When Larry E. first heard about a ‘67 Mercury Cougar GT for sale in May of 2007 and went to see it, his wife, Colleen K., insisted on going with him. She wanted to make sure he did not buy another project. Although the body was fairly rust-free, it had old damage to the left front and right rear that had been poorly repaired. The interior had gotten wet and was badly mildewed. The engine looked freshly rebuilt, but looks can be deceiving. The hidden headlights stayed hidden when the lights came on. After looking it over, he decided that it was just too much to take on at that time and told her that. However the next day, Colleen called him at work and said she wanted it. For a car guy, having your wife want a car is a dream come true and they bought it. It had a 390 CID engine with a C-6 auto trans that drove a 9" rear end. For comfort, it had air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes with front discs. So the basics were good and Larry knew how to fix the rest. For handling, he installed rack and pinion steering. The sub-par previous body repairs were redone and the car repainted the same white-over-blue color. He installed a bigger 20 gallon gas tank, which did require a sacrifice of some trunk space. Larry meticulously pounded out the dents in the aluminum and stainless steel trim pieces. The old motors for the headlights were irreparable, so Larry contrived a way to make ones from a Mazda Miata work. He redid the interior, saving only the old door panels. For comfort, he replaced the front seats with ones from a Honda Prelude, but re-upholstered them in the Cougar pattern. Using brushed aluminum, he made a custom dash panel. I could go on, but Larry’s attention to detail would fill a book. Suffice it to say that the Cougar’s maiden run was a trip with Roamin Angels to Del Mar in Southern California last month and it went off without a flaw. They both love their Cougar. Now all Larry would like is a new call from Colleen saying she wants another car.

1967 was the first year for Cougar and Larry kept it completely stock in appearance. Although the wheels look stock 14", they are 15' wheels made by Wheel Speciality.

Larry was lucky on the engine and trans: the engine seems freshly rebuilt and the trans works great. He did change things like the carb and ignition, as well as dress it up with chrome and fresh paint.

The dash and console are much nicer than original. Having seats that have lumbar support and recline was a definite improvement over stock, especially while listening to tunes on the AM/FM/CD player.

[TOP]