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Topics - EricCoolCats

46
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / WTB: 1983-84 Heater Panel
Looking for a show-quality 1983-84 Cougar/T-Bird heater panel, non-ATC, with A/C, with defroster. Chrome around the sliders MUST be in excellent shape! Shipping to 44471. Will pay top dollar and high quality photos will be required. Thanks!
47
Miscellaneous For Sale/Wanted / Misc. Apple/Computer Items FS
Just wanted to give everyone here a heads-up...posted some things to the local Craigslist, but if anyone here is interested just let me know. Everything is in working order and in great shape. All prices U.S.

PowerMac G4 500 MHz tower - $175
Apple Bluetooth Keyboard (original style) - $35
Kensington Bluetooth Mouse (PC or Mac) - $35

EDIT: Updated with links.

Prices are OBO--we can work on shipping, I'm pretty easy with that.

eric AT coolcats DOT net
Location: Youngstown, OH, USA

Thanks for looking!
48
Show Photos / Rules - please read
We've recognized that a lot of you attend car shows and have great photos to share. The Lounge and the User Rides sections really weren't appropriate places to put them, so we've gone ahead and created a new section just for them.

Keep in mind that this is an attempt to de-clutter the board with show photos. Please do not post thread to car show pix anywhere else on the board (they'll get moved here anyway).

Enjoy!
49
Lounge / The Mythical '85 Cougar Hubcap
Alright, so...we have all pretty much figured out by now that Ford's literature from the 1980s is not really all that accurate. There's now further proof. ;)

For the past year or so I've seen this NOS Cougar hubcap on eBay with a 1985 part number. It looked like nothing I've seen before and in fact, from the thumbnail photo, I thought it was mismarked for a 1995 model so I just ignored it as an error.

Decided to click on it one day, out of curiosity. It was indeed a 1985 part, according to the sticker on the front. This perplexed me, as this hubcap was never listed in any literature that I had, nor had I ever seen one in person. Nothing was listed in the dealer brochures, but also nothing in the dealer order books for either 1985 or 1986--and I have the revised pages also. The plot thickened.

So with the help of Brent (BCA) we did a little digging deeper into Ford's part books, and lo and behold, this thing was legit.

Apparently it was produced in small numbers and got out to some cars either in late 1985 or early 1986 (it has a 1985 part number). Again, I had never even known this thing existed.

I now own some of the last 5 NOS hubcaps like this and plan to possibly put them on my '84 (which will require stepping back down to 14" rims, but the novelty is too hard to pass up).

Guess this just proves that, 25+ years later, we're still learning a few things about our cars.
And for the record, this is one pretty ed cool looking hubcap, if you have to be stuck with a hubcap LOL.

Has anyone else seen them or have any?

51
Lounge / One Sweet Cat
I was digging through some old Lincoln/Mercury dealer mags and found this gem:



Now...this by itself is a pretty cool thing to find.

But it gets better:

The article is from September 1985.
Gorant Candies is from my area and still exists.
The dealership in the article was in my area (it's since changed names but is in the same location).
It was the same dealership where my first '84 was purchased, both new and used.
And the former owner of my '84 was a schoolteacher.

Hrmmmm....

Cue the Twilight Zone music...
53
Lounge / I am a fire truck.
At my construction job we're working on a residential dead-end street. The homeowner is a friend of a friend and has three children, two boys and a girl. There are maybe 15 homes on this street and about half of the households have kids. All the neighborhood kids play together quite well.

Directly across the street from the jobsite lives a 3-year-old boy named Noah. He has an older brother and sister, way older in fact, so he's almost an only child in that respect.

From the time he goes outside in the morning until the sun goes down, Noah does nothing but play outside. In his front yard is a giant trampoline. He also has a toy 4WD John Deere lawnmower that is almost an exact replica of the one I use on my own lawn. He even has the trailer for it, too. Noah "cuts the grass" pretty much all day without making a peep. He also has a bubble push mower on top of which sits his toy monkey (because, you know, even pretend lawns need push mower care sometimes).

Around noon Noah's mother calls gently to him, "Noah...would you like a sandwich?" And this is almost a quiet statement, no yelling, just a simple question. Noah runs to the house to get his lunch, again without a sound made.

The neighborhood kids like to play at Noah's house. They congregate there in and out all day long. What's amazing is how he doesn't mind one bit if another kid rides the toy John Deere mower or the pushmower. In fact, he doesn't scream, doesn't shout, doesn't cry, doesn't take a tantrum, doesn't pout that someone else is using all his toys.

He doesn't mind this at all. Because he can become a fire truck at any time.

Other kids play with his toys, and Noah marches around his yard, saying "WOOOoooo! WOOoooo! WOOoooo!". And not in an obnoxious manner either. This is an "I'm-ignoring-the-rest-of-the-world" kind of tone. If someone asks him a question or tries talking to him, it doesn't matter.

He can't hear them because he is a fire truck right now. (Fire trucks have important things to do, you know).

Noah has no worries, no bills, no problems. He plays all day. His mommy makes him lunch. He has awesome toys. He doesn't mind sharing them one bit. And at any time, whenever he feels the need, he can ignore the outside world by becoming a fire truck.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I SO want to be this kid.
56
Lounge / Who's the Best Mercury Spokesperson Ever?
As Farrah Fawcett nears the end of her life due to cancer, I got to thinking the other day...there have been three hot cougars as representatives for Lincoln-Mercury division over the years.

Which one do you think is the hottest?

Please watch the following videos on YouTube before you decide, and be honest. Despite the timeframe, they all had their heyday.

- Chauncey the cougar
- Farrah Fawcett
- Jill Wagner
58
Past Cat Jam Threads / CJ09 Cancelled
It is with sad regret that Cat Jam 2009 has been cancelled.

Please see here for more information:
http://www.catjam.net

Anyone that has pre-registered and paid, you will be receiving full refunds shortly along with an explanation in the e-mail.

I apologize for any inconvenience.
-Eric
59
Automotive News & Fuel/Energy debate/discussion / Volkswagen May Oust Toyota as World Leader
Found this today:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Volkswagen-may-oust-Toyota-as-rb-14956611.html?.v=6

For almost all of our lives, it's been nothing but GM as the top world producer of cars. What was it, a 75-year run, something like that? We just knew that's the way it was.

Then came Toyota to displace GM just last year.

Now it might be VW displacing Toyota very soon.

Funny how global economics have changed so rapidly, isn't it? I'm sure there will be much more to this story, and probably other players involved (read: Chinese entries), in the future. For now it's just an interesting snapshot of where we are. Especially since VW's foothold in North America is so seemingly small.