Joe Gallaghers '67 Introductory Brochure tribute Cougar
Harry’s '69 Cougar Eliminator
Steven’s '67 S code Dan Gurney Special
RUNnWYLD’s '71 XR7
Brian’s Boss 302 Eliminator
E-Bob’s '69 XR-7 Convertible
0voters
Vote For the March 2012 Ride of the Month!
It is time to select the March 2012 Ride of the Month! I think this group demonstrates just how much variety there really is in the Cougar Community.
Since February is a short month, and since I was out of computer access for a few days, the voting will run a bit into March so everyone will have enough time to vote: 5 days ending the 3rd if I can program this thing to do that.
Candidates, this is the place to strut your stuff! Show us more pics, tell us your story, offer us free beer!
The candidates are:
Sean’s '68 Custom XR-7 Cougar
Joe Gallaghers '67 Introductory Brochure tribute Cougar
The person I bought it from (who was the second owner) loved the car dearly and desperately wanted it to go to someone that would properly restore it. So it seems I was a perfect match since anyone who would undertake such a task would have to be nuts - car/me, perfect!
Hey guys, I have not been online much since I moved into my new place…I’m too cheap to sign up for internet access (not joking)
Thanks for the nomination and here is a copy of my story. I also added a few new photos of the car in my new neighborhood.
I have always been interested in anything transportation related. I started with trains when I was given my dad’s old Lionel train set. I then moved onto airplanes, I even logged a few hours behind the yoke of a Cessna (pictured). I became interested in cars when I was a teenager… The first car I ever “drove” was my sister’s Nissan Sentra. I did not really drive the car, simply sat on her lap and steered. It was still a cool experience for a young kid. I continued to log time behind the wheel before officially reaching driving age. For example, I am the youngest of five and our driveway was often a cluster of cars. It took some rearranging anytime someone wanted to leave the house. I assumed the position of the family valet parker. It was only pulling the cars in and out of the driveway, but it was still very cool to a 15 year old car guy.
Naturally, I was waiting in line at the DMV the day I became eligible to drive. My first car was a 1997 Ford Explorer. Just about any car is cool to a 16 year old, and I was especially proud of my Explorer. SUVs were the craze, and the Explorer was the most popular of the bunch. I have always been a Ford guy… I remember arguing with classmates who spoke negatively about Fords. I have always been very patriotic and feel Ford is a symbol of America. My favorite topic for school papers was always related to automobiles or “Buying American”.
My favorite television shows involved classic car restoration. I really enjoyed “A Car is Reborn” which spotlighted the restoration of an E-type Jaguar. Out of the blue, my dad asked me if I would be interested in looking at a 1966 Mustang (I was about 16 at the time). I of course said yes, and we ended up purchasing the car. It was a springtime yellow coupe with a black vinyl top, 289, and black pony interior. It was un-restored but was fully drivable. I intended to restore the Mustang, but was distracted by another car.
My dad decided to start an LLC and began purchasing classic cars. At one point we had about eight cars. One day we went out and test drove a 1967 Mercury Cougar. The Cougar was a standard polar white coupe with the black vinyl top. It had a rebuilt 289, C4, light blue interior, sport console, power steering, and power brakes. I quickly began to favor the Cougar… I tend to like the finer things, and the Cougar is certainly a step up from a Mustang. I remember people telling me to sell the Cougar and restore the Mustang. They argued that the Mustang was the more valuable car. I did not listen, and the Mustang was eventually sold…
I drove the Cougar everyday my senior year of high school. In fact, it was even featured in the school yearbook. My neighbor who wrote the article mentioned that I worked on the car day and night, and she was not exaggerating. I could be found outside working on the Cougar at midnight many times. I began with cosmetic jobs such as painting the valances or sprucing up the interior. My first major mechanical job was rebuilding the front suspension. I get a lot of enjoyment out of fixing things, and I find the work quite easy with the proper tools and instructions. I absorbed a lot of useful information from articles on the Classic Cougar Network and advice from Art on the Mercury Cougar forums.
My first Cougar was a 20-footer and the body was rough. The hood had a spot of cancer that stuck out like a sore thumb. A friend from school mentioned that his dad (Steve) used to paint show cars for Cadillac. Steve agreed to help me repaint the hood. At the time I knew nothing about painting cars. We began by chemically stripping the hood, metal prep, epoxy prime, block sanding, and finally paint. I remember Steve telling me that I would want to do the rest of the car once I bolted on the hood. He was right.
I continued to drive the car every day until I realized classic cars are not ideal daily drivers. They are high maintenance and require a lot of fuel. I used the money from the sale of my Mustang to purchase a nice Lincoln Town Car. Anyway, I wanted to keep my Cougar but I knew I was in for a lot of metal work if I wanted to have it repainted. I decided it would be best to find a donor car.
I began searching on Craigslist and found a 67 standard out of Tucson. I contacted the gentleman and told him what I was looking for. He told me he had a 67 Arizona car with a perfect body. The car was connected with the Ronstadt family and had been sitting for many years. I drove down to Tucson and ended up purchasing the car. I began working part time at Lowe’s while going to college. I put nearly my entire income toward car parts. I had photos of the Cougar in my work vest to show coworkers and customers. I befriended car guys at work and school and would talk cars at every available moment.
Work started the day the Cougar was delivered (October 2007). I ended up taking the best parts from both cars and combining them into one. The first few projects involved the steering and brakes. I had the power steering rebuilt by Rodes, and converted the front brakes to power discs from a 1970. Everything else was new or rebuilt. A friend helped me pull the engine and transmission from my first Cougar and install it in the Arizona car. The car was pretty much ready for paint at that point. The paint and body work was one area that I thought would be better left to the professionals. I ran into many problems with the body shop and the car ended up being in “body shop jail” for nearly 8 months.
The car came together quite quickly when I finally got it back from the body shop. I decided early on that I wanted to maintain the color scheme of polar white with a light blue interior. This was the scheme that was featured in many 1967 dealer brochures and advertisements. The restoration was “completed” on October 2009. I did everything myself but paint the car…down to aligning the suspension at home. Since 2009 I have done a few modifications such as installing a 4R70W electronic overdrive transmission. I like the fact that the car appears basically stock, but still has some modern components that make it unique.
Joe, That is a great success story and very inspirational.
All of our cars have a story. They have traveled through time to arrive here today. The odds were certainly against the cars survival (Who would have ever thought that a car submerged in salt water, rusted to Swiss cheese, might ever be a beautiful show car)
Maybe your car took the long nap in some dark barn, or maybe it was being held for you, to be passed down to you as a family legacy, or maybe it was just passed from owner to owner, until it came to be in your garage; regardless, they all have their stories of survival. Every one of our cars is special. The odds of survival are so slim. Parted and scrapped: the ending of the story for the vast majority of Cougars.
C’mon guys tell us what you know about your car. Show us some pictures. Even the mysterious ones provide a few clues about how they traveled 40 years in time. What was under the back seat? Bondo and crumpled sheet metal, scars from a long ago battle, tell their own tale. Bad fixes and band-aid repairs are messages from the previous owners. What story does you car have to tell?
My first car was a 1967 standard that was handed down in the family. My grandfather bought in new in 1967. He was working for my father as a job foreman / project manager when my fathers construction company was building Coral Gables Lincoln Mercury. Near completion of the new dealership the Cougar was making its debut. When my Grandfather saw the new Cougar he had to have one. He was 60 years old, and my dad laughed when grandpa told him he was buying one. My grandfather told my dad he was from the “old country” (Italy) and never had a car that wasnt black so he was getting his Cougar in yellow. I have fond memories of driving with him in that Cougar.
My Grandfather passed when I had just turned 9 and my oldest brother was given his Cougar. My brother in the photo (he’s the one on crutches) wrecked the Grandpa’s Cougar when he was in high school. He hit a tree during a rainstorm. He had it fixed and then passed it down when he purchased a truck. I have five older brothers and by the time I got the Cougar it was very “worn”. The engine finally gave out and I purchased a 68 model standard during high school and I drove it till my senior year and then sold it.
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The Cougar fever always stayed and about 7 years ago I started looking for my dream Cougar. After a long patient search I found my car. It was a South Carolina car it’s entire life. Sold new at Prince Motor Company in Abbeville and remained with the first owner till she passed in 1990. I spoke with the daughter of the first owner who sold the car after the family started fighting over who should own it. After that sale in 1997 it made two more until I purchased it.
The owner before me started the restoration. He removed the parchment top when he painted the car. He owns a restoration shop and was doing a 1967 Mustang GT fastback 4 speed. One of his coustmers told him about the Cougar and he found it and bought it because of its condition and it had factory air. His Mustang was a trailer queen project so the Cougar would be the show driver. When the stock market started dropping he had to free up cash and that’s when I purchased the car.
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There were small things to finish on my car after I got it. Trim, steering wheel, emblems, headlight doors and a/c. I have been able to do all these items one at a time to bring the car to its current state. To date my Cougar has won throphies for Favorite Ford and a 1st and 2nd place in production muscle car 1964-1969 catagories.
Good reading fellas. I would be proud to have any car on the list in my garage. I just had to vote for the ECI because every time I see pictures of Bobs car, I feel that squishy feeling in the pit of my stomach, love at first site. Maybe it’s the camera but everything just looks so new and beautiful. If Isabel was a 70 instead of a 69 she would be perfect. SalD Cougar geek
for SC cats! Heck, 
