1968 Mercury Cougar XR7-G A little history about this car......The year 1967 was sensational for Lincoln-Mercury, ith the introduction of Cougar exceeding all sales forecast expectations. The Cougar racing team was very successful as well, lacing second in the SCCA group II sedan racing series, nown today as TransAm. Dan Gurney was the team captain of the Cougar racing team and, s part of his contract, incoln-Mercury could use his name and likeness for advertising and promotion.Taking advantage of their agreement with Gurney, -M introduced a sales promotion during the 1967 model year with an option package called the Dan Gurney Special. The package consisted of a sticker on the passenger rear window, hrome engine dress up kit and turbine wheel covers. The Dan Gurney Special option continued into the 1968 model year, ut only included the window sticker and wheel coversThen, uring the 1968 model year, incoln-Mercury introduced the XR7-G option, hich was also promoted through the use of Dan Gurney's name (the G stood for Gurney). The existence of two Gurney option packages has caused much confusion among collectors over the years. To clear up any misunderstandings we have provided a comparison (below) of the equipment included in each option package.Dan Gurney Special and XR7-G Option ComparisonDan Gurney Special Option- Vinyl seat upholstery and standard Cougar interior
- Body code 65A
- Dan Gurney Special sticker in the passenger rear window
- Turbine wheel covers (1967 & 1968)
- Chrome engine dress up kit (1967 only)
XR7-G Option- XR-7 interior including leather seat upholstery, ood grained dash with tachometer, rip odometer, il pressure and amp gauges, ap lights and rear seat courtesy lighting
- Body Code 65B
- Unique interior console with switches for fog lamps and sunroof (even on cars without sunroof!)
- Aluminum running cat valve covers were installed sporadically during production
- Aluminum wheels made by Rader (early cars) or Cougar styled steel wheels with XR7-G center caps
- Lucas or Marchal Fog lights in a unique front valance panel
- Bullet shaped remote controlled racing side view mirror
- Fiberglas hood scoop, on functional except 428 CJ
- Functional hood scoop with ram air on 428 CJ models only
- Chrome locking hood pins
- Vinyl roof covering
- Leather door pull straps
- XR7-G trunk lock cover
- Vinyl wrapped steering wheel with gold Cougar emblem
- Dashboard identification Cougar XR7-G in gold
- Wood shift knob with inlaid gold running cat (automatic equipped cars only)
- XR7-G badges on passenger side headlamp cover and C-pillars
- Rear valance with chrome cutouts for slash cut "pipe-in-pipe"exhaust tips
- A third, xtra-loud horn, ade by Delco-Remy
For those who know about the XR7-G know how rare this car is.I originally bought this car in 1990 that was owned locally in North Carolina and sold it in 1995 to an engineer that worked for the Ford Motor Company.I bought it back in 2002 and had it ever since.I want to say is most of the original car is all there.The original color of this car was lime frost green and now it is augusta green. The sunroof was rebuilt and functions fine it just needs a drive cable which costs about $100 or so. The only minor rust it has is a quarter sized area pictured under thepassenger door and a small ding by the trunk also pictured. This car has always been garaged.
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