Danville Street Sighting - 1972 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Convertible

This week we're celebrating Independence Day a little differently from how we usually do it at California Streets. Instead of featuring cars from defunct independent American manufacturers, I'm featuring defunct mainstream American brands in red, white and blue. Representing the color white today is this 1972 Mercury Cougar XR-7 convertible.

Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1988 CMC Tiffany Classic

This week we're looking at cars from the 1980s that are uniquely a product of their time. Well, maybe not. Neo-classics have been a thing for decades. Ever since the Excalibur of the 1960s, people have been building cars that evoke the golden age of 1930s luxury and sports roadsters. Over the years we've seen the Clenet, Spartan II, Sceptre, Zimmer Golden Spirit among dozens of others, even such modern oddballs as the Mitsuoka Le Seyde and the SixTen Spirit. More exacting or approximate replicas of 1930s cars were also made, like the Auburn Speedster, Cord, Duesenberg II, Bugatti 35X, Mercedes 500K and Jaguar SS 100. Usually neoclassics use fiberglass parts on a donor body with contemporary chassis and drivetrain. They range from professionally coachbuilt cars to do-it-yourself fiberglass kits. A company called Classic Motor Carriages offered numerous products during the 1980s, ranging from Shelby Cobras, '34 Fords, Porsche 356 Speedsters, MG TDs and Gazelle "1929 Mercedes" roadsters. Perhaps the most extravagant of all of these was the Tiffany Classic.

Los Gatos Street Sighting - 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7

"I love it when a plan comes together." Those words were made famous by George Peppard in The A-Team, and it's true. In my case, though, making plans usually ensures something will go wrong, but serendipity frequently comes through and something positive happens that's totally different. I planned a day to drive to Aptos via Santa Cruz. A Flickr member who owns a 1976 Citroën CX OK'd me to stop by and check out his car, if I could find it. Well, I couldn't. In fact, nothing in Aptos made itself available. Santa Cruz yielded a couple of vehicles that day including the Mazda Miata art car in my previous post. Then on the return trip I happened upon this gorgeous 1968 Mercury Cougar in the town of Los Gatos. And where better to find a Cougar than in a town whose name means "The Cats" in Spanish?

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7 Convertible

It's winter now and much of the United States is gripped by frigid temperatures and snow. So this week, let's look at some convertibles!

Up first this week is a sunny yellow 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7 droptop. I've long loved the '70 Cougars with their neat styling, athletic looks and performance to match. The 1969 front end left a bit to be desired in my opinion, and the '70 facelift gives the car a more aggressive, symmetrical look. The electric shaver grille with hideaway headlamps of the early Cougars is my favorite design element. Mind you, there is still a balance of performance and comfort shown here. The formal-looking "Lincoln-Mercury Division" badge on the taillight panel is there to remind you that this isn't your teenage son's Mustang.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7

One of the great things about Santa Cruz is that someone, somewhere, always has their old car out for the day. They're rarely concours examples, but usually a decent driver. I found this 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 while looking for a parking space near Marianne's ice cream shop. The shop is extremely popular and has a tiny parking lot, so we had to go down the block and around the corner to find parking. I was with a friend who's a huge fan of early Cougars so this was a good sighting for both of us.

Castro Valley Street Sighting - 1967 Mercury Cougar XR7

In my last post I touched on my fondness for the Ford Mustang. I also said that I'd minimize the number of Mustangs featured here.

This is not a Mustang. Well, not quite.

It's a 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7, a competitor for the Mustang which was based on the same platform and occupied a slightly higher market position. Fundamentally, it's still a Mustang, albeit one with nicer trim and a more upscale, European-looking body that further separates it from its bread-and-butter Falcon roots. (Cool fact: Cougar was one of the names Ford executives considered when naming the Mustang).