Images: Ray Wesner

As little far as muscle cars go, most classic Mercury Cougars we see at car shows are well taken care of, well restored and, well, kind of boring. Sure, it’s cool to restore a car back to factory specifications, and there are even a lot of survivor Cougars out there that have never been restored. But we’d like to see more Mercury owners take their Cougars to the next level, add some horsepower and custom bodywork and anything else to help them stand out from the crowd.

Like this Cougar we found on eBay. With a 460 cubic-inch V8 under the hood and custom fabricated bits from front to back, this is the kind of Cougar we’d like more of at our local car shows.

This particular Cougar, of the 1969 vintage, actually won first place in its class at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show, and we can see why.

In the place of any stock Ford power plant is a monster of a motor, a 460 cubic-inch Cobra Jet putting out 535 horsepower and 530 ft-lbs of torque.

Backing this engine is a Ford C6 automatic with a Gear Vendors six-speed overdrive attachment. The suspension has been similarly beefed up with an Air Ride Technologies (now Ridetech) 4-link suspension, Mustang II front end, and a traction bar.

Tying this all together is a 9-inch Ford rear end with 35 spline axles and a Detroit True Track posi-traction.

The owner of this car is Ray Wesner, and he left no part of this car untouched. The car has been shaved front-to-back, and a custom cowl induction hood sits up front, custom tail lights, and a custom grille.

Inside, the seats are a combination of classy and functional with a few extra seatbelts and plush looking seats. There are plenty of other custom features here and there, but long story short this is a Cougar unlike any other. And with about 400 miles on it since the build was completed, it’s basically a brand new car. With an asking price of $103,000 though, it isn’t cheap…but is this one-of-a-kind kitty worth it?