I couldn't recognize what was in the first pic until you pointed them out in the for sale thread, they look like pistol magazines lol I didnt know 96-97s had those, literally every one I can think of is body colored. My Cougar however has exactly one in the middle, which I thought was unique to 94-95 Cougars.
Sometimes the chase is better than the catch. Even when MN12s were common in junkyards in the chicago area I'd still leave with little to nothing of value(to me or anyone else), but I often enjoyed the trip to seedier/industrial areas or the car show of junkyards without any "look but don't touch signs".