Cougars are getting harder and harder to find and I try to look at any in my area when they come available. Here’s a rough 69 in my area that I’m considering getting just to keep it from going to scrap. I’d like to hear what everyone thinks it’s worth and I’ll tell you what the guy told me.
It’s a 69 and at least has an XR7 dash in it. It appears to be a 351 Windsor with an aftermarket intake and carb. The dash had A/C but there’s no compressor on the engine. The seats are white decor from a 70 but the rest of the interior is blue. It’s at a place that scraps cars for parts and they got it from a neighboring city and they’ve had it a month or so. It’s very rough. Dent in drivers door and door pinches against the front fender. He also said driver side floor board needs replaced so I assume the cowl is gone. It’s an auto with no console. He said they told him it was running a few years back but that they hadn’t tried to crank it. The trunk wouldn’t open.
Without knowing what the guy is asking, I’m asking the Cougar Community what do you think this car is worth?
If nothing else you get to see a poor old Cougar!!!
If no one has mucked with it, all 351Ws (and “up”) in 1969 have 9" rears. '69 and '70 Cougars have 9"s, but Mustangs those years – not H-codes and “up” – can still have 8" rears.
Don, to be honest most of us cant get as much for our parts as you. And I understand being a full time parts vendor with an outstanding website is the reason for this! I based my value against what I can sell the parts for. And most northern rust bucket parts cars have the same small list of usable parts!
I would offer $500 and maybe go as high as Don says if they won’t take the $500. I wuld offer $500 then leave if they won’t accept it. Then maybe up the price by a hundred two days later etc.
Keep the comments coming guys. More eyes mean more knowledge and collectively this group has a ton of knowledge. I don’t know if it’s a car worth restoring. I know there’s not a ton of stuff on there that makes it a suitable parts car for my 70 Eliminator but I think everyone needs a few parts cars and I would love to have it when I do get the right 69!
When I showed the pictures to my wife, she snarled her nose and said, OMG…just please put it behind the shop where no one can see it!!!
At least she didn’t say you would have to sleep in the shop if you bought it
Is that rust in the fender skirts, or just peeling paint? If it’s rust then I hate to see what the rest of the unibody looks like, and would say no to restoring, unless it has a uniqueness to it. Also if it’s at a salvage yard could title be an issue? In WI anything that ends up in a salvage yard is almost impossible to get registered again unless you want to lie and cheat to do it. Maybe that’s not a problem in AL.
I’m with Royce on numbers, and with 67429merc. Start low, and don’t look at the WCCC site and calculate what you might be able to make off it as a parts car.
The VIN was partially blocked but I’m pretty sure it was the lowly H code Windsor 2V that had been upgraded to aftermarket intake and carb. It does appear to be an XR7 with A/C (missing compressor), power steering and power brakes. So no real uniqueness to it. I’m not interested in restoring as a keeper due to the fact I have others on my list I’d prefer to sink money into. I’m simply considering it as a potential parts car for a future 69 car I hope to get.
May practice often back when I was buying and selling cars (liek this example) was to figure out the fast moving parts and offer 50% of that number. That is if you want to be in the “business” of selling parts or flipping builders/parts cars.
Likely did around 80 or so cars during that period. Lost money on two.
Unless you are restoring a similar Cougar in much better shape and need a few specific parts from this donor (glass & trim pcs look OK), this cat is in bad shape. I would hate to pay more than a few hundred for it - as you can track down most of the pcs this car might provide. It’s a shame to lose any of these remaining Cougars, but…
No reason I can see to attempt to restore it - unless the VIN shows a long lost car that you previously owned and wanted back BADLY. To many better starting or less common candidates that wouldn’t need as much work/parts.
The guy from the salvage yard said the floor pans were shot. I assume the cowl area is toast. I viewed it as a possible candidate for a parts car for the future. They come around ever some seldom in the South East that I consider any when I can find them. I think the general consensus is that it’s a $500+ parts car with high end around $1200.
I was only able to look at the car briefly and had the guy on the phone. I’ll talk to him in person this week and try to get into the trunk and ask about the floors in more detail.
I highly doubt that it is an XR-7. Everything that I can see says that the car is a standard. The only XR-7 part is the passenger side dash panel with the clock and the toggle switches. You can see that it still has the standard gauge cluster.
The best selling parts of a 69 are either gone, missing or broken. No eyebrow mouldings. Both the headlight housings are broken. The center grille is really broken. This is just a parts car. I agree with the $500 price.
