Craigslist Find of the Day: '67 Mercury Cougar with Mercedes diesel engine
Click on the image for high-res shots of this diesel 1967 Mercury Cougar
Much of the vegetable oil and biodiesel movement centers around the classic Mercedes-Benz inline six cylinder engine, but fine examples of the genre are getting tougher to find. As is always the case with older machines, time and driving in general take their toll on the bodies and chassis of our favorite classics. But, these old Mercedes lumps can be rebuilt to fine running order. Wondering what to do with that good-running or rebuilt turbodiesel engine? How about dropping it into the engine bay of some classic Detroit iron? Many of these older American vehicles were built with engine-bays capable of accepting everything from a straight-six to a huge big block V8 engine. If that sounds like too much trouble, perhaps you should take a look at an example that's already been converted. Right now on Craigslist in L.A. is a cherry 1967 Mercury Cougar with a Mercedes OM617 cast iron turbodiesel engine from a Mercedes-Benz 300SD. Mated to a four-speed manual tranny, we'd imagine that many trouble-free miles of burbling diesel goodness are in store for this particular gem. Thanks for the tip, Geeky1!
Gallery: Craigslist Find: 1967 Cougar Diesel
[Source: Craigslist]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MarkR 5:40PM (5/20/2008)
Thats just sad :( Almost as sad as a beauty like that getting crushed. I just don't understand why someone would want to drop a stinkin' rattle trap in to that beauty. There should be a law against that type of shade tree hackery. I can almost understand a electric conversion but a stinkn' smoky rattle trap?
Sad just sad.
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snakesausage 11:56PM (5/20/2008)
"Much of the vegetable oil and biodiesel movement centers around the classic Mercedes-Benz inline six cylinder engine"
It is a 5 cylinder engine (OM617) that is popular with the bio-diesel crowd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_OM617_engine
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LUIS R. MORALES 8:22PM (5/23/2008)
all my life i had driven strictly gas engine vehicles, now for the last past six years im driving a a suv 4x4 hyundai galloper 11, diesel engine,four cylender, all i can say , i regret not switching earlier,indeed im extremely pleased to have done this choice, is very sad to see that still in our country, we still cling to the notion , that if is diesel it have to be stinky,yes in the past that may be true, but now with new advances in this field, that no longer held true.needless to say on account of our present price fuel crisis, the name of the game is getting more mpg and diesel have amply proven to be very efficient in reaching this goal,at the pace the fuel prices keep climbing up, im afraid in the not distant future, diesel will appear to be the right direction, its a matter of time, wake up america...
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NVSmith 10:18PM (6/02/2008)
-Any details on how it was done or how it turned out?
-How did the front/rear wieght distribution turn out?
-What rear end?
-Might be worth doing for one of the old boxy 48-64 Willys Jeep station wagons.
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bosyphyllus 10:26PM (8/05/2008)
That IS sad, what a fine, reliable engine to put in a piece of cowdung Ford. And an ugly Ford at that, one might even say, FUGLY.
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Steve-o! 3:58PM (12/30/2008)
I knew the guy that built this car. Not sure if it ever sold, but heres what i know.
He owns a Mercedes repair shop in Hawaiian Gardens, CA (not as nice as the name makes it to be, trust me). He did this because he had an engine sitting around and he also had an old Cougar sitting around. The last time i saw this car in person, it was blue with a vinyl top and sitting on a lift. I have owned several early Cougars like this and i took an interest in it. He told me about the swap and in somewhat disbelief, i checked it out underbeath and sure enough, MB casting emblems all over the place.
It still ran the Ford 8 Inch rear IIRC, and it ran and drove well. He said it got upwards of 30mpg, and it wasnt that big of a swap. He also had an older Mercedes that he made a sort of El Camino thing out of. Still has the MB manual trans which is kinda cool too.
Back then he wanted 12K for it. I dont remember what he wants now, but last i heard it was still for sale after the 'resale red' paintjob. The gentleman that built it isnt selling it, but i think its his son. The guy that built suffered the loss of his wife some years ago and i believe he sold his business shortly after. Super nice guy and quite the mechanic. I have no reason to believe this was hacked out.
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