While the Ford Thunderbird remains a hot entity on the collector car circuit these days – even newer examples of that defunct model – its fancier counterpart, the Mercury Cougar, is also gaining steam in that regard. While we haven’t see a ton of nice Mercury Cougar models pop up for sale in recent months, there have been a couple of lower-mile examples hitting the auction block, and that will soon include this rather nice and barely used 1984 convertible, too.
This 1984 Mercury Cougar drop top is set to be sold at Mecum’s Indianapolis, Indiana auction, which kicks off this coming weekend, and it has a stunningly low 10,600 miles showing on the odometer. It’s one of just a few convertible conversions completed by Car Craft Company out of Lima, Ohio – roughly 200-250, at least – making it something of a rare find, to boot. This Cougar has spent most of the past few decades sitting in a garage in California, and it looks essentially like new as a result, with nice white paint and a matching white soft top.
Inside the cabin, one will find a red interior with faux wood trim, bucket seats up front, a center console, and amenities such as air conditioning and an AM/FM/cassette stereo system. Power comes from the naturally-aspirated Ford 5.0L V8, which is mated to an automatic transmission. There is some typical creasing in the seats, as we’d expect from an older vehicle and especially a drop top, but otherwise, this unique Mercury Cougar remains in tip-top shape.
Aside from this stellar and rare Cougar, we’ve spotted a couple of others from more than one generation as of late. That list includes a 1987 20th Anniversary Edition with 60k miles that’s one of just 5,002 examples built to celebrate that particular milestone, as well as a 1997 Cougar with less than 300 miles on the clock.
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Mercury Cougar convertible, I can’t remember ever seeing one before. I sold hundreds of Coupes to Budget Rent A Car, but not the first Convertible. Wow! Wish I had known I definitely would have rather bought the convertible over the coupe. I remember I bought an ’84, that was the first year that the car talked to you, that was the first time I learned that my door was a jar.