1 Owner, 1969 Mercury Cougar
In 1969, Russell B walked into Moriarty Bros Ford-Lincoln-Mercury in Manchester CT and purchased a brand new, 1969 Cougar for his daughter. She was away at school at the time.
It was ordered in Yellow with a black vinyl top and black vinyl, bucket seat interior, with the center console.
He also sprang for the power brakes (Disc-F/Drum-R), power steering, FMX 3 speed auto transmission, sport mirror on the driver side and the standard 250HP 351 2BBL.
The Cougar was the Mercury "version" of the Mustang. It was in essence built on the Mustang chassis but had a more luxury approach and rather distinct body design, featuring the flip up/hidden headlights, sequential tail-lights and a different body style.
With the 351 as the standard engine, it blew away the entry level Mustang which had an inline 6 as it's standard engine.
Two years later when she graduated from collage, she was presented with the car.
Between 69 and 82 she put almost 70,000 Miles on the car. In 1982 the car may have been involved in a small accident as there is an insurance claim scope of body work done. It included repair to the left rear quarter panel, but also included rust repair to the passenger floor and a repaint in the original Yellow color. The paint has held up nicely over the last 43, showing only some minor chips here and there and a small crack in the paint. There are a couple of bubbles in the lower most section of the door, near the shock towers under the hood and the right side lower quarter has a small hole, it's up underneath and can't be seen unless you're under the car, it is not structural. The stainless and chrome trim is in very good condition, although it could use some polishing attention.
The car has only traveled another 20K miles in the last 43 years, with the odometer currently reading 90,806. The owner's nephew has been taking it out to local car shows and cruise nights over the last 10-15 years and keeping it up and running. In the last 5 years he has replaced the master cylinder, starter, fuel tank, muffler (Dynomax) front suspension bushings and brake pads, he also cleaned and repainted the original air cleaner and valve covers. He changes the oil every 2 years.
The black vinyl interior is in very good condition, with a minor seam separation on the driver seat (can hardly even see it in the photos) and a repair on the passenger seat. The rest of the interior is in top notch condition.
Turn the key, pump the gas twice and the 351 fires to life. The Dynomax muffler gives the car a very nice low rumble that sounds like a dual exhaust.
The engine idles smoothly, pulls strong! The FMX AT shifts as it should, crisply.
This car still has the second set of tires ever bought for it on it. Dunlop Sensor Radials 195/75/R14 - they look almost like a modern all terrain tire .. LOL They appear to be in great condition for their age and for local, non-highway driving they're fine - they're so cool and period correct, it's a shame that they should really be replaced.
The car drives great, brakes stop firmly, all the electronics work correctly. The right side front blinker is slow.
While this is in no means a concours quality car, the yellow paint looks great at even 5 feet and is a not often seen car at shows and cruise nights/cars and coffees. They produced just over 100,000 Cougars in 1969 - compare that to almost 350,000 Mustangs.
It is really a great car to enjoy just as she sits. The little foibles can easily be handled a little at a time while still enjoying the Cougar, or a full on restoration could be undertaken with a very solid starting point and not much need for tons of work.
The asking price on her is $18,500
Thank you for the interest!
Any questions, for many more photos and video, to schedule a time to see her in person or to make an offer, please don't hesitate to contact me.
