The June 2017 Ride of the Month is Del Melhof's '67 XR-7!

Early June is a busy time. In particular this year many Cougar enthusiasts are getting ready to attend the 50th Anniversary celebration in Dearborn including yours truly and also Del Melhof. So this month we will start out with some great pictures and then add a bit more after every one returns home. The after pictures are all by Andrew Chenovick, of WCCC and Flying A photography flyingaphoto.com

Its a bit unusual, but in this case the crew at WCCC was actually involved in the hands-on process of restoring Del’s car. Darrell and WCCC provides us with some “before” pictures…

And in the beginning…

Front nose to tail this cat got a good going over…

The dash in the XR-7 is charcoal in color…

Suspension attention:

Interior details

Look at the rear end on that Cougar

Put some glass in those holes

The introductory brochure for the XR-7 launched in January of 1967 featured exactly the same interior exterior color combination, and it was the perfect choice…

The How to Sharpen Your Cats Claws brochure featured some styled by Shelby wheels. For a brief time they were reproduced but in a more modern 17" size. Vintage style Modern performance…










Darrell put his heart and soul into that reassembly… To clarify the 17" version of this wheel is in fact discontinued but this 15x7" is available now. I love the night shot.

http://www2.cougarpartscatalog.com/store/Search.aspx?SearchTerms=C7W%20shelby%20wheel

Congratulations! Darrell gets the lions share of the credit for that restoration.
Yours truly is shown steering, and provided expert advise and moral support.

Love it! And great photography from Andrew.

Maybe it was because Mercury used that color combo in the XR-7 brochure, but it really is the iconic Cougar look.

  • Phillip

WOW! That is a great looking Cougar. The restoration was well done guy. Congratulations Del in winning ROTM.
Steven

Very Nice!!! Awesome job on the car! I love it. Congrats!

Congratulations Del. Beautiful car.

Congrats, Del. Awesome car. That interior shot w/the gauges lit up and the sunset in the back looks like it could be a brochure shot.

Congratulations, Del on having one of the nicest 67 XR-7 Cougars I’ve seen on line in a long time! Kudos to Darrell and the talented crew at WCCC for their superlative restoration of this stunning Cat. What a perfect choice for the beginning of Summer and the major 50th Anniversary of Cougar celebrations happening all over North America. If possible, maybe Andrew Chenovick of Flying A Photography can do some feature shots of this gorgeous XR-7 and Cougar One. Maybe they could even be covered in a future issue of Legendary Cougars

Congratulations! That is just a beautiful car.

Thats one clean cougar. I dig it!

1967 Mercury Cougar
This Listing is for a NO rust unfinished cougar that I have thus far spent more than $ 45,000 into it.
I bought it from the Second owner who bought it as a 3 year old. The Doctor who had bought it new had been rear ended on the driver side, not terribly. The second owner had it garaged most of it’s life, it had around 136,000 on it if I remember correctly. I stripped it to bare metal and had a body man rework the Quarter panel. There is very little body filler in the car. I do paintless body repair and so removed the door dings before sanding the car down. I also welded in a passenger side torque box. There is very little yet to do before paint.I sandblasted the undercarriage and have re-sealed it with Por15.
What it needs to finish it is Paint, Upholstery, Some wiring, Transmission cooler hook-up and reassembly.
This List is in no way completely comprehensive but
What it has is:
427 Man O’ War Aluminum 4 bolt splayed block. Scat 4340 internally balanced 4.125 bore 4.00 stroke crankshaft, 4340 H-beam rods Mahle pistons and Total seal rings. Trick flow Track heat heads with Comp Cams Pro Magnum Roller Rockers port matched to a Pro Comp single Plane intake and 750 cfm Demon Carb. March products Style track serpentine system, Pro torque mini starter, Custom Ceramic coated headers and Milodon pan.
FB Performance 4 speed Under drive/ Over drive Reverse pattern Transmission with Trans brake and Line lock. TCI Outlaw Shifter
TCI Front and Rear Suspensions. 3 Link with torque arm, Double adjustable coil over shocks Drilled and slotted Wilwood Disc brakes. Currie 9" Posi rear end with 3.70 and internal parking brake.
ABS Electric Power Brakes with remote reservoir. All brake lines are new using Nickle copper lines.
Fuel Safe fuel cell. Holley Billet in-line fuel pump stainless braided lines used throughout.
Interior: New Dash still in box, Bezel and dash re-furbished and re-chromed. Dakota Digital VHX gauges and Painless Products wiring harness. Classic Auto Air tied into the factory controls and into Gotta Show Stainless fittings and braided lines into Chrome A/C
Ididit Steering Column and Momo Steering wheel and shift light.
The door locks are shaved and now are remote. The window cranks operate electric windows.
Bumpers have been shaved and re-chromed. Headlight assembly is refurbished and rear tail lights are now refurbished and replaced with LED’s The battery is relocated to the trunk and its interior is about complete.
17" Cobra Chrome wheels.
As can be seen in the pictures, the fenders and hood are off of it currently and there is no interior installed. Some assembly will be required.
$ Make Offer $
Not interested in trades. Thanks
Please call 509-669-1468 Mike

You can view all the pictures at my Craigslist ad here: https://wenatchee.craigslist.org/cto/6178583101.html
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