Well driving home from nightshift last Tuesday morning, my faithful little runabout spat its cambelt.
So after being driven about for the remainder of the week, at the weekend I set to finding another car.
Using the internet (autotrader, ebay) and local papers didn't reveal anything I'd be happy spending thousands on, roadside cars in the hundreds didn't appeal. Except for one.
Very local, where my father had had work done on his previous Mondeo (2.0 Ghia estate), tbere had been sat for a couple of months, a black Ford Cougar. We had a look, scruffy but with the price lowered and me desparate for transport I decided to try it. Well he had a T Saxo/205 for £95 more so it was no contest. Handed over 400 notes, and having arranged with his mate to have cambeltless collected, drove the Cougar home.
Just to justify ownership of a Ford coupe, I list here some of my other rides;
1986: Ford Consul Classic 315 (1963)
1987: Cortina MK4 1.6
1988: Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia (factory fresh)
1994: Ford (US) Thunderbird 3.8L LX (1989)
2000: Ford (US) Thunderbird 3.8 SuperCoupe (1995)
Post 2000-2009, various non-Fords including a Mazda 626 7-seater and a Mazda 323 frameless 5-door coupe, and other necessarily 8-seat vehicles of which the best was an ancient Peugeot 505 family.
2009-present and my longest owned car, Daewoo Lanos 3-door. That was purchased as temporary! transport.
I had been looking to replace with one of;
CC-3 '08 plate or newer,
Puma
Cougar 2.5
Or...Thunderbird SuperCoupe (again)...but I believe the last '94-'95 example has left the UK.
So necessity sees me driving a Cougar 16v - rather than the recommended £500+ array of Focuses, Fiestas et al.
Some questions for those who are intimate with the range please;
Was there a remote keyfob standard, optional or limited to certain trim ?
Rear fog lamps, I really don't understand this as fitment was mandatory since 1980 - I had to add to my Thunderbirds as US cars don't require them, yet on the Cougar I can find neither the lamps nor a switch - should there be or have Ford slipped the Cougar through the net ?
Can I buy @scunnycougar's tailgate strut ?
Think that covers things for now, cheers Cougar owners.
So after being driven about for the remainder of the week, at the weekend I set to finding another car.
Using the internet (autotrader, ebay) and local papers didn't reveal anything I'd be happy spending thousands on, roadside cars in the hundreds didn't appeal. Except for one.
Very local, where my father had had work done on his previous Mondeo (2.0 Ghia estate), tbere had been sat for a couple of months, a black Ford Cougar. We had a look, scruffy but with the price lowered and me desparate for transport I decided to try it. Well he had a T Saxo/205 for £95 more so it was no contest. Handed over 400 notes, and having arranged with his mate to have cambeltless collected, drove the Cougar home.
Just to justify ownership of a Ford coupe, I list here some of my other rides;
1986: Ford Consul Classic 315 (1963)
1987: Cortina MK4 1.6
1988: Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia (factory fresh)
1994: Ford (US) Thunderbird 3.8L LX (1989)
2000: Ford (US) Thunderbird 3.8 SuperCoupe (1995)
Post 2000-2009, various non-Fords including a Mazda 626 7-seater and a Mazda 323 frameless 5-door coupe, and other necessarily 8-seat vehicles of which the best was an ancient Peugeot 505 family.
2009-present and my longest owned car, Daewoo Lanos 3-door. That was purchased as temporary! transport.
I had been looking to replace with one of;
CC-3 '08 plate or newer,
Puma
Cougar 2.5
Or...Thunderbird SuperCoupe (again)...but I believe the last '94-'95 example has left the UK.
So necessity sees me driving a Cougar 16v - rather than the recommended £500+ array of Focuses, Fiestas et al.
Some questions for those who are intimate with the range please;
Was there a remote keyfob standard, optional or limited to certain trim ?
Rear fog lamps, I really don't understand this as fitment was mandatory since 1980 - I had to add to my Thunderbirds as US cars don't require them, yet on the Cougar I can find neither the lamps nor a switch - should there be or have Ford slipped the Cougar through the net ?
Can I buy @scunnycougar's tailgate strut ?
Think that covers things for now, cheers Cougar owners.