This is a 1969 Mercury Cougar in Light Aqua paint with dealer-applied mid-stripe. It is a Sport Special with a 351W 2-barrel engine, air conditioning and only 76,000 miles.

My grandfather purchased the car new for my grandmother to drive to work as a nurse in Sioux City, Iowa. She named the car "Charlie, the lonesome Cougar", after a Disney movie of the same name (a cougar cat, though). Their daily driver was a Ford Grand Marquis station wagon.

My grandparents then retired to Cherokee Village, Arkansas. "Charlie" then saw even less time on the road. My grandmother drove him only when she got an emergency call from the local ambulance service, or if she was going somewhere by herself. She never had an accident except for a small bumper bender once, backing into a pole.

Later, the manual brakes became too difficult to use. So "Charlie" became parked in the garage, and every once in a while, my grandfather would start it to keep it in running condition. After about six years in the garage, I heard my grandmother was selling "Charlie". I called her right away and asked if I could buy him. (I did pay a hefty price, but the money was going to my grandmother.)

My girlfriend and I flew to Arkansas and started to drive "Charlie" back to Connecticut. My grandmother had stated the car had its brakes checked, oil changed, and the fuel line replaced. After driving for about 8 hours, I noticed the oil light came on. I stopped to check the oil and found it empty! I filled it up and started to drive again, paying more attention to the "clicking" sound coming from the valves. The noise got louder and I checked the oil again. Extremely low! Well I figured the oil seals must be dried up and shot. Therefore, I added 2 quarts of oil every time I filled up with gas. We finally made it back!

Within a month in Connecticut, a new dilemma developed. My girlfriend lived in Rhode Island and every other weekend I would drive my pickup down there. (She would drive up on the other weekends.) This was Halloween weekend and we were going to a party. "Charlie" would be parked in front of my apartment along with my motorcycle.

When I came back late Sunday night, I noticed my motorcycle had been moved. I got very anxious. I couldn't quite see until I parked, and walked up. I noticed a film over my motorcycle. I then walked around "Charlie" and surprise! The side of the car had been burned and the driver side window broken. I looked on the ground in the parking space next to me and saw scorched pavement! Boy, the heart was pumping! I ran inside and found a note on my door. The neighbor's car had an engine fire and they couldn't move the car. Luckily, their insurance paid for most of the repairs though, all superficial. I had to pay for painting the rest of the car(hood, trunk, and passenger side).

Well, since then, I have not had any problems. Just a lot of oil purchases. Soon, I would like to begin repairing the engine and adding a few upgrades.

Donald L. Ward

Vernon, CT

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