I'm not a Ford guy but I fell in love with this Cougar. I spent several months putting this car back together after it was left to rot, this car loves to be driven.
When I was a kid my neighbour had one of these, a bit darker green. Had the optional sport wheels. I loved that car. Cars had real personality back then.
Crazy people, I would take one in a Heartbeat, I have a 1988 XR-7 that is mint and not a single spec of rust anywhere on the car. Has the smoged out 5.0 L in it and I love that I was able to save it from being scrapped. It has 50K on the clock and the interior is brand new like the day it was delivered to the first owner who I bought it from. The 90 year old guy and his son tried to get it running after it sat since 1995 in the garage, they replaced the fuel tank, fuel pump, sending unit, fuel lines, fuel filter, Isle air control valve, and put 8 new used injectors in it and it would start idle shortly and stall. I replaced the injectors with 8 new injectors for a HO 5.0L and it runs great now. So happy to have saved it from the crusher. Great car, and I hope you have a great afternoon today.
I miss my '73 XR7. I bought it back in the mid '90s. Originally was a faded yellow with a brown vinyl roof(so '70s lol). It was equipped with the 351 Cleveland and automatic transmission. So I changed all that, painted Corvette Flame Red(orange), found a '65 T'bird and took the 390 out of it, bored it .030 and mated it to a C6 Transmission out of a 4x4 Ford truck. Installed 3:73 gears then later 4:10s. It was a header turner, fun car on the street and at the dragstrip. Super comfortable ride. One car I wish I would've kept!
Beautiful car, I always did like the big Lazy Boy recliners on a full frame! There is no vehicle that rides and handles like a full frame V8 car ! So happy to see you did what you have done with it! Thanks for sharing this beautiful ride with us.
Well I appreciate that! I had a lot of fun making it although it was a lot of work by myself. Next time I’ll bring a friend and make him run back and forth 😂.
It is my dream to one day own at least one of every year pony car cougar 67-73. I've got two so far, a base 71 which ive put on the road again and a 70 xr7 with the M code engien which is going to be a total restoration. Luckily I'm in my early 20's so ive got a little while to find myself the other 5 years
Dud ,that was my first car , I bought it used that car was bad ass back in the day lots of fond memories.... Car was only a couple years old. 17 oh, what good times. Oh, yes, the cougar XR7. Don't forget those sequencial blinkers.
“I don’t know the future holds for this thing” Well i’ll tell ya if you ever want it off your hands, i’ll be here holdin my hand up. She’s a beaut, great vid man!
I had 2 of these. one XR7 like yours, the other was more basic. The basic one was my first car. I found it in a broke down state in a friends driveway. the second was going to be a parts car for the first but it had all its parts in the trunk also. (you could fit the whole car in the trunk im pretty sure)My dad fixed it up and I had 2. I almost feel like crying seeing yours running and looking so glamourous.
I love how you filmed this! While I live in the midwest, I'm a bit of a desert rat. The rumble combined with the scenery makes for great viewing of what I feel is a pretty cool car from my youth.
I absolutely love it! My very first car I bought was back in 1978. I turned 18 that September and my parents said they'd go 50% in on my first car for my 18th birthday! So of course I wanted a Mustang to hot rod around in (don't tell my parents) 😅😅 but actually one of my high school teachers was selling her 1973 Cougar and I had never considered any Mercury, but when I realised the Cougar was basically a fancied up Mustang, then I became more interested! Luckily for me, when my teacher who was a 30's something age, bought it new and she had no ideas about engine and horsepower ratings hahaha apparently according to her story to me and my parents, she had 5 Cougars to pick from at the Dealership! Her brother had told her don't buy one with a 4 barrel carburetor, well she misunderstood him and told the salesman she only wanted a 4 barrel carburetor HAHAHAHA 😆 so she bought the only Cougar there at the time that had a 4 barrel carburetor and it was the Boss 351 but it had been a special order by the Dealership owner and he didn't want the Boss 351 decals or markings and so on. Well the factory only deleted the decals and stripes but the Boss 351 badging was installed and he declined to complete the purchase so there it sat for sale on the lot a brand new Boss 351 4 speed and my teacher fell in love with it eventhough her Father had to drive it home and then spent a couple of days teacher her how to drive a manuel hahaha 😆 Well My lucky score! That Cougar was a BEAST especially for an 18 year old boys first car! Eventhough hp was going way down for 1973, that car was still ratedat I believe around 260 hp?? vs 174 hp for the normal stock 351 2 barrel so obviously I scored a huge win! I drove that car all the time and I put well over 100k miles on it before selling it 4 years later! If I only knew then what I know now as a 63 year old, I would have kept it for the rest of my life but oh well! That car was awesome bcos it was a sleeper bcos other than the factory dual exhaust and the Boss 351 interior badging, everyone thought it was a basic 302 2 barrel Cougar but wow it definitely wasn't! I Miss that beautiful cat! Thanks for sharing your awesome Cougar! I'm assuming it's a 351 ? Looks and sounds like it? Awesome car man
I've always loved the '71 to '73 Cougars, awesome styling! In late '71, a college buddy of mine went home for the weekend and showed up Sunday with a new '72 Cougar, sort of a butterscotch dark tan...he was a spoiled rich kid. We all jumped in for a ride, and he soon veered off the road and took us on a wild ride through a cornfield where the dead cornstalks were still standing..it was a travesty to subject that awesome car to that abuse on day one...the ugly side of being wealthy and spoiled ...I'm glad I was neither!🙄
Body wise, the 73 is more solid in some ways than the 77 - 79 Cougar. The 73 has steel fenders all the way to the front, where the 77 - 79s use a fibreglass header and cheaper plastic headlight / turn signal covers. Unlike the all the bumperless cars of today, I really miss real chrome bumpers. These cars looks so superior to what people are driving today. I've noticed on 3 different model new EV.s, that there are no manufacturer or model emblems. I see that as a problem, being the only way for a lot of people to identify a vehicle would be by the license plate. States may have to step in and require these manufacturers to display the make and model of the vehicle they sell.
Thank you for the video I love these Cougars. I also have a 73' 4spd Cougar I am working on now I appreciate your videos because they help me with my build. Thank you.
Hey big bro! This is an AWESOME and beautiful Cougar, man. And she has a great American story-the way you nursed her back to life and drive her all over town. I love it, man! JV Johnny ⚾
My brother should have kept his. It was a 73 with the landau windows. The only one I have ever seen. They came out in 74 models. Must have been special ordered that way.
I like that approach. I also prefer a normal car, which you can go to the store for shopping and not just for zlotys and put it in front of the garage.
Growing up, a friend bought a mint '73 Cougar for $1,000 in '81 or '82. Had a 351C. Super smooth highway car until he ruined it with air shocks, and stupid big rear tires. 😂
I bought a "73 XR7 medium copper metallic, white leather interior, a/c , white full vinyl roof,351C engine in 1973. I paid $4,315.00 brand new. If you ever want to sell this one, please let me know. Its a great every day driver.
Wally in your leaf blower videos what kind of Vice is that that you use? I seen it in the BC 800x Sthil video that Chickanic pinned to one of her videos and you did a excellent example of pointing at some of the weak spots on those blowers that "could" occur.... I'm still going to buy one basic homeowner type stuff with an extremely large amount of leaves every year!
I'd rather have a 10 foot car that runs than a perfect show car that doesn't. You'd be surprised what a perfect pristine paint job hides. Underneath the paint the frame is rotted and rusted plus held together by bondo. The paint job and great interior hides the undercarriage of the car that is also held together by bondo and cheap welding and soddering. These cars are shiny death traps. I watch vidoes by Uncle Tony's garage and he exposes how lots of cars look great, but are really bad.
