Are you kidding me?!? Look what I found!

Last night, I decided to look through the paperwork that I received from the previous owner of the Cougar. I had briefly looked at some of this in the past, but I decided to give it a little closer look. I found receipts from an engine rebuild in the Fall of 2003, but the motor listed is a 1979 Ford 302 cubic inch V8. The original motor that came with the Cougar was a 289 cubic inch V8. I believe that motor to be the one that came with the sale and is currently located in my dad's garage. I also found a receipt from John's Classic Cougars for upholstery for the front bucket seats from Spring 2004. The other paperwork is mostly instructions for things that have been added to the vehicle: Lakewood Traction Bars, carburetor, coil, intake manifold, aftermarket stereo, and instructions from The Classic Cougar Network on sequential taillights and the vacuum system for the headlights.

Then, I went back to the owners manual and Georgia registration paperwork that I received. The Cougar was originally bought by L. B. Humphries of Dunwoody, GA on April 7, 1967. According to the paperwork it was later titled on September 9, 1974 and registered to Mrs. Bessie M. Humphries, likely the widow of the original owner since the address was the same. There is a receipt from August 6, 1974 for an oil change and suspension work done to the Cougar with the mileage listed as 33,548.

On April 27, 1978, the vehicle was sold by Mrs. Bessie M. Humphries to Lawson E. Brown of Atlanta, GA. There is registration paperwork dating from each year from 1979-1986 and then 1992-1994. A couple of years in the early 1980's the birth date of the owner is listed on the registration paperwork and Mr. Brown was born April 26, 1914. He would have been 64 years old when he bought the Cougar in 1978. Then I found a really great piece of information. In 1993 and 1994 the mileage was listed on the registration! In 1993, the Cougar's mileage was listed as 50,563.8 and in 1994 the mileage was listed as 50,590.4. Mr. Brown only drove the vehicle 27 miles in one year! What a find!

On December 4, 1994, James R. Greene, Jr. bought the vehicle from Mr. Brown. I found this purchase date on a copy of the Illinois title when Mr. Greene sold the car to the Dustin Coleman, the gentleman I purchased the vehicle from this year. Mr. Greene must have pulled the original engine for the later model 302 in 2003 because I have the receipts for the engine rebuild from that year. Mr. Greene must have moved from Georgia to Illinois sometime between 2003 and 2008 because the invoice is from a machine shop in Georgia and lists a discount for employees of Delta Airlines, Hartsfield Airport, Atlanta, GA.

When I bought the vehicle from Mr. Coleman in April 2009, the mileage was 52,053! He told me that he only owned the vehicle for 15 months and admitted that it was in storage much of that time due to building a new house. So, now I am starting to believe that this is the original mileage on the vehicle and the odometer has not turned over and hit 100,000 miles. I really need to talk to Mr. James Green to have him fill in some of the missing history that I need.

List of owners of this 1967 Mercury Cougar:

1. L. B. Humphries & Mrs. Bessie M. Humphries - April 7, 1967- April 27, 1978


2. Lawson E. Brown - April 27, 1978- December 4, 1994


3. James R. Greene, Jr. - December 4, 1994 - January, 14, 2008


4. Dustin Coleman - January 14, 2008- April 18, 2009


5. myself - April 18, 2009-present

I am sending an e-mail to the Georgia Department of Driver Services to see if they have any registration history that could be helpful. I think that I will also try to do some genealogy on the first two owners of the car.