71 Cyclone to my collection. Congrats on finding such a nice example.
Got my Marti report the other day. As suspected my '71 seems to be an Executive car. It is a DSO 84 and was delivered to the Ford Marketing Corporation Lincoln Mercury Regional District Sales office in Oakland CA .
One of 50 with code C dark green paint and medium green leather.
Does anyone have production data for '71 Cougar convertibles - both standard and XR-7?
base convertible for 71, 1722 were built and 1717 XR-7 convertibles were built according to the book Cougar, by the numbers. It also states only 47 XR-7 Convertibles got the 4 speed option.
My '71 was delivered with a C-6, I did the 4 speed conversion at the same time as the motor and suspension build. So, not a factory 4 gear sadly.
But don’t regret the conversion 1 bit, dials up the fun-to-drive factor tenfold. 
Thanks Neal for the production stats!
Howdy Tom, glad to hear you’re still messin’ around with Cougars, that looks like a real nice one.
Regards,
Nice car!
You got that last bit right about the fun factor. Had my '70 conv out today banging the T5 around thinking once again how immeasurably more fun the car is with a stick than the old FMX.
