Barn Find! RARE! 1969 Mercury Cougar SS. Will It Run and Drive After 20 Years FORGOTTEN!
Vložit
- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- Welcome Back to Americana. This is a 1969 mercury cougar Sport Special, a one year only super rare model only rivaled by the XR-7 and Eliminator Cougars. This particular example is powered by a 351ci Windsor 2v v8. Which turned out to be a surprisingly snappy little devil for its age! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Tell us what you thought in the comments below!
Follow Americana on Instagram - @Real_Americana
Model years
1967-1997
1999-2002
Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 until 1997 and from 1999 through 2002 model years. While the nameplate is associated with two-door coupes, at various times during its production, the Cougar was also marketed as a convertible, four-door sedan, station wagon, and a hatchback. mercury cougar ss will it run and drive
With 2,972,784 examples produced, the Cougar is the highest-selling nameplate produced by the Mercury brand; its 34-year production is second only to the Grand Marquis in the Mercury model line (made for 36 years). During the 1970s and 1980s, the Cougar was closely tied to the marketing of the Mercury division; Mercury advertised its dealers as "The Sign of the Cat" with big cats atop Lincoln-Mercury dealer signs.[1] Cat-related nameplates were adopted by the division such as the Bobcat and Lynx.
During its production, the Cougar was assembled at the Dearborn Assembly Plant (part of the Ford River Rouge Complex) in Dearborn, Michigan from 1967 until 1973, San Jose Assembly (Milpitas, California) from 1968 into early 1969, Lorain Assembly (Lorain, Ohio) from 1974 until 1997, and at Flat Rock Assembly (Flat Rock, Michigan) from 1999 through 2002. - Zábava
Nice! I have a 69 sport special that my dad bought in 71. It's almost ready for the road
Awesome!
The SS designation actually stood for “Spring Special.” My sister bought one of these new. It was just a trim package with turbine wheel covers, sport mirrors and a unique rocker panel molding. There were no engine or drivetrain modifications included with the package.
Ah interesting, our turbine covers came with the car fortunately!
Did the points an an rotor an condenser along the the cap an plugs get changed ?? Sure would help in starting it !!
No never did, which I was surprised we even had spark to begin with.
For the Cougar the SS stood for "Sports Special"
Gotta love those Keystone mags. The cougar eliminators were great.
Yes i guess these wheels are rare nowadays?
I had a white on red 69 my parents bought me in 85 it had 69000 original miles on it. It was beautiful pearl white with red pin stripes. Red inside, no rips or tears anywhere. Base model with a 351 Windsor two barrel. That car was a chick magnet! I was 18 and I spent more time in the back seat than I did driving it. Of course I was spoiled and when things didn't go my way I would throw a tantrum. Eventually my dad took the car away and sold it. I was incredibly immature for my age. But I swear the phone used to ring off the hook with girls calling me and after that car was out of the picture I went through the biggest dry spell of my life. I miss that car still. If I ever can find one to buy I'll be all over it. You are one lucky individual whomever you are.... love the video and watching you guys bring it back to life. Ps. Mine did awesome burnouts and loved figure 8s in parking lots. Those cars were built to have fun in!
Haha awesome story, thanks for watching
My husband had a couple in his younger days a standard 69 Coupe and a 70 XR7 convertible both of them had 351 Windsor
You should never try to start an old engine before changing the oil. Old oil gets extremely watered down when it is let sitting. Transmission fluid is not the same. Axle oil is usually safe also.
Watery oil in an engine can blow the bearings out.
Also with Fords you should change the fuel pump and better yet change it to an electric pump because factory mechanical fuel pumps can easily rupture when they're old and they leak right into the engine block washing the oil away.
Another tip is to never run the engine off of starting fluid which is ether. It burns extremely hot and can melt holes through your pistons. As an experienced mechanic I will tell you for your own future knowledge to use it sparingly. Instead maybe have a glass bottle and just pour gas in if you want to keep it running.
Thanks for the tips, for most of the time we were using some 40:1 2 stroke gas
Everything you guys did after you cranked the crap out of the starter is what you should have done prior to doing anything.....rookies. crank the starter just a little longer to see if it will shoot fire. If my dad was there he would have kicked your rear ends all over that garage.
Pshhh, big woop starters fine, now if it was a mopar we would be replacing a starter
Still have my 67 XR7 since 1985.
Bada$$!
Makes me really miss my 1969 Cougar that I drove from my hometown Bakersfield to Southern California and Tijuana once. That was when Vans were everywhere. Got it when I was 18 years old in 1974. Loved the power and luxury. She was my baby.
Awesome! They are definetly cool cars
That's a great find! Hang on to it! I'm working on a 67 and 70 XR7 myself.
Nice! Xr7s are the rare ones
First thing should have been the carwash. They run best when they look good. 😉
Sexy car.
Facts!
One of the sexiest cars ever.
Just subscribed! I had one of these in the '70s. Dark green. Very powerful, but one of my favorite things wwere the sequential turn signals. Great content, Sir!
Awesome, yea definitely a snappy motor for its age! Thanks for watching!
The Cougar "Sports Special" package was offered only in 1969, and only available on the Standard hardtop model Cougar.
Yes
Just took me back to 1977 when I bought my 69 cougar!!! Most memorable item I’ve ever had!!
Awesome!
I certainly would check out the gas tank before pulling any… 20 year old gas could cause lots of problems. Especially if it has solidified and is not making its way to the fuel pump..
Thanks!
... never owned a 73 at all though. I enjoyed the heck out of all these cars, really enjoy driving them... good luck with yours❗✔️
I love it. Nice little car
Thanks for watching!
Great find that Cougar. The shag in the rear window. Leaves little to be desired. But your car seems solid. Congratulations! Thank you for sharing
Lol right the shag is classic!
What a great find, and congratulations on getting the bugs out of it, keep up the good work Dude👍☮️
Thanks!
Thanks for the great video 👌😊👍. I myself owned a 67, a 68, a, 69 a 70 and 71 convertible and 72 convertible.
Wow nice!
@@Americana777 I know a bit about these cars from taking them apart so if you need any advice, please let me know.
Thanks!
I had a 69 Fairlane back in 78.
Very nice!
What are the very first 5 things to do before ever turning the key on a cougar that has not ran since 2002? This summer I will be having my first car shipped to me from my parents house
If you want to be picky, then pull the spark plugs and shoot some wd40 or a lubricant in the cylinders, then maybe put some 2 stroke gas into the carb for the first run to lubricate the accelerator pump, maybe turn it over by hand a few times, then roll it over without the plugs in to get the oil pressure up before it runs, then it should be pretty happy to start up and run good for a guy.
I was the third owner of a 69, Eliminator, mcode 351, 4 speed, competition yellow, black Eliminator graphics. A previous owner had put a hotter cam in it. It was the kind of car no girls dad wanted to see drive up to the house, to pickup his daughter.
Totally! Eliminators are freaking cool
Sorry mercury never put out an s s for the cougar. It was called the eliminator. My neighbor had one and it was also forest green 4 speed with a 390 in it, which my other neighbor had an 69 A.MX
The Sports Special "SS" was an option on the hardtop cougars in 69.
@ 12;18 in the video when you operate the carb..it seems that the accelerator pump linkage isnt moving far at all ..this will cause a bog or pop threw the carb usually when pulling out from a stop
I know thats what i was thinking, strange.
@@Americana777 there should be a 3 or 4 hole arm the linkage for the pump by the accelerator linkage..i bet its on a lower hole.just pop the clip and move it up a hole or 2
The first generation cougar was the best looking I think far better than the mustang
Facts!
Awesome car.
Thanks
My mom had the same car 1969
Thats awesome!
Sounds just like my 70 Thunderbird when it was being stubborn.
It's got the same rust my Tbird had.
yea funny how we chased that problem around, first the tank was clogged, then on top of that the fuel pump was worn out and so it still took forever to prime the system
That starter sure brought back memories for me too. Loved hearing it again.
Nice find. 351 is still a good engine, especially if it’s a Cleveland. Please don’t fill this one with maple syrup. 😄
Lol right! do you know? whats the difference between a windsor and a Cleveland
@@Americana777 The Windsor has 6 valve cover bolts and the Cleveland has 8 valve cover bolts
@@Americana777clevland has canted valve heads & bigger valves. They can make some serious power!
My buddy just found one in an airplane hanger. 69 convertible with a 390, air conditioning and power windows.
Wow, awesome find!
Is the top vinyl or painted? Hard to tell.
Its a vinyl top
No real mechanic would try to run a car that sat for so long without doing several things prior to turning it over. This guy also doesn't know much about the Cougar in general.
No, not a cougar guy, just know what i read about it online. Also oil viscosity was good, motor was just fine, we changed the fluids later.
I'm curious are you going to sell it if so how much just like it is
Did they really try to run it on that old gas in the tank? I started a '70 Mach 1 once and used a gas can with the fuel line in it.
Haha no the tank was empty we went and put fresh gas in it, thanks for watching!
I dont understand why an oil change wouldn't be the first step before doing anything. If the engine was ok, even semi ok.....it probably needs a rebuild now.
An oil check was the first thing, and it looked really good, so we left it, itll be fine! Thanks for watching!
👍👍👍💯
Thanks
The first car as I was 14 without a licensed one warned not to go buy the grey primared American us maggs cracked a frame and something about only to drive it straight home exited as I drove the very last awesome black interior nachos to an area looking for the race destined by another person with his 71 mustang 302. We started from our 2distinctuons of our friends in the two cars with his weak 1 tire burnouts from the 2 tires the cougar was laying them thicker and louder roar of its dual header 351 big block 4 barrel Cleveland f13 racing gear tyranny. We started with the cougar blowing the doors off his especially a block ahead at around 85mph my left severely front tire blew without power steering sent us into several fully sideways fishtail I spun the steering wheel first missing our freind delivering papers on his bike never seen us by mear inches. The last one sending us into a high curb folding the rim flat as it came onto a lawn stopping an inch from the house with a loud yelling stranger who was saying this was what would happen as ignoring his repeated warnings about racing up and down the street all the time. Good times.
Wow awesome story! Thanks for watching!
Sorry, Mercury never produced a Cougar SS edition. This 1969 is a base model, the side trim was a factory option. Cool video though.
cougarclub2.org/registry/sportsspecial/
Please don't call it an "SS". It's not, Mercury never called it that, Mercury fans never called it that. Sweet ass car though. Nice find.
Thats understandable and makes sense
It is a Sport special (SS) My wife has one 1969. ait has the "bullet" Ricker mouldings that didn't come on base models
1969 1a ng
Stop Spinning that starter over. You're going to burn it up
Yes the ford starters wont take much abuse, still better than the mopars. Thanks for watching!
I had a 69 back in my younger days. Makes me sick I had to get rid of it. I would to have it back but at my age that will never happen. Take care of it guys
Fix it up and sell it. If you like cougars it is 67 or 68 instead
Thanks
Wanna sell it?
It already has a new home, follow us on instagram to keep up with new cars we get, sometimes we sell them and thats how you can be first in line
It’s not going to run on twenty year old gas
Yea we put about 6 gallons of fresh gas in it the tank was nearly empty when we got it