Choose An Ugly But Running Project: 1969 Dodge A100 vs 1973 Mercury Cougar

For our final entry in Despised Car Week, I’ve chosen a type of vehicle I know a lot of you aren’t fond of: sketchy projects. These both run and drive, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do on them; you’ll have your hands full with either of them. Which one is worth the effort? That will be up to you.

Yesterday we looked at boring, invisible cars, and by an overwhelming majority, you would really rather have a Buick, it looks like. And from the comments, the bench seat was actually a selling point for some of you. The Buick’s simpler and more trustworthy V6 engine helped as well.

You’re probably right, but if the seller of that Malibu is telling the truth about all the work that has been done to it, you can’t count it out so quickly. With all the new parts, it may end up being the better deal, even with a little rust. I’d have to check them both out in person to know for sure. But really, for fifteen hundred bucks, either one would be a fine cheap beater.

Selling a half-finished project is hard. You have to find someone who shares your enthusiasm for the car, and who can see your vision for it, or has a vision of their own. And you have to be honest about its condition, and why you’re not pursuing the project any further. You have to be patient, too, because the right buyer isn’t just going to magically appear just because you put the car up for sale. I harbor no delusions that the right buyer for either of these cars is out there reading this right now, but if you are, a finder’s fee is customary. Let’s check them out and see what you think.

1969 Dodge A100 Pickup – $4,000

Engine/drivetrain: 225 cubic inch OHV inline 6, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: South San Francisco, CA

Odometer reading: Unknown

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Product planning for automotive companies is often a case of “monkey see, monkey do.” One company comes up with a brilliant idea, and everyone else has to follow. Dodge’s A100 trucks, introduced in 1964, were a reaction to the Ford Econoline and Chevy Corvair 95, which in turn were designed to compete with the VW Transporter. Like the Ford, Chevy, and VW, the A100 was available as either a panel van, a window van, or a pickup truck.

Whereas Chevy and VW chose to locate the engine in the rear, Ford and Dodge kept it up front, between the front seats. Under that hump with the blanket on it is a 225 cubic inch Slant Six, in this case equipped with an aftermarket intake and a big four-barrel carb for more power. It drives the rear axle through a Torqueflite automatic, and the seller says it runs and drives just fine and has current registration.

The cab-forward design is a great way of maximizing cargo space for a small vehicle – witness the endless parade of kei trucks from Japan – but it is lacking in the safety department. Best advice: If you like your legs, don’t hit anything. I’ve always liked the automatic shifter in these; it sticks out of the dashboard, with a big round knob on the lever, and it feels very satisfying to drop it into gear.

This truck dates back to the days when you bought a truck because you needed it to do work, not because you wanted to look cool. Somebody added a crude set of utility boxes to the bed sides of this one, because they needed a secure place to put tools. Yeah, they’re ugly, but they tell a story. Getting rid of them would be a monumental task; you’d have to either find another A100 in a junkyard to cut patch panels from, or have someone fabricate new bed sides. Either way, it’s probably not worth it. Just lean into the old work truck vibe.

1973 Mercury Cougar XR7 – $4,000

Engine/drivetrain: 351 cubic inch OHV V8, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Atwater, CA

Odometer reading: Unknown

Operational status: Runs and drives well, but needs brake work

This car has been for sale for a long time, and I’ve thought about featuring it before, but I haven’t because the photos are so small. But I finally decided it was time. This is the second-generation Mercury Cougar, the last Cougar to share a platform with the Mustang. But the move from muscle car to personal luxury coupe had begun; you could get a fast Cougar still, but most of them leaned towards comfort.

The seller says this car has a 302 V8, but the info I found says that a 351 Cleveland should have been the base engine in a ’73 Cougar. And I’m pretty sure the air cleaner says “351 2V” on it, so I think the seller is mistaken. Regardless, it runs well, and the car is drivable, but the seller says it could use new brakes. It does have a new radiator, and the transmission was just rebuilt.

The ad doesn’t have any good overall interior photos, but what we can see is that the seat upholstery is shot and the door panels are off, but the seller says they’re included. That’s good, because the reproduction parts places don’t cater to the Cougar as well as they do the Mustang. Have the seats reupholstered and put it all back together, and it should look fine. This is never going to be a show car anyway.

The outside, frankly, is a mess. Someone has done some rust repair, but badly. It has Bondo slathered on like cake frosting, with no attempt to smooth it out at all, with primer just sprayed over the top. It’s a great example of how not to do bodywork, but what was done can be undone. If you ever wanted to learn how to do bodywork, it’s actually not a bad starting point. The convertible top works, and it’s not in terrible shape, but the plastic rear window is more or less opaque.

Neither one of these is really “worth” restoring, but they don’t really have to be. Some cars are just good practice, a way to learn how to fix stuff just for the sake of fixing it. If that’s not your cup of tea, I apologize, and I’ll make it up to you next week. But if you think you would enjoy having an old car around just to teach yourself some things, which one interests you more?