estate sale barn find pair of 1969 Cougars

The XR7 is the more optioned car and worth a little more but the survivor sounds like a lot less work.Which ever is going to be less work is the car I would do and let the other car pay for it

do you care more about what the car you keep is worth in the end or are you looking for a cruiser? It sounds like the survivor is going to cost a whole lot less to get up to a weekend cruiser than the xr7. if they are both in the same condition the xr7 is worth more. it's going to take thousands in body work to get it right not counting whatever else has to be fixed. i've got a 67 hard top with an a code 289 that someone that didn't know as much as they thought they did rebuilt then parked. i'm not even having to machine the engine but am sinking at least 2k to get it running to see what else will come up. i expect to have as much as 12k in the car when it's done (it will be right, though. new front end, floor pans, stripped to the metal and all new metal body work and a good paint job.) after all that that's probably as much as the car would sell for. what i'm getting at is what are your intentions and what is your budget. if you think you'll fix either of them up to sell at a profit you will most likely be disappointed unless you really "stole" them. I'd take the path of least resistance and fix the base model (the 351w was probably an option in that car but i'm not sure. i thought the base package had a 302 in 69). If money and time didn't matter to me i'd fix the xr7 i'd probably drive the other one until it was finished if money wasn't a factor.