XR7-G Update

cougar2 · April 3, 2013, 2:08am

Fantastic Steven, that is so cool to hear some of the details and answers to questions, about the car. If it were not for the negative found under the seat, you may not have gotten that much info. He is a bit privet, but I guess he has his reasons. This just adds that much more to the package, of owning this car, Congrats!
Dennis

1967_S_Code · April 3, 2013, 2:23am

Dennis that’s for sure about the negative. He said exactly that. He shared information up to the point I asked/told him about the negative, it was just at a slow cautious pace.

Jeff there was a great amount of luck involved in this process. I did a good amount of “homework” but time can make finding information like this sometimes harder than finding “a needle in a haystack”. The reward for persistence is the priceless story and information.
Steven

1967_S_Code · August 19, 2013, 1:22am

1967 S Code:

Now back to the program without commercial interruption.

…The gentleman said that the German Shepard in the photo/negative was his K-9 service dog while he was in Vietnam. He had brought the dog home with him after he was discharged from the Army. He told me the story about how the dog saved his life while he was on night patrol. He went on to say that he did not have any photos of his dog and would really like to get a copy or the negative if it would not hurt the Cougar’s documentation. I told him that was not a problem and that he could get negative. This decision was made by Dennis before any of this process started. Dennis said that if I could find the G’s original owner and if the dog was theirs they could have the negative after copies were made. I thought what are the chances of that happening.

Now the information about the G’s personal history began to flow. He told me that he was discharged from the Army in 1970. When he returned home he needed a car because he had sold his '65 GTO when he went into the Army. He said he spoke with his father about getting the Cougar from him. Which he did.

He asked about the cars current state, was it restored or original? I told him it was mostly in original / survivor condition. He asked what the plans were for the car? I told him that it would only be original once. So just the basic safety and road worthy issues have been done so far along with a good cleaning. The car is being driven and enjoyed. He said he was happy to hear that.

He went on to tell me that he drove the G throughout his college years. He reminisced about the sleek lines of the Cougar, it’s exhaust pipes coming out the rear, the fog lamps and the hood pins. He said the styling of the car was better than any of it’s time and even nicer than some of today’s models. He said that his father taught him to take care of his cars so the G was never raced or modified. It was at this time I asked if it was ever in a accident while he or his parents owned it. He asked why with a chuckle. I told him that there was a difference in the paint colors on the front of the car. I said maybe from being painted after an accident. He said it was funny I should mention the accident, he in fact was driving when the accident occurred. He said he was driving on a winding mountain road during the winter. He said it had just snowed and he went off the road and slid into a ditch. He said the fender was indeed damaged. I asked about the hood and the scoop. He said no they were not damaged. I asked if he was sure? I told him about the difference between the scoops for a XR7-G and a GT-E. I then said that the car has the GT-E style scoop. He said he was sure the hood and scoop were not damaged during the accident. He stated that the hood, pins and everything were ok. He said repairs were made and the fender was replaced due to the damage. He said the paint at the time did match well with the rest of the car.

He said sometime after he finished college the time had come to sell it. He placed an add in the paper and sold the car shortly after. He said that the man he sold it to paid by check and after the check cleared the car was his. He drove it and dropped it off to the new owner a short drive away from his home. He said that was the last time he saw the Cougar. So he was interested in seeing pictures of it today. I told him I could email some pictures to him, but he did not want to do that. He preferred to use the US Postal Service.

Seeing that it was Easter Sunday when we spoke he said he would call me later this week and we could exchange information.

So that’s the story up to this point. No commercial break.
Steven

Well it’s been a while since I’ve done a update on my contact with the G’s original owner son. I never heard back from him with a address to mail the slide/negative of the German Shepard to. I tried to call him today and got his voice mail. I left a message so I’m hoping that he will return my call soon. Well I figured that I’d a least share the slide/negative here. So here is a K9 Hero that served our country and saved the life of a previous Cougar owner while he was on night Patrol in Vietnam.
Steven

1969XR7Vert · August 19, 2013, 6:09pm

Too cool Steven! Awesome detective work!

BTW, I am not sure which is getting more attention at the car shows I am attending (end of summer/beginning of fall they pick up around here), “Chauncey” or Isabel! It is a close call I’d say!

1967_S_Code · August 20, 2013, 1:28am

Thanks Bob. I’m really hoping to get that phone call because reuniting the K9 photo and his owner will be really special. I’m sure Isabel is getting her fair share of attention. I’m glad your enjoying “Chauncey”.
Steven

1967_S_Code · October 24, 2013, 5:44pm

Well I got a phone call from the XR7G’s original owner. He provided me with some more information about the K-9 photo/negative and the Cougar. He gave me his address (he still lives in California) and asked if I could send the picture of the K9 and some of the G. I’ll call him when the photos are sent out because there was one detail I forgot to ask. What was the dogs name?
Steven