Ever since the release of their first vehicle for 1903, Ford has always made and marketed their cars as affordable and reliable daily drivers, and that still remains true to this day. Whenever the American mega-brand sought to put out more extravagant or high-performance models, they preferred to create new divisions with their own particular branding, as was the case with their luxury division, Lincoln.

In 1939, Ford introduced another division that was marketed as a middle-priced brand that would stand between Ford and Lincoln, and they called it Mercury. The Mercury brand would go on to live until its last model in 2011, and during that time, a few impressive models worth taking a look at were released.

One of those models is the 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7, a beautiful and competent muscle car that came out in 1967, when the segment was at its peak. It was marketed as the more upscale cousin to its platform mate, the wildly popular Ford Mustang. Let's take a look at how much the '70 Mercury Cougar XR-7 costs today:

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Overview Of The 1970 Mercury Cougar XR-7

1970 Mercury Cougar xr-7
via flickr.com

As we just mentioned, the late 60s and early 70s were a golden era for American muscle cars, as just about every manufacturer in the US was releasing their own models to compete fiercely with each other. Even though Ford was already producing and selling plenty of Mustangs, they decided to create an upscale platform mate to the Mustang. That's how the Mercury Cougar was born in 1967, with its top luxury trim level called the XR-7.

With the optional 351 cubic-inch, 4-barrel V8, the '70 Mercury Cougar XR-7 boasted 300 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque, with rear-wheel drive and an available 4-speed manual gearbox. The two-door coupe could do 0-60 in a healthy 6.4 seconds, and run the 1/4 mile in 15 seconds with a top speed of 130 miles per hour. These numbers were pretty good considering the XR-7s original price tag of a fully optioned version hovered around $4,500 ($33,000 in 2022 dollars).

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How Much Does The '70 Cougar XR-7 Cost Today?

1970_Mercury_Cougar_XR7_Convertible
via wikimedia commons

Before getting into the numbers, it's worth mentioning that finding a Mercury Cougar from 1970 with the XR-7 trim is all but easy these days. Very few examples are for sale in the US at the moment, so we can only provide an estimate based on past auction sales prices. On average, a well-kept or restored '70 Mercury Cougar XR-7 with decent mileage can go for anything between $25,000 and about $55,000; this fluctuation depends on the exact specifications of each model.

It should also be noted that very few Mercury Cougars in the XR-7 trim from 1970 were fitted with Ford's famous 428 Cobra Jet engine, which was extremely desirable and more powerful than the base engine. An example of that particular variant can be found for around $70,000.

Today, the Cougar is seen as one of Mercury's most successful models. It ticked all the boxes that made it a respectable muscle car in its time, and it's good to know that it still holds a good value even to this day. It may not be as desirable as other competitors of the same era, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't at least be considered if you're in the market for a '70s iconic muscle car.