“Then you say I “inherited” the 428 CJ, 4 speed GT-E? Where did you come up with that hairbrained notion?”
Cougar1: I got the “hairbrained notion” when I misunderstood “inherited” it in this YouTube video at 4:12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVc0tuHTc90 Sorry…
Jim inherited that 428 CJ / 4spd / GTE? Damn flipper… He tried to soak me for $35k for that car in the summer of 2001! Glad I passed on it.
http://owlshead.org/auctions/detail/1968-mercury-cougar-gte-xr7-428-c.j.-4-speed
::Makes ready the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch::
Interesting read, including the thread derailment, I guess. I won’t even pretend that I’m a grand Cougar afficianado, I fell into my basic little Cougar at a decent price for a car that will perpetually need work. I’m glad there are others out there with the ability and means to protect the rare beasts that do still exist. Kudos to them, and whatever effort they put in to acquire them. Thanks for sharing the story behind this one.
BossGTE – You’ve misunderstood the Don Rush video. We inherited a '68 Standard 302 regular ordinary Cougar from my wife’s father, the original buyer, and restored it back in the early 90’s. I purchased the 4 speed GT-E from George Huisman in Walled Lake, MI.
Don Rush – You are sounding more like a s***t disturber every minute. It wouldn’t be too bad but some people might actually believe what you are saying 
Is not that the goal of a disturber? BTW, the video he is referring to was the Dennis Gauge video and I see where one could get confused about which Cougar you were referring to when you mentioned the nine you owned up to that point.
I’m fairly new to the Cougar Community having bought my first and only classic Cougar that I had been looking for through Don Rush on eBay back in November of 2013 as he was selling a 1970 XR7 convertible for a friend of his. I’ve just been laying low and taking in all the comments over the last few days from many on this Community with a lot more knowledge, expertise and experience than I believe I’ll ever have and there’s not much more to be said that already hasn’t been. However I’d like to reiterate many of the statements in support of Mr. Pinkerton. I met Jim and Elaine for the first time at the 50th anniversary festivities in Dearborn in June 2017 and I can say that one of the purposes of my trip was to meet people, such as them (too numerous to list all the names I was hoping to meet), with the wealth of knowledge they possess that I might learn more about the hobby and Cougars in general, which in my opinion are one of the most beautiful cars ever crafted.
The Pinkertons were nothing short of courteous, unselfish, helpful in answering questions (some maybe stupid) and generous with their time especially with someone like me who they didn’t even know from a hole in the ground.
Flipping to me is someone who buys an item, may or may not fix it up “properly” if required and then sells it (hopefully for a profit) promptly after it’s completed. I recall Joe Valente selling his '70 SCJ at Barrett Jackson in 2013 and then I noticed it was for sale again less than 2 years later for $75K more than the purchase price. And hey…everything is for sale for a price. Not sure if he got it but that to me is a flipping example. Sooooo…if someone wants to offer me $60K for my XR7 vert, I’m all ears! LOL
Also, it sure seemed to me that the Robie’s wanted the car to go to someone who is going to take care of the car properly and didn’t want a circus over the sale of it either. To me Jim Pinkerton is the ONLY choice for this particular car. As has been mentioned, he bought Cougar 1 back in 1994 and if it weren’t for Jim and Elaine, who knows where that car would be today and what shape it’d be in. Hey sometimes you just don’t have a choice, be it because of auction or time constraints or whatever, you may not have any control who gets your prized possession. However, if you have any command of what happens to your personal belonging you should have the privilege to sell to whoever you want even if someone else thinks the price wasn’t right one way or the other!
This was going to be a short post so sorry for its length but I just didn’t want anyone trouncing the very people who keep the lights on for all of us in the Cougar Community! You know who you are!
I have found this thread to be very informative, and I understand the views of all of the posters, and why they have their views.
I will defer from giving my views on the subject, other than to exclaim WOW!
According to BOSSGTE, and from part 2 of the video, (guess I missed that part of the dialog), there are ONLY known to be 6 GT-E’s with their original 427 engine !
I guess I need to pay more attention to things, or perhaps I need to relish in my great fortune. Since my GT-E has it’s original born with 427 engine, AND original C-6, AND original rear end. All numbers matching with their tags. Original and complete drive line, of the 6, how many can say that?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Kudos to everyone keeping this a civil discussion with the expection of one! That speaks to to maturity of everyone that’s part of this community, I can’t say a topic like this would go so well on some other forums!
I can’t say much since I’m pretty new around here but for the short time I have been I can say most everyone here seems to be very stand up guys. I hope in the future I can be more involved in the community and meet some of you guys. Any way in reference to the topic at hand I don’t feel these guys are car flippers which in my opinion they would need to be turning round and selling it much faster then years later. Most guys flipping cars buy as cheap as they slap em together and turn for a quick profit. It’s all about making it look good on the outside for the next prospective buyer and that’s not what I see these guys doing. They care about the history and legacy of the car more then simply flipping for a profit. But hey that’s just my take on it.
I have been reading this thread with great interest. As a physician and surgeon, we are daily faced with issues that relate to Ethics. Ethics might be summarized as having 4 components: 1. Beneficence, 2. Respect for Autonomy, 3. Paternalism, and 4. Nonmaleficence. AKA: Do what is right for the people or persons you are assisting, respect their ability to make their own decisions if fully informed, do not presume to tell someone what to do, and do no harm.
How each individual in a position of power, whether that person is a registrar or a physician, exercises these principles will create a framework for how their actions may be viewed.
In this case, I believe the dilemma focuses on what is right for the Robies vs. Community as a whole. And given the vulnerable position that the Robies were in, it sounds like they were fully informed and the folks involved exercised respect for their autonomy, paid them a very reasonable price, and did no harm.
If the Community wishes, it can consider setting parameters that include checking with registrars regularly and providing notification of interested persons ready to buy any car. But I do not think that a volunteer Cougar registrar needs to publicize every car for sale they are aware of to everyone.
What are the communities expectations of the Registrars? And oath of abstinance? I think we should add something to the registry pages to the effect of “If you are interested in buying a (GT-E, XR7-G, Eliminator< etc) please notify the registrar as they are frequently contacted by sellers interested in private transactions.”
Perfect…but you forgot the…
As the XR7-G Registrar I keep two lists.
The Registry is private, not public. I receive no support from the CCOA financially, nor does Jim at the GT-E Registry, or any of the other registrars. I paid for the contract with Marti and Ford Motor Company out of my own pocket, as did Jim for the GT-E data. I am not allowed to publish or sell statistics from said database under the terms of my contract.
Occasionally I have purchased XR7-G’s from all over the country. Typically I make them saleable and move them on to a owner who will continue to improve the car. Occasionally that makes a tiny profit, but normally it does not. I am more interested in improving the brand than anything else, and I think that concept is shared with all the other registrars. Maybe someday the perfect XR7-G for me will come my way. If it does I won’t hesitate to buy it to keep until my estate sale.
Registrar or not, anyone has the right to purchase a car at any moment in time. No disclosure to the world is required.
That right there is probably the best, simplest way to put it. Any advantage Jim (or other registrars) enjoy by being in their position is well-earned, and they’re allowed to buy a car if they want to. The whole reason these guys are registrars is that they’re passionate about these cars, so you’d think they might want to buy one once in a while. 
Doesn’t seem like rocket science to me.
ANYWAY, can we close the great ethics debate and get back to the car? Jim, I hope you won’t be too shy in posting progress updates as a result of the shenanigans here. I’ll be interested to see how you go about cleaning it up, and how you’ll tread the line of preservation vs. restoration. I imagine there will be some tough choices involved.
And Jim, If you would like some help getting this one cleaned up I may be able to help. Just a cougar lover helping another one.
I bet there are about a dozen of us in the region who would love to see this one in person.
Hmm… Cascade Cougar Club “Welcome Home” party and BBQ? >.>
Either that or we probably have to wait until PROWL to see it, LOL!
Neal and Mike – First Neal, thanks for the volunteer help cleaning it up – I might take you up on that and I appreciate the offer. Mike, I told Clive down at WCCC that I’d consider bringing it depending upon how far I get with it by then.
This should be the LAST “car flipper” mention.
Now, back to this very special thread and the real story meant to be posted here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTs6lZ8eE9Q
Be advised no Cougars were harmed during filming.