1967 Mercury Cougar

 

Mercury Cougars often seem to not get as much appreciation as Ford mustangs or other Ford products. This Cougar is in very nice original condition and features the mid 1967 model year Dan Gurney Package that was simply a chrome dress up package for the Cougar with a window sticker featuring a Cougar and Dan Gurney’s signature. The Gurney package is neat, but do you know what is even better? The price of this Cougar is just $6,000! Find it here on craigslist out of San Jose, California. Thanks Pat L for the submission!

The 289 V8 heart looks clean and you can see some of the dress up package. The Dan Gurney package included a chrome air filter lid, chrome valve covers, chrome radiator cap, and chrome oil dip stick all of which appear to be present. The Gurney package also included turbine wheel covers and white wall tires. Let’s get back to the 289. The 289 is recently rebuilt and in good health. Loaded with such accessories as power steering, power brakes, and air conditioning, this Cougar would be easy to live with. The 289 is backed by a C4 automatic transmission, but the C4 leaks, and has a slipping issue. Many components of this Cougar have been rebuilt or replaced.


Inside of the Dan Gurney special, is a very nice original interior. The dash looks great and is noted that most of the switches and gauges are functional. There are some auxiliary gauges added that are below the dash. There is a radio, but it is currently in the trunk. The seats look very nice as do the door panels. The interior looks to need very little other than a little tinkering to make all the gauges 100% operational and the radio. The exterior still wears the lovely Dan Gurney Turbine hubcaps, and the exterior looks mighty straight. The rockers and quarters looks very nice with no evidence of rust. The only apparent rust is the surface rust on the hood. Even around the vinyl roof looks nice and solid. Someone has spray painted over what we assume to have been surface rust on the hood, the tops of the front fenders, and the trunk area.


This Cougar is a paint job, a few gauges, and a slipping transmission away from being an excellent car. Or it could be left alone and enjoyed for a little while, but a paint job would really bring this Cougar to life. What would you do with this Mercury Cougar?

Source: barnfinds.com

1967 Mercury Cougar

The Trans-Am racing series has inspired some legendary rivalries - most notably, Boss Mustang versus Chevrolet Camaro Z/28; however the series' most intense battle took place in-house between the Ford and Lincoln-Mercury divisions in 1967. Carroll Shelby's Mustangs had won the first-ever Trans-Am manufacturer's trophy for Ford in 1966. Eager to promote its new-for-1967 Cougar, Mercury entered the series with a team led by NASCAR owner Bud Moore. Trans-Am cars of this era were much different than their modern counterparts. Series rules required stock dashboard padding, stock inner door panels and working glass windows in the doors. The stock unibody was drilled and lightened but relied mostly on its roll cage for stiffening. In essence, they were actual production cars that went through a series of performance-minded modifications, rather than a purpose-build racer. The Cougar's 289 V8 received a four-barrel carburetor, a hotter cam, headers and as much porting and polishing of the valves as the rules allowed. Brakes and suspension were left virtually stock. Moore hired Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney and Ed Leslie as team drivers. The 1967 season opened with a Dodge Dart victory at Daytona, followed by a Mustang victory at Sebring. Then, at Green Valley, Texas, team Cougar finished first and second. This set the stage for a seasaw battle with Mustang and Cougar trading the points lead back and forth right through the final race at Kent, Washington. Team Cougar was poised to win the series with cars in second and third place when disaster struck: one car failed to restart after a fuel stop and the other lost time after being black-flagged due to a fuel leak. The series ended Ford with 64 points, Mercury with 62. This car was restored to period correct condition by its current owners, Ross and Beth Myers of 3 Dog Garage. Originally driven by Dan Gurney, this is a significant car from one of America's most exciting racing eras. Source - AACA Museum

1967 Mercury Cougar

1967 Mercury Cougar Dan Gurney Special! at the now torn down Beaman Lincoln Mercury dealer in Nashville, TN.