Jerome's '67

I purchased this car in 1991 for $600. It wasn't my first choice but Cougars were scarce when I was looking. It had been in an accident on I-264 at rush hour. It was rear-ended and pushed into the car in front. The rear gravel pan was history, along with the fuel tank. The rear frame rails were kinked resulting in the whole rear end of the car being pushed down about 3-4 inches. There were creases in both quarters that went up the sides but amazingly they did not get into the sail panel. The hood and front splash pan sustained minor damage. A trip to Sens Body Shop and some hours on the frame rack put it back into A-1 condition.

After that, we drove the car daily for about 4 years until the engine was leaking more oil than it was burning gas. I took it off of the road and started a restoration. I replaced the floors, drop panels, 1/2 of the trunk floor, battery side front apron, lower rear quarter patch panels, outer rear wheel house panels, replaced the hood and deck lid, and cut out the rust in front of the rear quarters. Amazingly, the cowl area and frame rails were excellent.

As far as the other stuff, it was the usual. new carpet, headliner, vinyl top, all new soft rubber seals, but the rest of the interior is original. Mechanically, all moving parts were restored or replaced. The engine was bored .030 over and all of its guts were machined or replaced. I changed it to a 4 bbl engine. I spent a fortune on the small stuff, things with correct numbers on them, battery cable set, voltage regulator, radiator cap, starter solenoid, etc. I upgraded the brakes to '68 PDB for safety reasons. New dual exhaust. I work for a major paint manufacturer and got the paint and sundries for free and a friend and I did the body work and painting when I was working a job up in Maryland. I probably have 10K in the car all toll and it isn't done yet.

It turns out that the car is a Dan Gurney Special. It has the chrome dress-up kit, the special wheel covers and the "Motor Trend Car of the Year Dan Gurney Special" quarter window decals . It is my understanding that they are not worth too much more than a regular model but they were all produced together the first week or so of April in 1967.

I haven't driven the car more than 2 miles away from the house in 5 years. It spend several years in my 1 car garage until our other hangar queen came to visit, a 1967 VW Beetle that we bought from California. It currently resides in the garage undergoing a body off restoration much the same way the Cougar did. The Cougar sadly sits outside in the weather under a tarp. Some of my work has deteriorated and needs to be redone but the car is still very presentable.





Above picture from 2005 Cougar East Nationals