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Well, fellow cougar fans, today, I saw something that literally caused me physical pain. What did I see? No, not world hunger or war, what I saw was a 1969 Cougar XR7 convertible. Or at least what's left of one. Well, this is not just any cougar convertible. This baby rolled off the assembly line with every option available, air conditioning, tilt wheel, power windows, leather, tinted glass, am/fm stereo, 351 GT package which included an M code, 290 horse motor. Deluxe seatbelts and a console rounded out the options list. Now, however, things are much different for the car.
The car is from the south, and has probably never seen a salty road. What it did see, however, was neglect and water. The current owner bought it a long time ago as a parts car for his cougar, and I'm sure back then it was still a nice car. Then, since the top had holes, rain began to get inside. Why it wasn't under a tarp I'll never know. Well, this rain and standing water filled the inside of the car, and since there was still carpet and the white leather seats in there, ruined those. The water finally drained, but only because the floors rotted completely away. The cowl and trunk was likewise filled and drained in the same manner. And the rear end was taken out a while back, and the motor and tranny pulled and left for the elements.
I would try and salvage the car, but the pictures make it look far better then it is. The car had never even been in an accident, and still is in its original paint, though. I am going back wednesday to see if I can salvage anything off of it.
To think that this car was so great at one time, and then to be neglected to that point just disgusts me. There are so few of these cars around anymore anyway, and so to let another just die like that..ugh.
From beautiful convertible to hubcap storage bin.
Does anyone have any stories of cars like this that they've seen?
Anyway, thanks for letting me rant, now if only there was a classic car police to punish stupid previous owners.....
The car is from the south, and has probably never seen a salty road. What it did see, however, was neglect and water. The current owner bought it a long time ago as a parts car for his cougar, and I'm sure back then it was still a nice car. Then, since the top had holes, rain began to get inside. Why it wasn't under a tarp I'll never know. Well, this rain and standing water filled the inside of the car, and since there was still carpet and the white leather seats in there, ruined those. The water finally drained, but only because the floors rotted completely away. The cowl and trunk was likewise filled and drained in the same manner. And the rear end was taken out a while back, and the motor and tranny pulled and left for the elements.
I would try and salvage the car, but the pictures make it look far better then it is. The car had never even been in an accident, and still is in its original paint, though. I am going back wednesday to see if I can salvage anything off of it.
To think that this car was so great at one time, and then to be neglected to that point just disgusts me. There are so few of these cars around anymore anyway, and so to let another just die like that..ugh.
From beautiful convertible to hubcap storage bin.
Does anyone have any stories of cars like this that they've seen?
Anyway, thanks for letting me rant, now if only there was a classic car police to punish stupid previous owners.....