Vehicle History
History:
This Cougar was purchased from the now defunct Cortese Brothers Lincoln/Continental/Mercury dealership in Richmond, California, on September 5, 1967. The out-the-door price was $3,755.50.
The car was used by my parents for weekend getaways to San Francisco, Sonoma or Lake Tahoe and primarily by my mom for her daily shopping trips and local errands. When she died in 1987 it was garaged and placed in storage. It gave my dad some comfort to see her Cougar when he pulled into the garage each evening. He died in 2004. In 2005 I decided to have some minor body work done and make the Cougar serviceable again.
It comes with many of its repair records and some interesting additional documentation: the original purchase order, my dad's original canceled check for the car and the original owner's manual. This vehicle is one-family owned and has never been traded or resold. After my parents, I am the second registered owner.
While I have taken care to preserve the car and keep it largely original, there is one item that isn't. Because my mom enjoyed the car and wanted to keep it, my dad decided to repair the engine by having a short-block replacement installed. This was done in 1980 with 106,719 miles on the odometer. One other item was the repainting of the passenger side of the car as part of a 2005 wheel-well dent repair.
The interior is in remarkably good condition. There is moderate wear to the carpet on the driver's side, a slight crack in the driver side vinyl armrest, some cracking on the passenger side foot well and a barely noticeable age-related sticky coating on both door panels.
The exterior body and finish are in excellent condition for a car of this age: despite a few parking-lot dings, it still shines. It gets lots of admiring looks and "thumbs up" from other drivers. At gas stations and parking lots, it's often an object of conversation.
Garaged until 2005, it has since been parked in my carport and kept under a waterproof car cover. I drive it at freeway speeds for about 20 miles at least once a week, weather permitting. Occasionally I enjoy taking it on 100-mile trips to the Napa Valley for wine tasting or in the other direction, to Menlo Park and Palo Alto, to visit friends.
This Cougar is a strong and enjoyable ride. The engine is smooth and reliable. It comes with factory installed air-conditioning which is functional although currently disconnected. There are just under 150,000 miles on the odometer.
This 1967 Mercury Cougar is not restored. Instead, it is a good example of a well-maintained and well-preserved classic car.