[xr7g428]

I say they did...

What if I told you that they built a '68 with a W code 427, and it was loaded with just about every available option except one: THE GT-E Package?

Wanna go double or nothin' on the beer bet?

Check it out here:

http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/

 

[Cougrrcj]

From that dealer invoice, it doesn't look like the car had factory-installed a/c on the 427, - but rather the A/C dash components, or am I wrong... I'm guessing no a/c compressor, condenser, lines, etc. Nothing under the hood. That way they could easily dealer-install the under-hood a/c components and Voila` a/c on an engine that couldn't be ordered with a/c!

 

[cougarshaman]

Very well written, Bill.

You gotta let go of forgone conclusions and let the evidence do the talking.

 

[MagCats]

Right on Royce! for finding this one. Great Write-Up Bill! So, would this be the only 427 Pony Car built in non-GTE Form? I couldn't load up that invoice to read it, is it an A/T or M/T Car? What color Interior? Wow, this is Exciting!!

 

[xr7g428]

Never say never, never say always... LOL!

 

[68PUMA]

Right on Royce! for finding this one. Great Write-Up Bill! So, would this be the only 427 Pony Car built in non-GTE Form? I couldn't load up that invoice to read it, is it an A/T or M/T Car? What color Interior? Wow, this is Exciting!!

I was able to read the invoice, it lists an A/T and the trim code is 6A for black leather (I noticed the trim code listed on the bottom of the invoice). John

 

[propayne]

Would appear someone had some extra pull with the factory (Mercury).

 

[CougarCJ]

Oh, Snap. :evil:

So this is a non-GT-E XR7 Cougar with a W code 427-4V engine? :eek2: And it was the only one painted white.

You all know what this means? There is another error in the Cougars by the Numbers Book, and the GT-E registry site will need a '*see footnote'.

Seriously, this is exactly the type of documentation needed to back up wild claims of exceptions to the rule.

I peeked at the registry and this is a known W-code Cougar. My greatest fear is that someone has unknowingly restored this car with the believed to be missing GT-E grille bars, side trim, fender badging, hood scoop, and blacked out grille/tail lights. Plus they replaced the dash panel and filled in the vent hole for A/C.

 

[Zogman]

Snap is right. I have car envy right now....

 

[ClawIt]

Seriously, this is exactly the type of documentation needed to back up wild claims of exceptions to the rule.

This reminds of Mr. Super Ford John Paradise telling me that someone he knew had seen a 68 Mustang fastback VIN with a 'W' in it.

 

[Jim Pinkerton]

Look guys, it "may be" a non-GT-E, or it may be a GT-E with the GT-E option package deleted. We won't know for sure unless Kevin Marti has some new information or insight that we don't have right now (I'll know on Monday), or unless Royce, et al find more paperwork on the car. It has a 6 digit DSO code that "fits the pattern" used on the GT-E orders, so personal "guess" is that it was ordered as a GT-E but with the option package "deleted". We'll just have to wait awhile to find out; and in fact, the mystery may never be cleared up with hard evidence. It all boils down to what is the definition of a GT-E?

 

[Royce Peterson]

I don't know much more than what Bill has provided. I will offer that a GT-E would be a Cougar built and sold with the GT-E package. Similarly, an XR7-G would be a Cougar built and sold with the XR7-G package. A GTwould be a Cougar built and sold with the GT package.

This Cougar does not list the GT-E package, it has an (apparently) one of a kind W code 427 option exclusive of the GT-E package. Because there was no 427 engine assembly with AC the factory could only install the peripheral componentry. The dealer had to complete the installation.

Like Jim I await further info from Kevin. The Marti Report on this one has to be very unusual.

 

[xr7g428]

I can work either side of this issue...

The one thing the invoice does not say is... GT-E.

But as I noted on the "other Forum" HOW exactly was it ordered? Did they start with a GT-E and subtract?

 

[mmmeat]

Hmm..I dunno. This is fascinating, though.

I just don't see it being resolved, but it sure seems someone got a pretty special 427 cat!

 

[mopardon]

So now it makes me wonder if the rumors of W code mustangs are true too....

 

[Cougrrcj]

Back in those days, cars were a lot easier to 'special order'. You wanted a red car with a green interior? They'd build it. You wanted a full-size Chevy with a straight six, 3-on-the-tree? They'd build it. Today, it has to be one of the regular 'package' bundles.

FWIW, my '89 Crown Vic LX was a special order car - complete with a 6-digit DSO code. Fully loaded LX, with just about every option AND the '5.8L Police' package. I have the factory build sheet. In the remarks section it says 5.8L Police.

Car was special-ordered by the fire chief of a small town in NJ as his 'official' car. One of the perqs of his job was he got to keep his department car when he retired, but it was required to have the police package. Thus he used department letterhead and special-ordered a loaded Crown Vic LX with a police pkg, just a short time before he retired... I bought it from his estate... and no, it isn't red!

Car has leather seats, power windows, power seats, power locks, cruise, tilt, cornering lights, 1/2 vinyl top, additional lower body bright trim, Premium Sound am/fm/cassette, power antenna, rear window defogger, vent windows, a/c, dual remote power mirrors, leather-wrapped steering wheel, lighted vanity mirrors, full deluxe wheelcovers.

Police package consisted of heavier frame, solid suspension bushings, heavy duty police springs, police shocks (1-3/4" piston - same as truck shocks!), beefiest sway bars, biggest brakes, 100amp alternator, power steering cooler, aux trans cooler, engine oil cooler, 140mph certified calibration speedometer, 'anti-static' ground straps everywhere, dual exhaust, traction loc rear end, heavy-duty 15x7 wheels (that's why no 15x6.5 alloy turbine wheels), radio-ready antenna hole in decklid, and the 5.8L (351W-VV) engine with police-calibrated trans.

Weird one-off cars? They're out there!!!

 

[cougarshaman]

"It's got a cop motor, cop shocks, cop tires..."

Of course there were one off cars built to order. They don't exist in the dozens, but they exist. I've documented a couple in the GM brand vehicles that were one offs. They happened. It's not surprising at all that a 427 non GT-E car is out there and real, at least it's not surprising to me.
This will be an interesting story to see unfold.
We'll probably never know the whys and whatfors, unless someone wants to spend some major money to get it all uncovered and documented.
Alas.

 

[Royce Peterson]

Still no way for that to be true. This car was always shown in the Fomoco production database as a W code Cougar with a six digit DSO. Which we assumed (until yesterday) was a GT-E because it fit the pattern. Only now, knowing the invoice clearly does not have the GT-E option, and knowing that the car never has had any GT-E trim or hood scoop, do we know that this particular car is not a GT-E.

There are no W code Mustangs in the Fomoco database, nor any W code Fairlanes, Comets, Cyclones, Shelbys or anything else.

So now it makes me wonder if the rumors of W code mustangs are true too....

 

[Zogman]

So I take it that this car exists in the database yet nobody owns it in the Registry??

 

[GYRHEAD]

So now it makes me wonder if the rumors of W code mustangs are true too....

In 1979-1980 or so, there was a highly modified 1968 Mustang Fastback running around Waltham Mass that allegedly was a factory W code 427. Interestingly enough - it was also a T-5 export market car with a 200 KMh speedometer.

So who the heck knows? I have seen a documented 429CJ Torino wagon, so I guess stranger things have been known to happen....