In recent months, we’ve seen a flurry of Ford Thunderbird models from the more recent past start to pop up at collector car auctions, many of them in excellent condition and with few miles showing on the odometer. That isn’t totally true of the T-Bird’s corporate counterpart from that era, the Mercury Cougar, but we have come across a few nice examples of that model, too. That now includes this 1980 Mercury Cougar XR-7, which has very few miles on the clock for a vehicle of its age.
This 1980 Mercury Cougar XR-7 is up for auction at Bring a Trailer with just 16k miles on the clock, and amazingly enough, it was reacquired by the very same dealer that sold it new back in 2020. Now, that dealer is looking to part ways with it once again, looking essentially like it did decades ago on the showroom floor, sporting nice black paint with chrome accents and red pinstriping, paired with a Cordovan vinyl landau roof and alloy wheels.
The interior is equally nice, equipped with Cordovan cloth covered seats and woodgrain trim accents, plus amenities including air conditioning, cruise control, power windows, and the factory stereo.
Under the hood, one will find the rather common naturally-aspirated Ford 5.0L V8, which in this guise was originally rated to produce 131 horsepower, and it’s mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. Braking duties are handled by power-assisted front disc brakes and rear drum brakes.
We haven’t seen a Mercury Cougar of this vintage on the auction block in a very long time, and most certainly not one this nice. However, a 1989 XR-7 did pop up for sale recently in great shape, and wound up selling for pennies on the proverbial dollar, after which it was listed for sale a second time mere weeks after that – on the same auction site.
That money could be going to both plants and new products.
Slipping to second place, but still in control year-to-date.
Featuring an array of upgrades inside and out.
This particular model is designed for camping.
Giving customers there some new options.
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From the times Ford produced real cars and not the boring and abominable SUV´s and crossovers it produces today.
A rarity in wonderful shape. It was considered an atrocity back in the day. Better now but that rear end still isn't pretty.
The styling proportions on this thing remain horrible. An embarrassing, badged-engineered iteration of the original Cougar brand.
You admire this one simply for someone’s deep love and preservation of the car, whatever the reason……nothing else.