NEW Panel parts for our cougars?

Big clubs like JEC and the MG clubs etc find this viable. The cars are an order of magnitude more popular though, and the club members have beards and part of their hobby is the technical side.

I don't believe it's viable for UKCougar to achieve this sort of equilibrium.

I'll likely get shot down for saying this, but once again I don't believe the Cougar will ever be a desireable classic and there will come a point where even the enthusiastic owners have to throw in the towel when an excessively complex repair is required to the subframes or shell. The availability of parts will be depleted and there will come a point where the cost of a repair is beyond the means of those still driving Cougars.

It takes a very rare person to be able to afford classic car restoration costs but choose to apply that money to a Ford Cougar. The Cougar was a great car for me at the time. It's still a great car for the money now. It's not a great car in absolute terms though, and frankly the overwhelming majority of once-enthusiastic owners who do have any sort of improvement in their finances do move on to other things because there are much better cars out there when the budget is increased.

So the moral of my story is:

Nice idea, but when you take the average current day Cougar owner, then filter down to those who can spend a few grand and/or have big storage spaces available, then present them the choice of spending that money on Cougar spares or repairs versus just buying a newer/prettier/faster/more economical/more comfortable/better equipped (delete as applicable) car, most will be standing in the latter camp. That's starting from the number of people currently active on here because membership isn't going to grow meaningfully as car numbers dry up ever quicker.

I'll state that most here contributing now will buy a different car if put in the position of having to make that choice.
 
jamie_duff said:
Big clubs like JEC and the MG clubs etc find this viable. The cars are an order of magnitude more popular though, and the club members have beards and part of their hobby is the technical side.

I don't believe it's viable for UKCougar to achieve this sort of equilibrium.

I'll likely get shot down for saying this, but once again I don't believe the Cougar will ever be a desireable classic and there will come a point where even the enthusiastic owners have to throw in the towel when an excessively complex repair is required to the subframes or shell. The availability of parts will be depleted and there will come a point where the cost of a repair is beyond the means of those still driving Cougars.

It takes a very rare person to be able to afford classic car restoration costs but choose to apply that money to a Ford Cougar. The Cougar was a great car for me at the time. It's still a great car for the money now. It's not a great car in absolute terms though, and frankly the overwhelming majority of once-enthusiastic owners who do have any sort of improvement in their finances do move on to other things because there are much better cars out there when the budget is increased.

So the moral of my story is:

Nice idea, but when you take the average current day Cougar owner, then filter down to those who can spend a few grand and/or have big storage spaces available, then present them the choice of spending that money on Cougar spares or repairs versus just buying a newer/prettier/faster/more economical/more comfortable/better equipped (delete as applicable) car, most will be standing in the latter camp. That's starting from the number of people currently active on here because membership isn't going to grow meaningfully as car numbers dry up ever quicker.

I'll state that most here contributing now will buy a different car if put in the position of having to make that choice.
Click to expand...
Every. Single. Word.

Glad I'm not the only one who takes this viewpoint.
 
Probably true but a sad state of affairs. I must admit I've held onto my probe simply because it was worth so little, prices are on the up for good examples. Sadly you have to lose cars to make that happen as demand needs to outstrip supply, something that is difficult with a Cougar or a Probe as they weren't that popular to begin with. Without the cars being seen as worthwhile restoring then nobody will restore them.

Perhaps the only saving grace is that cars as still getting more and more complex for a home mechanic to repair so perhaps these cars will be seen as one of the last cars you can tinker with at home.

How many cougars are left? last time I looked it was several thousand.
 
It seems that You guys like long speeches, because I said exactly what Jamie said, only using less words. Well done Jamie. Agreed on every word. If some of You will be desperate on some parts, feel free to ask me, I will look for them in LT. Shipping costs should not be very high...
 
jamie_duff said:
Big clubs like JEC and the MG clubs etc find this viable. The cars are an order of magnitude more popular though, and the club members have beards and part of their hobby is the technical side.

I don't believe it's viable for UKCougar to achieve this sort of equilibrium.

I'll likely get shot down for saying this, but once again I don't believe the Cougar will ever be a desireable classic and there will come a point where even the enthusiastic owners have to throw in the towel when an excessively complex repair is required to the subframes or shell. The availability of parts will be depleted and there will come a point where the cost of a repair is beyond the means of those still driving Cougars.

It takes a very rare person to be able to afford classic car restoration costs but choose to apply that money to a Ford Cougar. The Cougar was a great car for me at the time. It's still a great car for the money now. It's not a great car in absolute terms though, and frankly the overwhelming majority of once-enthusiastic owners who do have any sort of improvement in their finances do move on to other things because there are much better cars out there when the budget is increased.

So the moral of my story is:

Nice idea, but when you take the average current day Cougar owner, then filter down to those who can spend a few grand and/or have big storage spaces available, then present them the choice of spending that money on Cougar spares or repairs versus just buying a newer/prettier/faster/more economical/more comfortable/better equipped (delete as applicable) car, most will be standing in the latter camp. That's starting from the number of people currently active on here because membership isn't going to grow meaningfully as car numbers dry up ever quicker.

I'll state that most here contributing now will buy a different car if put in the position of having to make that choice.
Click to expand...

um yea i agree with what u say but some of us do actually love the cougar more that just a car as a run around and intend to keep it whatever the cost..mine has cost me 4 times what i paid for it and this i do not mind as its my favorite car.
some of us do have the req knowledge to beat the rust and the inevitable mechanical faliure,
i understand what your saying in that there are far better cars out there ,even classics. but i for one intend to keep mine till im incapable of driving anymore...or oil runs out:)
this is the car for me..
if you saw the underneath of my car i think you'd agree...the rustworm aint getting its teeth into mine..
i get a lot of praise from people i pass in the street about the car and was even offered way above what there worth by one person.
if the car can draw attention in this way just by driving down the street there is a good chance it could well become a classic in years to come....
maybe no panels are about right now but in the future when people say whatever happened to them cougars..someone might just think about restoring one and make the panels.
i have a bug eye scorpio which was called the most ugly car on the road when released yet now it gets more praise than my cougar and panels/pattern parts are starting to be made now.
 
shirtyzeus said:
um yea i agree with what u say but some of us do actually love the cougar more that just a car as a run around and intend to keep it whatever the cost..mine has cost me 4 times what i paid for it and this i do not mind as its my favorite car.
some of us do have the req knowledge to beat the rust and the inevitable mechanical faliure,
i understand what your saying in that there are far better cars out there ,even classics. but i for one intend to keep mine till im incapable of driving anymore...or oil runs out:)
this is the car for me..
if you saw the underneath of my car i think you'd agree...the rustworm aint getting its teeth into mine..
i get a lot of praise from people i pass in the street about the car and was even offered way above what there worth by one person.
if the car can draw attention in this way just by driving down the street there is a good chance it could well become a classic in years to come....
maybe no panels are about right now but in the future when people say whatever happened to them cougars..someone might just think about restoring one and make the panels.
i have a bug eye scorpio which was called the most ugly car on the road when released yet now it gets more praise than my cougar and panels/pattern parts are starting to be made now.
Click to expand...
Keep your one rot free, and that's the problem solved.

In my opinion they are unlikely to ever be collectible outside niche circles, things are rarely more popular "the second time around" unless you get in to the murky world of Soviet stuff or real oddball cars. They don't have the "I/Parents' had one of those factor", they' were not particularly well received by the marketplace and as a lot of people just see it as a "Mondeo Coupe" I think the oppurtunities to exploit them as a future in-demand classic are limited.

As good as the Cougar is, it is a still a heavy FWD car that isn't overly powerful.

The Cougar sold enough numbers to not make it overly rare, but not numbers high enough to make it popular enough to garner a large following. I'd say that you see before you on here the people who will be prepared to sacrifice huge sums on a Cougar, I doubt there are little pockets of enthusiast out there who have, as of now, not made contact.

There is nothing wrong with the Cougar, far from it, but as has been mentioned, in business terms the demand for parts for them is astonishingly low. They deserve to be saved, I make no value judgement, just a realistic viewpoint.

Who is making the Scrapio parts now?
 
I saw a completely standard one tonight in Dundee. Well almost. It was missing the number plate plinth but did have the original wheels and orange side repeaters. I thought it looked pretty good without all the accessories to be honest. It was refreshing.
 
I agree.
Over the years I've owned many classic cars, trying to predict what will be a future classic is an interesting process.....
I'm lucky enough to currently own three Cougars, two C1's and a C2, all low mileage 'original' cars.
Whatever happens in the future they are great cars and yes, we are all doing our best to keep the marque going.
 
scunnycougar said:
Personally, I think the Cougar will become a collecter's item, in mint standard format.
Click to expand...
I think everything is to an extent, but I don't think the world of auctions and classic car magazines will crammed with articles about them.

Anything that's "mint" will always be in demand, regardless of what it is, the good ol' "timewarp" moniker.

Probe will be more collectible than Cougar in my opinion, the Probe has a certain je ne sais quoi ​ for being a bit naff, the Cougar by all accounts is a decent but not exceptional car.

Anyway, only time will tell!
 
benham said:
I think everything is to an extent, but I don't think the world of auctions and classic car magazines will crammed with articles about them.

Anything that's "mint" will always be in demand, regardless of what it is, the good ol' "timewarp" moniker.

Probe will be more collectible than Cougar in my opinion, the Probe has a certain je ne sais quoi ​ for being a bit naff, the Cougar by all accounts is a decent but not exceptional car.

Anyway, only time will tell!
Click to expand...

The Probe cetainly is getting more classic press than the Cougar - In Classic Car Weekly on the 9th July it was rated at a car to buy now as they will never be cheaper.

Classic Motoring did an article in their March 2014 issue entitled Counterfeit Capris which covered late 80s/90s/00s coupes. It was a follow on article from a Fiat Coupe v Corrado test.

The Probe was given 6/10, Mazda Mx6 5/10, Calibra 8/10, Celica 6/10, Alfa GTV 7/10 - Cougar scored a the lowest 4/10, their comment 'Like the Probe - the image was lacking. If you can find a good one, this is a Ford that's well worth mothballing albeit because of its rarity more than anything else.'
 
like anything it needs more spotlight. not enough press is all it is.

- - - Updated - - -

on a little note i will be taking numbers of this sub frame when it comes and doing some calling to eshop and see if they can make a start on that container
 
anthony grishmann said:
like anything it needs more spotlight. not enough press is all it is.

- - - Updated - - -

on a little note i will be taking numbers of this sub frame when it comes and doing some calling to eshop and see if they can make a start on that container
Click to expand...

Anthony, re my txt. Look at the address on the label, it's easily visible on the ebay listing. Could this be the residence of said containers as the return address?
 
Pid_16V said:
Anthony, re my txt. Look at the address on the label, it's easily visible on the ebay listing. Could this be the residence of said containers as the return address?
Click to expand...

Al, if you are referring to 'Dearborn'; that's Ford's main headquarters in the States and where one of their largest factories is situated.

I see the 'number available' on that ebay listing has gone up too.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.