found this 85-86 cougar

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found this 85-86 cougar

December 18, 2006, 08:10:10 AM

Hey yall, the other day i was out traveling the boonies with my neighbor in the jeep and came across this 85/86 cougar in some berry bushes.. looked to be in good condition from what we could see. it had aftermarket wheels and tires on it... two tone silver/black with black half vinyl roof and illuminated coach lamps... also looked to have tinted windows... other than that i couldnt tell if it was GS/LS/xr7 maybe yall could shed some light on it? the guy i talked to said i could probably snag it for 300-400 bucks paints in decent shape and all that... the wheels,tires are new so i figure thats a pretty good deal... i could only see the rear and the passenger side of the car.

just wanna see if anyone can shed some light on the rarity or possible what submodel it would be. im lookin at picking it up as soon as the money comes in and i got a place to work on it. dont think it will move anywhere lol... it was back int he boonies

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #1 – December 18, 2006, 08:56:36 AM

It's not going to be an XR-7 w/ the vinyl roof.....

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #2 – December 18, 2006, 09:07:45 AM

thats what i was thinkin since i looked at coolcats.net... the car looks nice with it tho... black top and silver bottom with i think an orangish pinstripe to seperate the colors...

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #3 – December 18, 2006, 09:31:01 AM

-could be one of the in-famous base cougars with the aftermarket add-on coach pkg.....

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #4 – December 18, 2006, 09:55:20 AM

I would veture to say that it's an LS, due to the EL coach lights.

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #5 – December 18, 2006, 05:59:44 PM

Quote from: cougarcragar;119051

I would veture to say that it's an LS, due to the EL coach lights.

Yes, with the "Electroluminescent coach lamps" it has to be an LS.
It should also have the bright rocker panel moldings and two bright vertical accents in the B-pillar molding.

Brent

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #6 – December 18, 2006, 06:36:30 PM

Quote

Yes, with the "Electroluminescent coach lamps" it has to be an LS.

Careful, Brent.

A GS could also have bright rocker moldings and EL coach lamps. Those were options for the base model (standard on the LS). I've seen a few GS's that almost made me think they were LS models from a distance. The accents in the B-pillar trim is about the only sure-fire way to differentiate an LS from a GS. There are other little things (hood accent stripes, LS badging) that confirm an LS up close. That always kinda pee'd me off about Ford/Mercury and these cars. The GS was never badged as such, the LS was almost too subtle, and most features could be had on either model. There was not much exclusivity for the LS model back then. Of course, that was kind of good if you had a base model.

1985 options here: http://www.coolcats.net/fox/1985options.html
1986 options here: http://www.coolcats.net/fox/1986options.html

Note how nearly every standard LS feature was also an option for the GS.
But what else can you expect from the car company that gave us those inexplicable skinny door moldings on just certain Cougar models. :rolleyes:

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #7 – December 19, 2006, 10:10:15 AM

Quote from: EricCoolCats;119130

1985 options here: http://www.coolcats.net/fox/1985options.html
1986 options here: http://www.coolcats.net/fox/1986options.html

Note how nearly every standard LS feature was also an option for the GS.

Eric,

I'm confused, can you tell me where your information came from?
I have scoured my '85 & '86 dealer order guides, and brochures. And while many of the standard LS features are listed as options on the GS model, I can't find where the coach lamps or the bright rocker moldings are.

Help me out here before I go blind searching. :dunce:

Brent

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #8 – December 19, 2006, 11:33:32 AM

They were listed in my 1985 and 1986 brochures. And back in tha day when I used to hang out at the dealership due to, um, unscheduled warranty repairs on my old '84, the salesman that sold me the car used to let me look at his dealer order books. By this time it was 1987-88 and well into the 1988 model year, but he still had some old stuff laying around. I went through the book one day to spec out a "new" 1984 GS with all options. Those were definitely in there. Like I said, I've seen a few cars running around with the coach lamps that definitely were GS models, and that was 15+ years ago so they had to be factory. Likewise, my old '84 was a GS and had the bright rocker trim...I still have it wrapped up in plastic. So did my old black '86, come to think of it. Generally I treat things on these cars as...yes, it could definitely be factory, because of so many ed strange combinations that you find on occasion. But it also helps that I paid attention back then or else we'd all be pretty screwed LOL.

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #9 – December 19, 2006, 11:36:51 AM

did it have any special badges? or a luggage rack? could be a Blue Max Edition. there are 2 running around here that are black.

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #10 – December 19, 2006, 01:33:30 PM

Quote from: EricCoolCats;119260

They were listed in my 1985 and 1986 brochures. And back in tha day when I used to hang out at the dealership due to, um, unscheduled warranty repairs on my old '84, the salesman that sold me the car used to let me look at his dealer order books. By this time it was 1987-88 and well into the 1988 model year, but he still had some old stuff laying around. I went through the book one day to spec out a "new" 1984 GS with all options. Those were definitely in there. Like I said, I've seen a few cars running around with the coach lamps that definitely were GS models, and that was 15+ years ago so they had to be factory. Likewise, my old '84 was a GS and had the bright rocker trim...I still have it wrapped up in plastic. So did my old black '86, come to think of it. Generally I treat things on these cars as...yes, it could definitely be factory, because of so many ed strange combinations that you find on occasion. But it also helps that I paid attention back then or else we'd all be pretty screwed LOL.

If we are talking about 1984, that is true. My order books and literature from '83-'84 does list them as available options on the GS, however everything I have for '85-'86 does not.
If you have an '85 or '86 brochure showing them as options, could you get me the form number & date off of the back? If these are out there, I will start searching for them for my literature collection.

Thanks,
Brent

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #11 – December 19, 2006, 06:49:51 PM

Heh...okay...I dug out my books and literature (I really need to read the order books more; there's a TON of good info in there). It appears that on the 1985-86 cars, the coach lamps and bright rocker molding were for the LS model only. I'm not seeing a separate order code for either option for a GS. However...my '86 GS came with the bright rocker trim. I don't have the 1986 order book but I do have the 1985 one. It does not list the coach lamps and rocker trim as being discontinued for the GS, like it does for other features. So...throw your hands up in the air because confusion reigns supreme (yet again) for these cars LOL.

BTW...my favorite revision for 1985:

Quote

Counterbalanced hood lift spring (late availability) replaces prop rod

That was the plan for 1984, too, IIRC. And 1986.
But Ford did get it right for 1987!!!

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #12 – December 19, 2006, 10:44:34 PM

In looking over them for the last few days, I believe they are the same between '85-'86. It does seem strange like you said though that there is not a mention of them as no longer being available as stand alone options, they usually cover that pretty well in the order guides for each years revisions.

Quote from: EricCoolCats;119329

BTW...my favorite revision for 1985:

That was the plan for 1984, too, IIRC. And 1986.
But Ford did get it right for 1987!!!

Makes you wonder why they didn't just run over to the Mark VII parts bin and use them. Oh wait, that might make the Lincoln buyer feel slighted knowing that the lesser Mercury has the same hood hinges as his. :rolleyes:

found this 85-86 cougar

Reply #13 – December 20, 2006, 02:15:15 AM

Well i do not recall any special badging or luggage rack on the cougar. I guess when the opportunity comes i will pick it up and run the vin number with ford to get the build specs on it ;-) then that will clear up the whole GS and LS with the EL coach lights huh