I am looking to becoming a vintage car owner again. Finding this site has made 67-70 Cougars on the top of the list as far as to what cars to consider. I seem to be having a hard time on deciding what a fair price is for one though.
I am looking at local cars and found a couple. The one below is a 68 with a 67 driver’s fender. This car doe not run, the owner bought it at a car auction recently on a whim and except for the engine turning over by hand nothing else is know about its mechanical condition.
It is a 302 w/2brrl, PS, PW Disc Brakes and appears to have been a factory AC car. Floors seem solid and being a California car not much anywhere except for some surface stuff under the hood around the radiator. Interior is missing the dash pad, steering wheel, shifter, door and rear passenger interior panels. Seats and headliner are there but will need to be redone.
Biggest area of concern is the driver’s side door and it’s jam. Door looks like it will need replacing, the inner face seems as smashed as the door jam. Obviously the jam will require surgery to replace, maybe part of the quarter too. The jam is the one area of the car I may have to pay to get done, other mechanical things and light body I can do myself.
Second car (sorry no pics) is a 67 green base model, 289 auto, drums no power. Had a vinyl top and the upper roof skin is shot, will need to replace at least the top skin. Small rust areas in corners of the doors and one finder. Has at least on fist size dent in each quart, fender and door.
This car is complete and runs, not what I would call a daily driver though. Though complete the condition of the interior shows its age and then some. I have known the owner of this one for 20 years and know he has not put 1000 miles on it in that time. Usually moves it from one side of the street to the other during street cleaning.
Both owners are asking $2500. Does this sound like the current rate? Deals or money pits?
Unless you want to spend a lot of time and money to make this a decent driver I would pass, I realize you really cant expect much for 2500 these days, but with the money you would have to spend on this car you could find a decent car you could enjoy from day 1.
The price is high but not absurd considering what disc brakes and AC are worth but you would save yourself MANY thousands of dollars by hanging around here for a few months waiting for a good deal on a $5000 starter car.
If you do go forward there are at least 5 videos you need to watch on my channel. Start with this one…
I don’t mind putting in the work, I owned an auto shop for 30 years. Now that I don’t do it as a living anymore I don’t mind putting in time for my own stuff. In fact I am looking for a reasonable project, just not looking for a money pit.
Don, I have been watching your videos for a couple months now, good stuff.
Al B, Yes I was concerned about the left side, besides the 67 fender and trashed door I noticed where the door jam was smashed, it had been bondoed from an earlier wreck.
I was thinking about offering the owner $1100 or $1200, I think it would be worth that at least for parts alone, worst thing that can happen is him saying no.
Not a body shop, general auto repair. I personally did engines, trannies, AC, brakes ect, though bodywork like that would not scare me away.
The car in your link would have been perfect, something like that is what I am hoping for, in fact my dad owned the same year and color back in the 70’s.
I saw it, and though I have been thinking about a classic car for a couple months unfortunately just this week has it become possible to actually start a project, because now I will have a place to work on it. I rent out my old shop but reserved a spot for my own use to repair my own cars and had let my brother store his car there. It is gone now so now I have a place I can tear something down and store long term as I work on it.
Cool… Spend more time looking and less time ordering and sweating I say. Once you find the “right car” you will be so jazzed that when you reach for your wallet your hand will be trembling a little and you will be looking over your shoulder to see if someone is on your heels. If you have to scratch your head and wonder if it is a good deal then usually it is not…
I am going to disagree with Don. Every time I buy a Cougar I always think I paid too much (yes I am a cheap bastard, but that aside…) However in the long run it really doesn’t make much difference. They aren’t making any more of them and I am not getting any younger. The time is now. A few thousand one way or the other usually turns out to be kind of trivial in the end. In a lot of cases the biggest investment you make is time and I am starting to look at that investment a lot more carefully than I used to, but if you found the right car, then it is really time well spent.
Yes, what we paid for our cars doesn’t make much difference because in the end game, most of us end up spending about double what they are worth anyway. But I think you are both right - spend a little more time finding the right car, and don’t worry if you pay a little more for it. If that means we get them finished before we are too old to enjoy them, it is probably money and time well spent.
Another vote for getting a running car out of the gate. The more you start digging on a 50+ year old car, the more likely it’ll be on a rotisserie before you know it. And then it’s never done, or takes 15 years ask me how I know. Better to never open the can of worms, or more realistically tackle improvements that take a weekend or two and back into service.
It is generally easier to keep a running car running than it is resurrect something from the dead. No point saving a bunch of money on the purchase price of the car if you’re just going to put all that money into parts to get it running. Very often, a car that might be $1000 cheaper will require more than $1000 of work to get it to the level of the more expensive car.
Let someone else’s sunk money work to your advantage. In most instances, putting $20k into a $10k car yields maybe a $18k car, and certainly not a $30k one. It’s certainly a buyers market. This generally holds true up and down prices as long as you’re not dealing with a rare options package.
But always remember, whichever Cougar you buy at whatever price you decide you can spend will always be a project. And she’ll always expect more from you than you wanted to give.
I think it depends on what the fun part is for you. If that’s the process of bringing one of those $2500 cars back to life and the satisfaction of doing it with your own two hands…either of these may be right for you. I don’t mind working on them when necessary, but at 55…I didn’t want to wrench on it for a few years before enjoying the drive.
Keep looking for something in better condition. For not much more, you will likely find something more complete, and able to enjoy right away. Maybe look for a XR7 model, they seem to be worth a bit more in the end…
