1969 Cougar import
Discussion
My new toy finally left Montreal on Sunday and is due to arrive in Liverpool on the 10th of October. It's a 1969 Mercury Cougar, a car I thought I'd never own until fellow PHs reminded me that I only live once and it's better to regret having done something than regret not having done it.
Anyway, a bit of background...
I've had some nice cars in my time like an Integrale, an ur Quattro and a Karmann Ghia. Not really expensive but quite cool
My last weekend car was a xkr convertible which had a lot of good things going for it but tbh, I never really liked it that much because a) it was to modern and b) I don't play golf
I sold it 2 years ago and surprisingly, I missed having something special, so I started looking around.
A complication was that I have MS. This means I have to have an automatic fitted with hand controls and I don't honestly know how long I'll be able to drive for. Could be worse though!
I seriously couldn't think of a car I liked enough to buy and then the Wife made the mistake of buying several car mags for me to read on holiday. I'd never really been interested in American cars but one of them was Classic American and the seed of an idea was planted.
Initially I liked the idea of a muscle car, and even went as far as viewing a 440 Charger in Norwich. This made me realise though that it was a bit to "unruly" for me nowadays and I also needed my Wife to be completely onside. She didn't really like the Charger and since it was ultimately her money, I decided to abandon this particular idea and carry on looking.
Last year we went to Schilthorn in Switzerland where they'd filmed "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Naturally, we watched it on DVD when we got home and that's when I first noticed a Cougar. Importantly, the Wife like the look to
Diana Rigg drove a red convertible so I threw myself into finding out as much as I could about these cars and joining a couple of American forums so I could ask plenty of dumb questions.
I spent the next year scouring the net investigating cars until I found this one in Calgary.
I'd expected to find one in the "dry" South, but this ticked all the right boxes. It'd been restored some years ago by an enthusiast before being sold to a dealer. I was able to contact him, and he answered plenty of questions the dealer wasn't sure off.
Eventually the deal was struck and I bought the car in August.
I appointed John at Golden Chariots to handle the import. I'd approached several agents but he'd been the only one who'd given me a complete quote and was full of friedly advice and tips, and has remained so throughout the process.
One small problem was the car was in Calgary and the port I wanted to use was in Montreal, some 2500 miles away. John came to the rescue and arranged covered transfer by train. It wasn't quick, taking over a week, but there was no hurry.
On Sunday it sailed on the MSC Sandra and is currently just passing Newfoundland.
[/URL]
I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!
Anyway, a bit of background...
I've had some nice cars in my time like an Integrale, an ur Quattro and a Karmann Ghia. Not really expensive but quite cool
My last weekend car was a xkr convertible which had a lot of good things going for it but tbh, I never really liked it that much because a) it was to modern and b) I don't play golf
I sold it 2 years ago and surprisingly, I missed having something special, so I started looking around.
A complication was that I have MS. This means I have to have an automatic fitted with hand controls and I don't honestly know how long I'll be able to drive for. Could be worse though!
I seriously couldn't think of a car I liked enough to buy and then the Wife made the mistake of buying several car mags for me to read on holiday. I'd never really been interested in American cars but one of them was Classic American and the seed of an idea was planted.
Initially I liked the idea of a muscle car, and even went as far as viewing a 440 Charger in Norwich. This made me realise though that it was a bit to "unruly" for me nowadays and I also needed my Wife to be completely onside. She didn't really like the Charger and since it was ultimately her money, I decided to abandon this particular idea and carry on looking.
Last year we went to Schilthorn in Switzerland where they'd filmed "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Naturally, we watched it on DVD when we got home and that's when I first noticed a Cougar. Importantly, the Wife like the look to
Diana Rigg drove a red convertible so I threw myself into finding out as much as I could about these cars and joining a couple of American forums so I could ask plenty of dumb questions.
I spent the next year scouring the net investigating cars until I found this one in Calgary.
I'd expected to find one in the "dry" South, but this ticked all the right boxes. It'd been restored some years ago by an enthusiast before being sold to a dealer. I was able to contact him, and he answered plenty of questions the dealer wasn't sure off.
Eventually the deal was struck and I bought the car in August.
I appointed John at Golden Chariots to handle the import. I'd approached several agents but he'd been the only one who'd given me a complete quote and was full of friedly advice and tips, and has remained so throughout the process.
One small problem was the car was in Calgary and the port I wanted to use was in Montreal, some 2500 miles away. John came to the rescue and arranged covered transfer by train. It wasn't quick, taking over a week, but there was no hurry.
On Sunday it sailed on the MSC Sandra and is currently just passing Newfoundland.
[/URL]I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!
Edited by stuartmmcfc on Tuesday 29th September 20:18
Edited by stuartmmcfc on Tuesday 29th September 21:23
)... looks great, well done sir!!!Big Rod said:
stuartmmcfc said:
Apart from the concealed headlights, the rear indicators are pretty cool!
There was sound on the original, hopefully it's still here
I had a later model Cougar and it had these deleted. Will you get away with it?There was sound on the original, hopefully it's still here
Incidentally I've got the Marti report which I'll post later, if "you" don't know what one is (I didn't!) then it makes interesting reading.
Love these stories! I hope it treats you as good as it looks!!
Very quick question, do Golden Chariots also help with the process of making the car fit for UK roads? And also taxes when importing...because there are many deals to be had out in the US of A and i am considering the same kind of approach. Sorry for the question away from the thread...Hope the sun stays out for you!
Thanks
Very quick question, do Golden Chariots also help with the process of making the car fit for UK roads? And also taxes when importing...because there are many deals to be had out in the US of A and i am considering the same kind of approach. Sorry for the question away from the thread...Hope the sun stays out for you!
Thanks
Edited by Big Raff on Friday 2nd October 12:20
Big Raff said:
Love these stories! I hope it treats you as good as it looks!!
Very quick question, do Golden Chariots also help with the process of making the car fit for UK roads? And also taxes when importing...because there are many deals to be had out in the US of A and i am considering the same kind of approach. Sorry for the question away from the thread...Hope the sun stays out for you!
Thanks
John, at Golden Chariots, is very friendly and can arrange everything for you.Very quick question, do Golden Chariots also help with the process of making the car fit for UK roads? And also taxes when importing...because there are many deals to be had out in the US of A and i am considering the same kind of approach. Sorry for the question away from the thread...Hope the sun stays out for you!
Thanks
Edited by Big Raff on Friday 2nd October 12:20
I've found him very helpful and, coincidentally, there was an article in Classic American this month where the writtenr jhad used GC and was very pleased.
http://www.goldenchariots.com/
Theres obviously plenty of good guys out there, but so far, I've been very pleased.
Thanks to a very helpful PHer I've been able to track the Sandra across the Atlantic and it's getting close! He's using a work system so I've not posted the images but thanks H.
I'm also expecting a passenger mirror to be delivered tomorrow. They didn't even offer them as an option, but there's a company who specialises in Cougars in America and they make them. All I have to do is get it painted and drill a couple of hole in the door and fit it (
)Mr Tidy said:
Great story OP - enjoy!
I went to Canada to stay with relatives in 1977 and one of them was fixing up a 1968 Coupe with a newly rebuilt 302 motor. IIRC the mechanical bits are mostly the same as Mustangs of the era so consumables shouldn't be too hard to find.
Lovely looking cars.
Isn't the Cougar just a Mustang in a posh frock, a shared/common platform in modern parlance?I went to Canada to stay with relatives in 1977 and one of them was fixing up a 1968 Coupe with a newly rebuilt 302 motor. IIRC the mechanical bits are mostly the same as Mustangs of the era so consumables shouldn't be too hard to find.
Lovely looking cars.
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