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"In late January of 2002, I was the winning bidder on a red 1969 Cougar XR-7 convertible on eBay," Mike said. "My wife and I flew to Florida then rented a car to drive to Waycross, Ga., where the Cougar was located. The rental car was to be returned to the airport in Jacksonville, Fla., and we were planning to drive the Cougar home.

"When we arrived in Waycross to pick the Cougar up, our plans were turned upside down. The really great looking and sounding '69 red XR-7 turned out to be the opposite. The car that was supposed to be ready for us to drive 900 miles was sitting in an upholstery shop with the entire interior laying on the ground around the car—and I do mean the ground. It was outside on a dirt parking area. I do not even know if the car would run. The car was a mess. For-sale pictures can be deceiving, certainly not a car I wanted to own. It would take too many words to describe how bad it was. I do have pictures, though.

"Now we had to return to Maryland, and our short-term rental car became our car to use to get home. On the way home we spent a night at my sister's home in Wilmington, N.C. I got back on the Internet and found this Cougar for sale in New Jersey. This time I contacted the owners and asked to come see the car. We got back to Maryland late Saturday evening, got up the next day and drove to Barnegat, N.J., to look at this car. We got there at about dusk, getting lost along the way. We had taken our two shelties with us for what we thought would be a three-hour drive; it turned into an eight-hour adventure. I took the car for a test drive and was sold. We closed the deal and I went back to New Jersey the following weekend and drove her home. So you can understand why we named her 'Jersey Girl.'"

"The most important lesson I learned from the experience," said Mike, "is look before you buy. If you cannot check the car personally, hire an agency that does inspections to look at the car for you."

The cat Mike did buy is a nice weekend cruiser, still equipped with the original 351 Windsor two-barrel engine. The medium green metallic standard convertible has 95,000 original miles. A C-4 automatic transmission and 8-inch rear end get the power to the rear wheels. Other options on the car include a sports console, AM radio (replaced with an AM/FM/cassette), power brakes, power steering, rim blow steering wheel, electric clock and remote-control, left-hand racing mirror. Non-original but nice additions to the car include dual exhausts and wire wheel covers, which Mike also acquired through eBay.

"The wire wheel covers were purchased from Gary Maib, of the Southern California Cougar Club. I had been bidding on a set of wire wheel covers on eBay and had lost out by $1. Apparently, Gary also had followed the sale, because he had a similar set to sell. Gary contacted me and we made a deal. I actually bought two sets from Gary, the really nice set that I have on this car and a second set. There are several pictures of Gary's car on his club's Web site with the wheel covers that are now on my car. I have five sets of different hubcaps for this car."

Since acquiring the ragtop, Mike has replaced shocks, made some repairs to the interior, replaced reflectors in the taillights, installed a new timing chain and gear and upgraded the radio speakers.

Mike and his very patient wife, Pat, use the convertible as a weekend driver and for shows and club events. Mike's not shy about putting the top down whenever he has a chance and he'll also drive the car even when the weather isn't so perfect; he and Pat were among the club members who started the season off with a scenic, but soggy, cruise through Southern Maryland in March.

Mike has worked for the State Of Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional services for the past 29 years. He currently works in the Project Management Office for the Information Technology Division.

Mike and Pat also own a 1967 XR-7 GT. Mike's daily driver is, of course, another Cougar: a 1997 XR-7. Also in the driveway is a 1984 Mustang GT T-top 5.0 project car. The one car Mike would still like to own is a Shelby Mustang. But he probably won't drive to Waycross for one.