what do you thank this is worth

Kind of hard to tell without pics; but, it you ask around with the right people, a '69 Cougar vert can be worth some bucks. Mustangs have a bigger "draw"; but there were a lot more of them in any configuration "back then", so it stands to reason that there are a lot less Cougar survivors today.

Just as a reference point; I'd say that the Cougar you mentioned is easily worth as much as a '69 Mustang vert in the same condition.
If you were to ask a bunch of "Cougar-holics"; you would probably get higher price quotes, because they can be even more fanatical about "their" cars than Mustang-holics. On my way up to Payson Rodeo this past weekend, I was invited to stop in Fountain Hills (Northeast of Phoenix) to see some Cougars in a garage; which was more like a museum (at least compared to what both 65stanger and I have for workspace at our respective houses). One of his '67 Dan Gurney Specials ("Cougar Shelby's") has some 16-inch Vintage Wheelworks "Vintage 60" rims; which are the exact models I'd like to get on my '73 XR-7 one day; so I was geeting up-close and personal with the car, checking out how they look and fit in the 67's smaller wheelwells. When I asked him about getting some Mercury center caps for the wheels; he dug around in one of his catalogued parts bins and found some NOS Cougar decals to put under the plastic covers in the center caps. Four little 1-1/2" circles printed in black and white with the running Cat and "COUGAR" underneath....... $185.00. The guy said that he was a little surprised at what he got for his money; but the very respected Cougar parts vendor who sold them to him said that the bag contained all the new ones the vendor had ever seen, and nobody makes re-pops, so........

Pictures would help a lot; and the other thing to have (if you own this car and want to sell it) is the $50 Marti report - same as you would get for a possibly rare Mustang. Some guys will "restore" a plain-jane Cougar to be a lot more than it really is (sounds familiar - like the Shelby GT-350 whose vin decodes to '65 six-cylinder Fastback?); so the Marti report is very valuable to somebody who has something original to sell. The gentleman who invited me to see his collection; had his Marti's framed on the garage wall.

And yeah, there were more rare Cougars in that garage then I would ever expect to see in one place except a National car show; so I ed a lot. He even had a (I can't remember if it was a Gurney or an Eliminator) with a sunroof and vinyl top; which is more rare than (my favorite Mustang) the '68 GT500KR convertible. Told him there were two KR 'verts living here in Yuma and that they were annual entries in our local car show and he was impressed; now I've promised to send him entry details, 'cause he wants to drive one of his Eliminators down.

StangDreamin' said:

Kind of hard to tell without pics; but, it you ask around with the right people, a '69 Cougar vert can be worth some bucks. ...

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Dang that's a lot of words to not answer the guys question, (which is admittedly impossible to answer anyway). Have you considered a career in politics?

Platonic Solid said:

Dang that's a lot of words to not answer the guys question, (which is admittedly impossible to answer anyway). Have you considered a career in politics?

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Well, I might be able to do politics; 'cause I danced around the one helpful answer and two honest answers:
Helpful: That a Marti would/could make all the difference in how much the car is actually worth.
Honest: That he needs pics and that he's asking the wrong crowd!

But, I think my political career would die prematurely - because, no matter how much I talk, I can't lie convincingly!

And yeah, I talked a lot about the Cats up in Phoenix; but it was because I was in awe from the minute I stepped in that garage. If Cheapsk8 were "into" Cougars instead of Mustangs/Shelby's; a trip to that garage would have easily been worth a years' worth of magazine articles for him. He could get a full article out of the story of the owner getting one of his 428CJ XR-7 Gurney's. Probably would be a long one, because the owner bought it from a divorced PO whose ex-wife got "custody" of the car and dented, "keyed" and dropped a ladder on it before giving it back to him. I think Cheapie could relate! Imagine somebody doing that to a GT350H (or DECEIVR).....
There's a "Sunroof Gurney" with a factory vinyl top - many less of those combined options than there are KR 'verts.

Then there's the "plain Jane Standard" Cougar the guy is restoring for his own wife; complete to the "Lime Frost" (read: "(S)Lime Gold") paint and (I think there was a) black vinyl roof. It's in commemoration of the original one he gave his wife for an engagement present (hear that, Andy?). Once, when their financial times were really tough, they had to sell it to buy groceries. Now he's building another one as close as he can get to the original - and he can afford to do it with all the goodies.

I'd still like to have a stable of really cool Mustangs (along with my '73 XR-7); but I sure can appreciate somebody's love of the really cool Cougars.

Wow, I managed to get around the safeguards against double posting!

blah blah, blah blah blah, blah, blah blah, blah.................

Okay......

I was about to link to some of his pics; but I haven't asked his permission, and that seems like an uncool thing to do. So, here's what you do: Go to mercurycougar.net; look up the screen name xr7g428 and go to his gallery!
You'll see the 428-powered Gurney that is the basis for his screen name; and that is also the one that I said Dan could "identify with"; because the PO's ex beat it up before she gave it back to the PO. Also, his red Eliminator; and the green XR-7 GT (my mistake, thought it was a "Standard" base-model) that he's building up for his wife. At least I think it's the same green car..... the interior is completely out of it right now, but the body and paint sure doesn't look like those pictures anymore!

**Yawn**

StangDreamin' said:

Okay......

I was about to link to some of his pics; but I haven't asked his permission, and that seems like an uncool thing to do. So, here's what you do: Go to mercurycougar.net; look up the screen name xr7g428 and go to his gallery!
You'll see the 428-powered Gurney that is the basis for his screen name; and that is also the one that I said Dan could "identify with"; because the PO's ex beat it up before she gave it back to the PO. Also, his red Eliminator; and the green XR-7 GT (my mistake, thought it was a "Standard" base-model) that he's building up for his wife. At least I think it's the same green car..... the interior is completely out of it right now, but the body and paint sure doesn't look like those pictures anymore!

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Uhm, if the dude has a gallery on the internet, permission to link to and look at his pictures is implied.

Shhhh.....DO NOT startle him.............he's having a Senior Moment!

Enough with the "Senior Moments", you Old Fart! (Just for that, you get my parting shot at my old buddy Phil) Just because I have more gray hair than you have hair.....

platonic: You have a point. Give me a minute or 10.........

Bill's Garage

The first car he lists is not pictured (just picked it up very recently); but the others are in order, with his wife's green car getting the two center row pictures.

BTW, the pitures don't do justice to any of the cars; they're freakin' awesome.
Oh, and the "plain XR-7" in the lower left-hand corner has the Vintage Wheelworks repop Shelby 10-spokes that I want to put on the '73.....

Happy now?

StangDreamin' said:

Enough with the "Senior Moments", you Old Fart! (Just for that, you get my parting shot at my old buddy Phil) Just because I have more gray hair than you have hair.....

Happy now?

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Yup, 'cause it makes me look TEN years younger than you!

Besides, w/o all the weight of the snow on the roof I don't have to worry about my head imploding!
Do you know why your hair turns gray? It's because it leaches the color out of your brain, which then shrivels and wrinkles and turns to dust, leaving nothing to support your cranium from the inside, thus your head will implode!

StangDreamin' said:

Enough with the "Senior Moments", you Old Fart! (Just for that, you get my parting shot at my old buddy Phil) Just because I have more gray hair than you have hair.....

platonic: You have a point. Give me a minute or 10.........

Bill's Garage

The first car he lists is not pictured (just picked it up very recently); but the others are in order, with his wife's green car getting the two center row pictures.

BTW, the pitures don't do justice to any of the cars; they're freakin' awesome.
Oh, and the "plain XR-7" in the lower left-hand corner has the Vintage Wheelworks repop Shelby 10-spokes that I want to put on the '73.....

Happy now?

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Wow, that's quite a collection. Though the pictures are a tease, as they leave you yearning for more.

To protect Stangdreamin’ from big blue fuzzy stalkers who could be tempted to drift to other forums in an expanded quest for gutter recruits and other such malicious deeds, the message contained below may not be read or otherwise interpreted by closet dwelling creatures. Failure to comply could lead to a slap on the wrist and/or a not entirely unpleasant tongue-lashing.

Platonic Solid said:

Failure to comply could lead to a slap on the wrist and/or a not entirely unpleasant tongue-lashing.

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Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me!

Not to worry; MCN has guys like Li'l Wrink to deal with errant Stangers. I wouldn't want to mess with the boy; he kinda looks like Charlie Daniels' larger and meaner brother. Would probably look at some of the GBM's crazy videos and figure out how to blow up propane tanks with his hunting bow. (Or just flatten it with his "drag tractor")

Besides which; there's two guys over there who occur here very regularly. Neither one has let it be known that I tend to frequent a Gutter running through a Closet!

The Gutter only runs thru The Closet at high tide!

From those pics it looks restorable...

Yeah, it doesn't look too bad from the pics. Cougars, just like Stangs, have one critical downfall - rust![/ib] I can see quite a bit on the hood; if that's only minor surface rust; you're probably okay. Deeper, and you're looking a a "new" hood from a recycler. Rusty floors are just as much an issue as they are on Stangs, but several of the parts houses have repop floors for Cougars; one that comes to mind (and I'm sure you've heard of them) is Mustangs Unlimited. Auto-Krafters is another. The common biggest concern is (again like the Mustang) the cowl. For Mustangs, several shops are now pushing Dynacorn's replacement cowls for (I think) '65-'68. The sad part is that nobody is looking at the Cougars to get replacements. There's a guy from NJ who actually bought a wrecked '67 Cougar Coupe; mostly because he wanted the cowl for his '68 vert.

Looking at what looks like a tear in the vinyl top around the left sail panel; I'd also worry a bit about the sail panel itself and the "rear cowl"; that piece between the rear window and the trunk lid. Exterior sheetmetal is by far the hardest stuff to find for Cougars.

If rust isn't an issue; then the biggest expense is the leather upholstery. If you want to go cloth or vinyl; then you stand a better chance of not taking a 2nd mortgage on the house in order to sink your butt onto some leather.

I have seen worse and they were still restored.....