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Rarest of the rare, but worth anything?

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Turbo301 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 03-February-2011 at 11:41PM
I tried posting this before, but it got lost in cyberspace somewhere...
 
There's a 1977 Cougar wagon - yes, the non-woodgrain version, the rarest of all Cougars that year! - for sale near me. I'm going to see it on the weekend, but from the pictures the guy's sent me, and the description of it as being "solid but needing a new rear bumper support to safety", it is clear the car is far from mint. It has some surface rust and terrible fit on the hood (see pics, below), and it looks like the one door skin and tailgate are rusting, too. He says it runs, drives, and brakes well and straight.
 
It only has the 351M, and except for the roof rack and right-hand mirror (both were options, right?), it's basically stripped. Such an odd car, why wouldn't someone have bought an LTD II wagon instead? Anyway, since this is one of less than 5000 made, I guess I wasn't alone in my thinking!
 
What does anyone guess a car like this would be worth? I'd have to pay someone to weld in a bar or something behind the bumper to get it safetied.
 
 
 


 
1977 Cougar XR7
1980 turbo Trans Am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-February-2011 at 11:42PM
Oh, and I'm assuming they would have come with full wheel covers standard by '77, no? The dog-dish caps kind of suit the car, but I didn't think they were standard on any Cougar.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-February-2011 at 1:51AM
The hood looks like it was closed on something. A sick part of me wants a green woody for a DD but I know gas prices say not gonna happen. As for *value*.. Eye of the beholder. 
Paul
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Regul8r Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-February-2011 at 5:32AM
Safety up the rear bumper, and throw a MONSTER motor in it with QUIET exhaust...
 
can you say
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gpd294 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-February-2011 at 8:49AM
Tint the windows dark and you have yourself a mobile "No-Tell MOTEL" LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
The rear looks just like my Torino wagon....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stanman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-February-2011 at 2:13PM
    
 
How about this, the Griswold Wagon?


Edited by stanman - 06-February-2011 at 12:34AM
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-February-2011 at 11:42PM
Actually, one of my main motivations for wanting to get a wagon like this is to SAVE it from the types of suggestions above LOL! All too often wagons get hot-rodded or pimped-out and not preserved like other kinds of cars. I guess that's the wagon generation's revenge against its parents' long family vacations, stuck in the back seat, but to we who grew up with minivans, old wagons kick butt!
 
BTW what's with the side trim coming up onto the fender bulge on the RH front fender? Should be interesting to see... assuming it's not buried in snow after last night's massive snowfall!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stanman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-February-2011 at 12:31AM
I think it's a mudflap.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 73 GT Sport 429 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-February-2011 at 1:40AM
Originally posted by stanman stanman wrote:

     
 

How about this, the Griswold Wagon?


Ahhh, the Family Truckster from the movie Vacation!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-February-2011 at 11:37PM
Okay, I went to see it: the guy's right, it is structurally very sound, which is impressive given our salty road conditions, and the fact that it's apparently never seen a garage! Everything is original on it, and by that I mean everything needs to be replaced Confused: there is surface rust EVERYWHERE, especially around the windows, and through-holes in the hood and front fender. The rear bumper and support are a mess. Ironically, the fender opening chrome trim and fenders themselves are really good (?!). The interior trim is all there, but the seats crunch when you sit on them like a pile of autumn leaves, so the vinyl's a wee bit dried out LOL! I've included some pictures below.
 
Note the dashboard with the cautionary sticker stuck front-and-centre to the dash: is this what Ford mailed out way back when to avoid liability for its park-to-reverse slippage? If so, it's neat seeing one of these stickers still intact... why someone would deface their dashboard with it, I'll never understand! It makes the car look like a rental... perhaps it was?
 
The guy wants $2500 for the car... which strikes me as about an order of magnitude too high! He said that he got a quote for $900 for a body job... Uh huh, except you'd get just that, a $900 body job, meaning I might as well just pick up a spray bomb and hose the thing and get the same result. Seriously, you could spend $5k on the body alone.
 
So, what does everyone think: worth saving, or a demo-derby car just waiting to happen? I'd love to save it, but as I say, he'd need to come down to, like, $300 to make it worthwhile, IMO.
 
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote occupant Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 12:14AM
I wouldn't spend $2500 on a vehicle with that much rust in key areas. Too much work for not much return. My sedan cost me $355 and I see wagons several times a year on CL for $1000-$1500 in WAY better shape.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 73 GT Sport 429 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 12:52AM
You could find a good wagon and add a Cougar front clip for way less money than starting with this car! $300 tops.
Mark

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CheeseSteakJim Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 1:01AM
Is that a clip for a CB microphone on the side of the dash?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 1:22AM
He's dreaming and half of his asking price IMO. $1K tops and I'd have to be sure I wanted to be married to this car.....
Paul
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote occupant Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 1:59AM
Agreed. There's someone selling a yard ornament Torino wagon down here that kind of runs for $2500. Body is crap, dents and surface rust all over, and it has a 460 which turns me off It's been sitting for like a decade, yet they want top dollar. Maybe when the city gets on them to clear it all out, they'll come down to $600 or so and then I'd jump on it, mostly because I would use some interior bits on my sedan then take out the 460/C6, sell that, and build my 351M as a 400 to power it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Regul8r Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 4:13AM
$1000 TOPS!!
 
Going to need about $1000 worth of parts for Misc front end stuff, brakes, tune up, tires, rotted brake lines, fuel lines, light bulbs, fuses, seat covers, fluid and filter changes and all the little things a car that has sat for a while will go through in the first couple months of driving to make/keep it road worthy.
THEN all the body work, rot and rust repair.
 
It is a $1000 buy it, $1000 repair it THEN body work for a worthy road car worth keeping.
 
IF you are good with paying $2000 for it and then putting another $1000 in it plus paint... then it is worth it to you! (think of it this way... if it had all new brakes, front suspension, steering linkage, belts, fluids, filters, cap, rotor, wires, tires, exhaust etc but no body work done... would it be worth $3000 to you?) 
 
If you are really thinking about it and saying that you would buy it for $2200 then I assume you are planning on all the other stuff (approx $1000) plus paint and body... GO FOR IT with $2000 CASH I would offer $1500 cash and I bet you can get it. Use the list and prices I gave you above to haggle.
 
I agree with Paul... be prepared to MARRY this carry for better or worse if you buy it for anything over $1000!
What you pay and put in to it, you will not get your money back if you get sick of it or it blows a motor or other big $ parts. This is a car you buy for the passion of the car and desire to fix it to keep it for a LONG time!


Edited by cowboyupdjcarl - 07-February-2011 at 4:21AM
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 4:43AM
My black-turned-white Cougar was in better shape than that and ran. Granted I went through the car 100% but.... Let's just say I'm EASILY into 5 digits with this car, I've done all body and paint work myself, and I'm still not "done".  I didn't build it to get rich, but because I wanted to.. Not trying to dissuade you from building that car, just trying to make sure you have a clear view of what you're looking at.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GranTorinoSport Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 6:11AM
For $2500 you could get a plane ticket to Arizona or New Mexico, find a similar car in much better shape for much cheaper, and drive it home and see a bunch of the US and Canada on the way.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rockatansky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 8:21AM
somebody wisely told the owner of that wagon to sell it before the Earth reclaims the raw materials, which is starting to happen at an exponentially accelerating rate
 
i'm seeing a work-wagon that would be foolish to invest any more than needed to keep it running & legal... $500-1k tops and only if your in a bind for a rusty DD wagon 
 
X2 on the plane ticket, and you'd better hurry before they're all compacted and resold to us as Presto Waffle Makers
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stanman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 11:54AM
Leave it where it sits. My "favorite" ad statement is "in great shape for the year". Yes, it's rusted to hell, but it's XX years old.
   X3 on the plane ticket. I've been South a few times and you'd be amazed at the cars, you or I in Canada haven't seen for years, driving around without a speck of rust. I'm not talking show cars, just everyday DD's that look like they've never been washed, let alone waxed. When most older Southern cars are advertised as having "surface rust", it's similar what you'd see on a 2010 that's sitting on a car lot up here. I'd much sooner spend money on a few mechanical parts than body repair. My '94 F150 came from Monroe, NC and (small) crowds gather when it's up on a lift. People can't believe it's original. Price? $3000. Below is a pic of an '89 I bought at the Charlotte Auto Fair...$2500. My point is... go South, it's worth it.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 12:08PM
Thanks, guys. And yes, I was thinking of the plane ticket concept: it really would be worth heading down South for a car like this, rather than trying to find the 1-in-a-million good example up here. I still wish I had bought the '76 Montego MX Villager I saw up here a few years ago, for only $1200.
 
He said he's "firm" on the price, and that if he can't sell it he'll just keep it. Well, something's making him try and sell it now; if it's the wife, you can bet she'll want it gone eventually :D.
 
To me, it would be worth putting $10k into it to make it a superb example; but alas, real life and commitments get in the way of such luxuries :). Plus, there's that part of me that says, "You only paid $2600 for a really nice XR-7, why pay the same for a stripped, wrecked wagon?" That's a powerful inside voice! The XR-7 is a more valuable car to most, and certainly a nicer-trimmed vehicle.
 
Anyway, thanks to all for your feedback, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this guy's a bit out-to-lunch.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psquare75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-February-2011 at 12:44PM
x4 on the down south. My F100 is from NC. Granted it's been up here for 13 years and parked in winters, but.. still. 

 



Edited by Psquare75 - 07-February-2011 at 12:47PM
Paul
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ron Earp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-February-2011 at 4:39PM
Originally posted by stanman stanman wrote:

Leave it where it sits. My "favorite" ad statement is "in great shape for the year". Yes, it's rusted to hell, but it's XX years old.
   X3 on the plane ticket. I've been South a few times and you'd be amazed at the cars, you or I in Canada haven't seen for years, driving around without a speck of rust. I'm not talking show cars, just everyday DD's that look like they've never been washed, let alone waxed. When most older Southern cars are advertised as having "surface rust", it's similar what you'd see on a 2010 that's sitting on a car lot up here. I'd much sooner spend money on a few mechanical parts than body repair. My '94 F150 came from Monroe, NC and (small) crowds gather when it's up on a lift. People can't believe it's original. Price? $3000. Below is a pic of an '89 I bought at the Charlotte Auto Fair...$2500. My point is... go South, it's worth it.
 


I live in NC and second his sentiments. Don't pay for rust.  If you look around hard enough you'll find a better car, usually in the South or lower mid-west, west. Been to the Charlotte Auto Expo many times and there are good cars to be had, but they generally don't come from up North or the Midwest.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote crispy23c Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-February-2011 at 5:10AM
Originally posted by GranTorinoSport GranTorinoSport wrote:

For $2500 you could get a plane ticket to Arizona or New Mexico, find a similar car in much better shape for much cheaper, and drive it home and see a bunch of the US and Canada on the way.

EXACTLY!!!!  And....not have months of body work to do!!!!  I would skip on this unless he wants to pretty much give it to you
Just my opinion!  Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Turbo301 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-February-2011 at 2:38PM
Yep, that's my feeling. It'd have to be for a song before I'd suffer the stinky, crusty interior ^_^.
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