Mecum Auctions is going to have this 1986 5.0 Convertlble Cougar up for grabs next month and it looks very clean with only 3,000 original miles on it. :headbang:
http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=FL0114-173741&entryRow=708&lottype=Car&startRow=701
Curious to see what it brings in.
Looks good with the top down. I'm not a fan of the C pillar on the Cougars.
Wow, that is a clean car! Can't wait to see what it sells for.
Bet it'll sell for peanuts, relatively speaking...
It will be interesting to see what it sells for. It is a nice clean car. It has the same color combo as my 86 T-Bird.
no one there will understand the vert or care too much about it. Most will say it looks ugly and the reason for 25 only is ford discovered it was a mistake....
I cant say i can even "make" the vert look appeal to me. I honestly feel that when the side profile CAT EYE is missing due to this mod, the car looses all appeal.
Merc could have done better for the MN12 but made it look 15years behind the times.
Ford stepped 20 years ahead in time in 1983,,, the hosed up the body in 89.... then really screwed up with the last model coug/probe.
no one there will understand the vert or care too much about it. Most will say it looks ugly and the reason for 25 only is ford discovered it was a mistake....
I cant say i can even "make" the vert look appeal to me. I honestly feel that when the side profile CAT EYE is missing due to this mod, the car looses all appeal.
Merc could have done better for the MN12 but made it look 15years behind the times.
Ford stepped 20 years ahead in time in 1983,,, the hosed up the body in 89.... then really screwed up with the last model coug/probe.
Funny how many of these convertibles I have been popping up for sale lately. This one has to be the best of the bunch though. Wow, what a time capsule.
I wouldn't bet on that...
There are plenty of high rollers that attend Mecum and with buyers thinking spring, someone will buy it... If it does go cheap I'd expect someone planning to flip it for a profit...
I do agree with the second part of your statement, then I'm not a ragtop guy and never have been...
Maybe it's just me but different wheels and different colors could really make that particular car stand out much more.
We're all reminded of Eric's car when it shows up in his signature or the top banner. Ever seen a 1970/71-ish Chevelle Malibu? In brown or pale green...or white/taupe something like that? Nah, you haven't because everyone fixes up the ones with the "hot" colors. Or changes 'em to that color. Put that convertible next to a black '88 XR-7. Both haven't even 200 horsies...but you'd almost swear that black one had well over.
When enough of these get resto-modded and people see the result, I think demand will increase significantly.
On an entirely unrelated note, the Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette also goes up for bid at Mecum either this month or next month. I'm curious to see if that sets the stage for 80's car interest, or even just C4 Vettes.
Personally, i think its all about the era of the car, and the average age of the buyers for these vehicles. People collect cars for i think 2 main reasons: 1. The nostalgia factor (my dad, grandpa, uncle etc had that car and i always wanted one) or 2. the cool factor. I think some of the Fox body and 80's cars have a little cool factor, so those will always be sought after, but a middle of the road car like the non pedigree Birds/Cougars, while great looking and even modded and customed look really stylish and cool, they just don't capture most peoples attention like the 60-70 muscle cars did. I think other than really perfect original survivor cars, TC or Fila or XR-7 specifically, these cars will always be the red-headed stepchild to Camaro's, Grand National's, Mustangs, etc from the 80's era. Therefore, the prices will never be very high for them. The lack of aftermarket parts and support don't help our case either. I think it depends a lot on whose perception of cool is important. You as the driver/owner, or the passerby looking on. My old Torino is a great parallel to the Thunderbird, as Mustang always had the obvious cool factor, and recognition. The Torino while i thought was a gorgeous car, and a real under rated underdog in every way, aside from capturing some thumbs up at car nights from people old enough to know what they were looking at, it just was never as "shagy" as a Mustang of the same era. I have always bought what liked and never what i thought would impress others. I think thats more the exception than the rule though.
All I know is both of my cats get a lot of compliments. So I can't be that weird right?
.........right?
when I was driving my cougar around, I got a bunch of people yell nice thunderbird at me.
I got stopped last night at a gas station. guy was sure I had a turbo coupe from the front end and stick shift.
A few tbirds on the block
http://www.mecum.com/search/search.cfm
I get a lot of compliments too. I got one last summer "Hey, sweet! What is that, a Grand National?" Just because it's black and has 4 headlights I guess...
Then there are these smaller boys who look at Paula's Cat only to say daddy daddy look it's a jaguar. :shakehead
Was 1986 the only year that they made these convertibles, or are there also other years they made them ?
http://www.coolcats.net/fox/convertible.html ;)
YEAH! "Monte Carlo?" I've gotten that one a couple times from a small-ish picture on my phone. Which really, I can't have a problem with as I love just about every G-body ever made. :)
For almost 20 years, I've been getting the question "what year Tbird is that?" This question is usually asked when they are standing within plain sight of one of the emblems.
All my Cougars have been identified as TBirds by others so this wasn't limited to just one of my Cougars. I don't think it will ever change.
That's usually the M.O. I've seen too when people actually know that it's an '80s Ford product. You would think the quarter window and cat symbol in the grille would be really memorable. You would think.
So lets guess and see who can be the closest to the winning bid. I'm going to say it'll sell for $11,500. I said it.
ill throw 15k out there.
$6,000 - $9,000
- jdb
I am also gonna say about $6000. Not because it isn't awesome, but there are just so many other more desirable cars at that auction to compete with. Will it show the final bid I wonder?
$5000
I say the person closest to the actual winning bid gets a dollar from everyone who lost.
I agree. I was thinking $5K at first but then thought maybe I'm too cheap and my cheapness isn't shared across as many instances in the car-buying world. If it does sell for less than $6K, we may see it again for $10K or higher.
So for ranges, I'm thinking $5K to $8K but a range really doesn't count for a prediction. So maybe I should be around $6500? I don't know any more.
Have some cake.
I'd say in the $6-7k range... And that's being optimistic, as in "Maybe somebody from this forum will go and buy it" optimistic. The people going to those high end auctions are looking for Yenkos and Shelbys, not 80's aftermarket chopped top Fords. We think they're cool because we like fox Birds and Cats, but to the rest of the world it's just an obscure ragtop with a boat anchor engine...
I've watched Mecum auctions before, I'd love to listen to the narrator try and put a positive spin on the 5.0 in *that* particular car :rollin:
Won't ever forget friends in HS balking at the notion of a 150-horse V8 when I told them I had just that. I'll also take this opportunity to add that I have seen an amazing number of T-Cat ads stating it has "the great Mustang 5.0 engine" or "same 5.0 as a Mustang" or even SPECIFICALLY "5.0HO". People just open the hood, see the "comb-over" intake and that's it. The plaque is quite different, but who cares about the details anyway?
Well if I'm going out on a limb might as well hang by my toes, I say at least double that figure and maybe 3x... Not necessary because of what it is, but the LOW mileage... Just remember it only takes two bidders with a hard on to send prices skyward...
I bid 1 dollar, Bob!
(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.aoltv.com/media/2007/07/thepriceisright1.jpg)
- JDB
well lets see now........
when the said two buyers get their hard on .... and pay 18 or so grand for the car.............
they are likely thinking of investing in a profit.
where will be one of the top 3 places they will come to find a buyer.................right here........ since there is such a low demand.
and none of us even in 5 or 10 years are going to pay 30k or even 25k for it.
its kinda like my 41 caliber rim fire waffenfabric mouser.
looks good over the fire place but cant find ammo for it.... its 5 foot body really just isnt worth even if it is the same gun the famous indian jeronimo (sp?) is shown with in a couple photos
my bid........... 4999.00 and the reserve wont be met.
Just a reminder…the car is scheduled to run through at some point tomorrow, Friday 1/24. It's listed as a feature car, meaning it might get air time on TV. The auction will be televised in the afternoon on NBC Sports, and on Esquire Network in the evening. If anyone can record it or make screen caps for us, that would be appreciated.
For the record, my guess on price: the bid goes on...
That's a beautiful car...my guess is 28,500 for the bid.
I got it scheduled to record it. 3 1/2hrs of it.
Sweet. If I had cable I'd record it and upload it to youtube for everybody. But I don't have anything but an antenna right now. I'm sorry, did I say antenna? What I meant was a piece of coax with one end stripped off, lol. Hey, It gets me the local news channel.
I've seen two 86 v-6's sell here for $5k. if it present go well above that, something is wrong.
Anybody see's what time it goes at let me know. It will make editing easier.
it already sold. lot 89, seems like they went in order someone look this up and let us know.
[COLOR="#FF0000"]SOLD $8000 [/COLOR], I really thought it'd bring a higher figure...
Not much of a return on the investment, though I suppose it's better than if you'd invested with Bernie Madoff...
I'm not surprised at the final price, but somebody got themselves a nice car for a bargain...
Anyone know what the Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette got up to? Site says no sale, and you have to be a member of Mecum InfoNet to see what the high bid was. WHOA dude I don't need to know THAT badly....hahaha
Ahh, the old Slegehammer. A real beast back in the day, and stayed on top for 25 years, and it even had a radio..lol.
Looks great to me....but im a 86 cougar guy!
Travis
http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=FL0114-172269&entryRow=257&lottype=&startRow=241 (http://"http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=FL0114-172269&entryRow=257&lottype=&startRow=241") sold 29,500
in school i rode the buss and saw this same bird but a hard top sitting in a yard and was often moved as the owner cut grass in his yard.
it sat beside a 65 fast back stang.
i checked back in on them after coming home on leave after boot camp, and A + C school. this was in early 87. He told me he would sell both to me for 2500.
quick math told me yet again nice things are out of reach for me for a very long time , as an E1, my income was then only 218$ every two weeks.
i often look back on that day a realize how great of a deal this was even back then.
To be honest, i believe that is the greatest year bird / body ever done... ever to date~!
the later 60's models almost came around for me but i stood beside a 68 a short while ago and realized they boxed up the body too much for my taste.
just noticed,, the rear wheels are missing the fender well covers,, think they pop on the outside,, covers half the wheel
Yeah those Birds need the fender skirts to have a "finished" look...
My engine guy just did a complete rebuild on a '62 T-Bird 390 back in Oct... Wound up using a '64 block as orig was busted from freezing..
Also have a video of it running on the stand but was taken with my old camera, isn't exactly broadcast quality...
(http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q765/xxAMxx/TurboCoupe50/62tbird390_zps1a6203d4.jpg)
I see a lot of history in that photo along with some good stories waiting to be told.
He He, you must mean this guy???
'65 Shelby GT 350R model.... Clone...
Bruce and his sons built it in the late '80s to run SCCA events and auto cross... Still it's probably 98% correct... Now sports a roudy 12.5:1 comp 302 that replaced the "scattered" Hi Po 289 that let go probably 10 years ago...
The blue one is a real '66 Shelby street model with R model front fascia added... The green convert is a '68 GT 350 and the red one in the distance is a '66 GT350H, one of 50 Hertz Rent A Racers built in red...
(http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q765/xxAMxx/TurboCoupe50/bruce15bp_zps6fb407c3.jpg)
Since that car has the true factory wire wheels the fender skirts won't fit. Thunderbirds from this era with factory wire wheels came without fender skirts. Re-pop wire wheels will fit behind the fender skirts. I agree these Thunderbirds look best with the fender skirts in place.