Hi Peeps, it’s been ages since I posted on this forum. I bought a major project 1968 Hertz XR7G back in 2008 and have finally begun to work on it. I have completed restorations on 4 other cars since then, but waited on the Cougar until I could get the sheet metal for it. That and life is busy…
The car in question was built on Feb 29, 1968 (hence the term “Leap Day”), it was delivered to Merlin Motor Company of Camden, NJ where Hertz picked it up for rental use somewhere in Camden, NJ. It eventually went back to the dealer and was resold as a used car. At some point in the mid-70’s it was abandoned in Camden, NJ where it was impounded. It sat in an impound yard then a junkyard until 1982. I bought it from the person who pulled it out a junkyard in 2008. except for the last 3 years the car has been kept indoors since 1982 (as far as I know). The car is now in Vermont.
So now, I have begun dismantling it. It will go on my rotisserie and get sandblasted later in the year. I will spend the winter getting the body work done. By now, this kind of metal work is old hat to me.
I will be posting updates of my progress here and at my website:
I do not have this car registered to you, it was sold on eBay in 2009 and after that I lost track of it. Send me a PM and we can fix that.
By the way, Hertz paid for 200 XR7-G’s to be built. One prototype 1967 XR-7 that was used for photos and advertising and approval. 12 factory show units were built after that, all having the 390-2V X code engine and identical options.
Then 187 production rental units were built - again with identical options - and all were built in non - metallic colors because Hertz foresaw replacing body panels and paint matching was tougher with metallic colors.
Your car looks very original under the hood. Good luck!
Thanks for posting the aluminum Hertz ID “label” From my look into the subject it appears that not all Hertz zones/locations used the same method of labeling cars in inventory. So some were done with an aluminum strip, some with the typical plastic ones and with others another method. Also location on the car depends on the location also
Where is the label on this car? Can’t tell from the picture.
That is a very cool feature that I did not know existed until this post - thanks for that. You can see where the 6.5 Litre badges went. Interesting tire also!
This is the only example of the aluminum tag known to the registry. There is a trunk service booklet known from an LAX based example that is also one of one.
