alsancle Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 Only musclecar I slightly wish I had held on to was my 68 GTE 427 car. You see one for sale every 18 months or so. Total production was around 357 cars. The 427 Side Oiler used the identical block used in the 427 Cobra with Hydraulic cam, CJ "N" heads, 390 Police interceptor exhaust and intake manifolds. Factory rated at 390 HP. The problem was they were all automatics and the 427 was a detuned version of the race engine. Still a very unique and rare thing. Here is one that just showed up on BAT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1968-mercury-cougar-xr7-25/ This 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 was purchased by the seller in 2005, and a subsequent body-off refurbishment included repairing rust, repainting the bodywork in Grecian Gold, reupholstering the cabin in Light Nugget Gold, installing a replacement 427ci V8, rebuilding the three-speed automatic transmission, and overhauling the brakes and suspension. Equipment includes a Parchment vinyl roof, a hood scoop, power steering, front disc brakes, 15″ styled steel wheels, a Holley four-barrel carburetor, woodgrain interior trim, and a push-button radio. This Cougar is now offered with a Deluxe Marti report and a clean Michigan title in the seller’s name. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal Hepatica Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 Shoehorning that FE into, basically, the narrow engine compartment Falcon-based body was a feat. Tended to make them nose heavy, as they're not light motors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twisted Shifter Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 7.0-Liter GT-E 05/24/2023, pm ---Current Bid: $50,000 Ends in 7 days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 6 hours ago, Twisted Shifter said: 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 7.0-Liter GT-E 05/24/2023, pm ---Current Bid: $50,000 Ends in 7 days It will go well north of 100 K. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 Wow, nice car but seems like a lot of money for a NOM car if I understand the ad right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Luddy Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 I looked at one of these years ago, probably the only one shipped to Canada. It was a lot of money then, but doable. Now completely out of my range. Back to work today helping a buddy work on his 67 289 XR7! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 45 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said: Wow, nice car but seems like a lot of money for a NOM car if I understand the ad right. So here is the deal. The partial VIN was stamped on some of the heads but not all. Over the years many of these cars have had their engines stolen for Cobra replicas. There are very few "numbers matching" cars left. The vin is stamped on the transmission also. An untouched original car would pull 200K. This car will bring somewhere between 100-150 is my guess. I bought my car minus the original engine but otherwise complete including the vin stamped transmission. It came with a 5 inch pile of paperwork all the way back to the original owner. All the blocks were cast in one lot back in August of 1967 so it took me about 5 years to find the correct block and heads. The heads were really hard. I had assembled all the parts to put the engine back in. Because I'm a nit-wit I had multiple projects going and realized I was never going to get to it. I wish I had kept it. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 Oh yeah, I put an ad in the Cougar forum and sold it within an hour. Guys 2, 3, etc all tried to offer me more money but in order to get into heaven I stuck with the first guy. Think I under priced it? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 I dont know cougars, but am pretty sure one of these just sold at the Mecum indy auction. I apologize for the lack of details but it sold for well over 100k. I looked on their website for results but for some reason they dont show the sale price. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 38 minutes ago, TAKerry said: I dont know cougars, but am pretty sure one of these just sold at the Mecum indy auction. I apologize for the lack of details but it sold for well over 100k. I looked on their website for results but for some reason they dont show the sale price. This is the mecum car which sold for 93,500. There can be a couple things going on with the price that is impossible to know without being in the room with the car and completely knowing the cars history. Assuming a good car then this was a steal. https://www.mecum.com/lots/444484/1968-mercury-cougar-xr-7-gt-e/ This 1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E from the Larry Carrell Collection pushes two ultra-popular buttons: it’s very rare, and it’s being offered at no reserve. According to the 1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E Registry, there were just 357 Cougar GT-Es built in 1968 with the 427/390 HP side-oiler V-8 engine. Of those, 101 were standard Cougars and 256 were XR-7 models. At $1,311, the GT-E package was an expensive addition in the days when the base price for a standard Cougar was below $3,000, helping to explain why so few were made. The W-code 427 in this car is correct for the GT-E and features a Holley 4-barrel carburetor that’s mounted to an aluminum intake manifold and topped by an open-element air cleaner. Backing the 427 is a Merc-O-Matic 3-speed automatic transmission, Mercury’s version of the venerable C6. All GT-Es rode on suspensions upgraded with the Super Competition handling package, which included stiffer springs, heavy-duty shock absorbers and a thicker front sway bar. Power steering and power brakes, with disc brakes on the front, were also standard on GT-Es. Contemporary BF Goodrich radial tires are mounted to this Cougar’s styled steel wheels. Picking out a GT-E from the standard Cougar litter is made easy by the model’s distinctive two-tone paint, in this case Cardinal Red over argent. GT-Es were also distinguished by their blacked-out grilles, which were highlighted with two bright horizontal strips, blacked-out blades in the tail lights, power-dome hood and bold “7-Litre GT-E” front fender badges. The XR-7 equipment in this Cougar’s interior includes the distinctive wood-grain dashboard, extra instrumentation and cluster of toggle switches in the center of the dash above the AM/FM radio. Tinted glass and a tilt-away steering column round out the interior amenities. Originally a California car, this GT-E has been restored as closely as possible to original specifications. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 Now I recall that history lesson AJ, you covered in one of the prior 15,000 posts. 😁 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 Decompression time... 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 25, 2023 Author Share Posted May 25, 2023 34 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said: Decompression time... It’s only compressed if you’re reading it on a small form factor monitor! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 1 hour ago, alsancle said: It’s only compressed if you’re reading it on a small form factor monitor! Yeah, these old technology monitors require a bit of nursing...but I know I'm not the only 'frugal' guy who still insist on using them. I've said it once, but it bears repeating: the 1967 and 1968 Mercury Cougars had vastly more sophisticated styling than their platform brethren. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 29, 2023 Author Share Posted May 29, 2023 Based on the seller's added information I'm going to update my estimate to 75K-90K. Nice car, but the engine is not correct. He couldn't find the right heads (which I understand based on my experience) and the block is not from that august 67 casting group. Still a very nice car. Makes me wish I kept mine since it was a eastern Oregon desert car with zero rust and original paint. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Jake Moran Posted May 29, 2023 Share Posted May 29, 2023 I don’t like Cougars. The formal roof line never interested me. Fastback Mustangs or convertibles are pretty nicely styled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 No sale at $60K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 31, 2023 Author Share Posted May 31, 2023 Shows what I know. I do not believe 60 K is enough to buy it, so I don’t blame the seller. although bring a trailer has a pretty wide audience, and seems to bring some good money for cars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9 Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 Maybe it’s because it’s not the original engine. Buyers are definitely turned off by something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 My car got restored. I stumbled on to it on YouTube: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 (edited) All C6's ,,,pity. Generally with Fords { Merc's } the original motor is not as big a deal as with other makes. On several of the CJ's I have seen even the partial vin is almost impossible to read. Others I have seen are reasonably clear but far from all. And more or less impossible when the engine is installed. Al are you sure the partial vin is stamped on some of the heads ? I have only ever seen it at the back of the block , but I have no experience with 427 cars, just 428 CJ's. Mustangs , Cougars, Torino's and Cyclones. The very high $ big block cars are probably the exception to my yardstick of NOM not being that big a deal on Ford's and Merc's. GTE's. " 135 " Mustang's, KR Shelby's . Thunderbolts, 427 Fairlane's and the likes. Of them all I would say the GTE's do the least for me personally. Give me just a simple 68 1/2 regular production CJ Mustang and I would be happy { 4 speed only }. Edited April 19 by 1912Staver (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted April 19 Author Share Posted April 19 9 hours ago, 1912Staver said: All C6's ,,,pity. Generally with Fords { Merc's } the original motor is not as big a deal as with other makes. On several of the CJ's I have seen even the partial vin is almost impossible to read. Others I have seen are reasonably clear but far from all. And more or less impossible when the engine is installed. Al are you sure the partial vin is stamped on some of the heads ? I have only ever seen it at the back of the block , but I have no experience with 427 cars, just 428 CJ's. Mustangs , Cougars, Torino's and Cyclones. The very high $ big block cars are probably the exception to my yardstick of NOM not being that big a deal on Ford's and Merc's. GTE's. " 135 " Mustang's, KR Shelby's . Thunderbolts, 427 Fairlane's and the likes. Of them all I would say the GTE's do the least for me personally. Give me just a simple 68 1/2 regular production CJ Mustang and I would be happy { 4 speed only }. Funny, you mentioned the four-speed. That was the reason I got rid of it. I think they made a few 428 cobra jet four speed GTE cars. Also, the dirty little secret with these cars is the cobra jet is faster. As they detuned 427. it’s running a hydraulic and 390 intake carburetor and exhaust manifolds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted April 19 Author Share Posted April 19 According to this article they made 3 428CJ versions with the stick. There was one on BAT a few years ago that brought a tone of money. https://www.streetmusclemag.com/features/car-features/rare-rides-the-1968-mercury-cougar-gt-e-428-cobra-jet/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 (edited) The only CJ Cougars I have ever encountered are the 1969 - 70 cars. Probably not nearly as rare as the 1967 - 68 427 / 428 cars but still far from common. But all have been C6's. Unfortunately so is my Cyclone CJ. I have nearly everything to correctly do a 4 speed swap , including the weld in parts for the staggered shocks. { came from a very rough 429 SCJ Torino I parted out 40 years ago } About the only thing I am missing is the correct block side pivot bracket for the equalizer and the 428 stamped shock mounting plates for the spring u bolts. { I have staggerd shock plates , but they are non CJ specific and lack the stamping } I was still a bit wet behind the ears when I parted the SCJ and I left the correct plates and the big bearing axle housing on the hulk of the Torino when I had it hauled away. It was in a rented garage and the land lord wanted it gone pronto. But at this stage of the game I am probably going to leave it as an auto. Edited April 19 by 1912Staver (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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