Is that this exact car? If not it looks like it’s twin!!
Another persons photos of this exact car from the Dearborn show when it was freshly restored.
People have been very generous sharing photos of what this car once was to be able to show potential buyers what it can be again some day.
That is friggin AWESOME! Thank you!! I wonder what it would go for in THAT condition! Still though, not a correct resto by today’s higher standards. But still Awesome. It also highlights how utterly stupid it was of the previous owner to leave it sitting outside like that. 
Interesting that it didn’t have the scoop painted black with the hood stripe. Also interesting is that under those hubcaps is a set of chrome styled steel wheels. The same wheels and tires are still with the car today. I guess she would put the hubcaps over the wheels to show it.
I’m not taking offense. It’s just siliness. I’ve messed with cars my entire life and I do understand the significance of “matching numbers”. However, I feel that when cars get into a very rare category, (few built or a handful left) that difference has a tendency to be less significant and even without matching numbers some cars will still maintain a value fairly close to an original matching car. Especially when in this case, there are 1968.5 Cougar CJ cars that came from the factory with NO VIN stamps on the engine or trans. This car COULD have been one of them.
This Purple Cowl in the photo below was all that was left of a Hemi Cuda convertible. Car was built around that cowl and sold for $1,000,000 at Barrett Jackson. The Fast Eddie Schartman Boss 429 Cougar is being built from a pair of shock towers and a hollow twisted body shell with a rough fiberglass front clip from the original. What will that be worth when done with a NOM everything? A good bit I imagine.
Another example is the two Shelby prototype coupes, the Green Hornet and Little Red. Little red was recently located in a Texas junkyard. The Green Hornet has always been in one piece and relatively complete. While Little Red was stripped of it’s 1967 Shelby front clip, had rusted out floors and was missing its entire drivetrain when found.
The Green Hornet bid up to 1.6 million I think last year. When Little Red is restored, it will have a NOM engine and trans, non-original front clip and possibly even a reproduction front clip. If you put both Little Red and the Green Hornet up for auction one after the other after Little Red is restored, are people going to pay significantly less for it than the Green Hornet? Are they going to say, "it doesn’t have its original engine? I expect not.
While this car here is not on that same level as the Shelby prototypes, I feel that it is rare enough, with the 4spd, staggered shock 4:30 rear, that a missing VIN on the back of the cylinder head that may not have even been there in the first place may not cause that big of a deduction. Especially when this car is restored to the level that this car deserves and there are no others available for purchase.
While this car here is not on that same level as the Shelby prototypes, I feel that it is rare enough, with the 4spd, staggered shock 4:30 rear, that a missing VIN on the back of the cylinder head that may not have even been there in the first place may not cause that big of a deduction. Especially when this car is restored to the level that this car deserves and there are no others available for purchase.
+1
Karguy:
I have been sitting back watching you use your perceived defects in my 68 XR7 GTE 428 4 speed to help up sell you car. Congrats on the great find, but what you are doing on this forum and on EBay is lame and weak. I’m not going to go into how many ways my car differs from the one you bought, because your opinion means nothing to me. Suffice it to say there are enough very intelligent folks on this forum who know and appreciate the difference.
I have sold a world record setting car at BJ. I paid 30K for it and put in another 70K to restore it with KTL. It sold for 140K plus commission, and that was after 5 years of work and hundreds of hours of personal time to get the car as perfect as possible. I know why it takes to get a car to that level.
I hope you make a bunch of money on this car. Good for you. But leave my car out of it. Both cars are 68 Cougar 428 4 speeds and rare as hell. Mine is a 3.91 and yours is a 4.30. But the comparisons stop there.
I did just get a verified report of a Seafoam green 1968 R-code Cougar selling out of Michigan about 15 years ago that was completely disassembled and mostly stored inside a house in Michigan that sold for $35k. Seller’s son said that it was solid for a Michigan car (meaning it must have had rust, lol) and he had no idea about numbers, condition and completeness. It is listed in the registry.
Fortunately for you you have an incredible extremely rare and desirable R-code 4spd Cougar. Unfortunately for you you have the ONLY R-Code 4spd Cougar that has documented to have been sold within the last several years. That means that your car has set a benchmark that also happens to be a World Record. When such a car sells, every other 428 4spd Cougar that exists will be measured against your car and where it stands in comparison to your car value wise, mine being no exception. There is no escaping that. Your car set the high bar, and all other cars from this point forward will be judged on whether it rises above or falls below your car. Unfortunately, that will cause detailed comparisons to be made.
Survivor cars have skyrocketed in value over the last 20 years as people come to appreciate original, untouched, as-built examples for what they represent, a piece of rolling automotive history. In the past it would have been unheard of for a survivor car with its patina to grace the lawns of prestigious events like the Pebble Beach Concourse D’Elegance. But now they take center stage and are a major draw. Survivor cars now achieve values sometimes rising equal to and often greater than restored cars. But they are so very different within the very same market that these two types of cars appeal to. Some of the market segment embraces these cars while others still gravitate towards shiney freshly restored cars. There are eager buyers competing for both types of cars, especially if they are rare.
Everybody has an opinion and the comparison’s in value between your car and mine started happening long before this car was listed on ebay. The general consensus was negative towards mine of course based on it’s condition. But in the end, this car will be restored and when it is, it will be an entirely different beast than yours. A spit shined show pony with all the pieces in place other than a few numerical indentations in two barely visible locations. Once the car was listed, the focus became what will this specific car of mine be worth not in it’s as-is condition, but in its restored condition, assuming that it will receive the proper and correct restoration it deserves. This elusive figure becomes critical to all that consider purchasing the car to determine how much could safely be spent on this car in it’s as-is condition with an expensive restoration in its future. Just like you bought a car for $30k, put $70k and a ton of work into it and sold it at BJ for $140k. These calculations are required by a prudent buyer. The comparison’s now focus on the record setting price of your car in its current condition against my car in its final restored form. That comparison is inescapable.
That is where it becomes important to pinpoint condition issues of a “survivor” relative to its value as well as pointing out the sad history of my car and its missing numerical indentations. In doing so, no slight was meant at your car. In fact I specifically stated “I am not slamming the green GTE as much as being realistic about the condition of this $228,000 car compared to my car once PROPERLY restored.”
There is not soul in the muscle car, Cougar, Ford collector World that would not give his left n-t to own your car, me included.
Auction ends around 8:00pm tonight. After that we will all know what a rough unrestored R-code Cougar 4spd 4:30 Traction lok staggered shock car is worth.
Has to be one of the coolest Cougars built back in the day. It was made to race !!
I would think more info on this car’s history will be found.
I do as well. I am confident from its know history that it was raced from brand new and raced while painted black. Someone will find that history and add to the story and value of this car. I also think that there is more to the story of the disc brake delete/drum brakes on this car. All of the “135” Cobra Jet drag car Mustangs all came with drum brakes and it had to be special ordered. Maybe during it’s restoration someone will sand down through the paint and find some colors or markings.
Can we all just get along? Can we?
[/quote]
Fortunately for you you have an incredible extremely rare and desirable R-code 4spd Cougar. Unfortunately for you you have the ONLY R-Code 4spd Cougar that has documented to have been sold within the last several years. That means that your car has set a benchmark that also happens to be a World Record. When such a car sells, every other 428 4spd Cougar that exists will be measured against your car and where it stands in comparison to your car value wise, mine being no exception. There is no escaping that. Your car set the high bar, and all other cars from this point forward will be judged on whether it rises above or falls below your car. Unfortunately, that will cause detailed comparisons to be made.
Survivor cars have skyrocketed in value over the last 20 years as people come to appreciate original, untouched, as-built examples for what they represent, a piece of rolling automotive history. In the past it would have been unheard of for a survivor car with its patina to grace the lawns of prestigious events like the Pebble Beach Concourse D’Elegance. But now they take center stage and are a major draw. Survivor cars now achieve values sometimes rising equal to and often greater than restored cars. But they are so very different within the very same market that these two types of cars appeal to. Some of the market segment embraces these cars while others still gravitate towards shiney freshly restored cars. There are eager buyers competing for both types of cars, especially if they are rare.
Everybody has an opinion and the comparison’s in value between your car and mine started happening long before this car was listed on ebay. The general consensus was negative towards mine of course based on it’s condition. But in the end, this car will be restored and when it is, it will be an entirely different beast than yours. A spit shined show pony with all the pieces in place other than a few numerical indentations in two barely visible locations. Once the car was listed, the focus became what will this specific car of mine be worth not in it’s as-is condition, but in its restored condition, assuming that it will receive the proper and correct restoration it deserves. This elusive figure becomes critical to all that consider purchasing the car to determine how much could safely be spent on this car in it’s as-is condition with an expensive restoration in its future. Just like you bought a car for $30k, put $70k and a ton of work into it and sold it at BJ for $140k. These calculations are required by a prudent buyer. The comparison’s now focus on the record setting price of your car in its current condition against my car in its final restored form. That comparison is inescapable.
That is where it becomes important to pinpoint condition issues of a “survivor” relative to its value as well as pointing out the sad history of my car and its missing numerical indentations. In doing so, no slight was meant at your car. In fact I specifically stated “I am not slamming the green GTE as much as being realistic about the condition of this $228,000 car compared to my car once PROPERLY restored.”
There is not soul in the muscle car, Cougar, Ford collector World that would not give his left n-t to own your car, me included.
[/quote]
Your picking out patina items on an all original car, it has no basis on his value vs yours and actually probably raises the value of his car. I and many others love the patina survivors over the concours restoration cars. Your car will literally have nothing left that is original once its finished a concours restoration. Whats the difference between a recreation and a car with only a body vin stamp thats original. I think your slightly delusional about what its going to be worth when finished. Your ebay auction tells the tale. If this car was going to be worth 200k when finished then wouldn’t anyone be willing to pay 100k in its current condition? Its a cool car for someone to have that can’t afford an all original car buts its no Green GTE either lol. The market has changed as far as what gets big money and patina survivors are the top dollar cars.
“Your picking out patina items on an all original car, it has no basis on his value”
Interesting. So if his car didn’t have ANY of those flaws it would be worth the same? lol
This is a fraudulent statement intended to mislead bidders:
"On Oct-18-18 at 14:44:38 PDT, seller added the following information:
I have just been told that there is supposed to be a photo of Dyno Don Nicholson drag racing a black stock looking 1968 Cougar R-Code car in a late 1968 or early 1969 issue of Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazine that MAY be this car. I have no access to such a magazine but perhaps some of you do. "
Don’t get all pissy because I called you out on some of your positions. As the posting says it MAY be because I had not seen the magazine. Do you have the VIN of the car in the magazine? Why don’t you share?
Are you aware that once you post something on ebay and then another bid is received that it will not let you edit it? Fraud for saying MAY? Get real. You claim to have the VIN. POST the vin, because until you DO there is no way to know for sure it isn’t. And even then unless you can prove how you know the VIN.
The black car from SSDI is a XR7 C6 3:91 geared car. Not even close at all!