"UCP's biggest fan of" is now "UCP's proudest owner of"

[Timothy (in VA)]

Say hello to my new baby. She's a 1974 Mercury Cougar XR7, and is simply incredible. I first saw the ad on March 14, but I didn't want to say anything here until the deal was done. I just picked her up today, and drove her to Charlottesville from Martinsville, VA (a roughly three hour drive).

I've wanted one of these Cougars for years, and when this one came up for sale in Virginia, I pounced. When I began to see all the options and nice features she had, I knew I could not let this oppurtunity pass me by. She spent the first 25 or so years of her life in California, and is completely rust-free. Underhood is Ford's 400 cubic inch V-8, which is a step above the standard 351 Windsor. The interior has bucket seats and leather upholstery (a vinyl bench seat was standard). She also has a rear window defroster (apparently a rare option), AM/FM stereo with 8-track player (I don't own any 8-tracks (yet), but it's a great period accessory), and several other luxury options. There's even a car cover in the trunk that he threw in as part of the deal. She only has 158,000 miles, which isn't bad considering she's 33 years old, and the engine and transmission were rebuilt several years ago, and only have 40,000 or so miles. The seller was only asking $3250 for her, which struck me as an incredibly good price. Better yet, he accepted our offer of $3000 even.

The biggest problem is that the paint isn't perfect; there are a few pits and scratches (the color looks much better in person than in the pictures; it's called "saddle bronze metallic," and is a really nice caramel-like color). Also, the door mounted rearview mirrors are too small to be of much use, and it cost $59 to fill up the gas tank today.

The ride is incredibly smooth, and the steady thrum of the V-8 is music to my ears.

The pictures below were taken by the seller. Expect more information soon, and I can guarantee I'll have larger and better pictures up soon, and an Egg-Nog test .