The Mercury Comet is an automobile that was produced by Mercury from 1962–1969 and 1971–1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car. For 1960 and 1961, Comet was its own brand sold by Lincoln-Mercury "Comet".
The compact Comet shared a naming convention associated with the ongoing Space Race of the early 1960s with the Mercury Meteor, which was introduced as the base-trim full-size Mercury sedan.
The Comet was initially based on the compact Ford Falcon, then on the intermediate Ford Fairlane, and finally on the compact Ford Maverick. Early Comets received better-grade interior trim than concurrent Falcons, and a slightly longer wheelbase.
History From 1960–1965, the Comet was based on the Ford Falcon platform (stretched for sedans, but not for wagons). The 1960–1963 Comets share a similar basic shape. These are sometimes referred to as the "round body" Comets. For 1962 and 1963, the Comet shared a considerable number of body and mechanical parts with the short-lived Fairlane-based Mercury Meteor intermediate.
The "Comet" name was trademarked to Cotner-Bevington as the Comet Coach Company, building ambulance and hearse commercial vehicles. Ford bought the name in 1959.
Relationship to Edsel The Comet was originally meant to be the 1960 Edsel Comet before Edsel was shut down in November 1959. The model was shifted to the Lincoln-Mercury division and released on March 17th, 1960 in the United States and was sold through Lincoln-Mercury-Comet and Mercury-Comet dealerships. Door VIN tags read "Made in U.S.A. by Comet."
Developed concurrently with the Ford Falcon, early pre-production photographs of the sedan show a car remarkably close to the Comet that emerged, but with a split grille following the pattern established by Edsel models. Early Ford styling mules for the station wagon model carried the Edsel name, as well.
At their debut, the split grille was replaced by one more in keeping with Mercury's design themes, but the canted elliptical taillights, first seen on the Edsel prototype, were used and carried the "E" (Edsel) part number on them. While the short-lived 1960 Edsels used elliptical-shaped taillights, the lenses used on both cars differed in length and width. Certain other parts from the 1959 Edsel parts bin, including the parking lights and dashboard knobs, were used on the first-year Comet. Keys for the 1960 and 1961 Comets were shaped like Edsel keys, with the center bar of the "E" removed to form a "C".
First generation (1960–1963)
The Comet was initially released without any divisional badging, only "Comet" badges, similar to Valiant, which did not have Plymouth badging at first. It was sold through Lincoln-Mercury-Comet dealers, but was not branded as a Mercury Comet until the 1962 model year. This was similar to Ford's treatment of the Meteor and Frontenac of Canada, sold through Meteor-Mercury-Frontenac dealers.
Introduced in March 1960, initial body styles were two- and four-door sedans and two- and four-door station wagons. Two trim levels were available, standard and "Custom", with the latter including badging, additional chrome trim, and all-vinyl interiors. In 1960, the only engine available was the 144 cid Thriftpower straight-six with a single-barrel Holley carburetor, which produced at 4200 rpm. (Some sources list it as producing at 4200 rpm.) Transmission options were a column-shifted three-speed manual and a two-speed Comet-Drive automatic transmission.
Ford had purchased the name "Comet" from Comet Coach Company, a professional car manufacturer in which the term belonged to a line of funeral coaches, mainly Oldsmobiles. The coach company then was renamed Cotner-Bevington.
In Canada, for the 1960 model year, Meteor-Mercury dealers sold a compact car called the "Frontenac". Considered a marque in its own right, it was a badge-engineered version of the Ford Falcon with only minor trim differences to distinguish it from the Falcon. The Frontenac was produced for only one year. The Comet was introduced to the Canadian market for the 1961 model year and replaced the Frontenac as the compact offering by Meteor-Mercury dealers.
In response to complaints about the low performance of the 144 cid engine, a 170 cid Thriftpower with a single-barrel Holley carburetor producing at 4400 rpm was released for the 1961 model year. A new four-speed manual transmission was also an option (a Dagenham without first-gear synchromesh). The changes to the 1961 Comet were minimal, such as moving the Comet script from the front fender to the rear quarter and a new grille design.
The optional S-22 package was released. Available only on the two-door sedan, it was billed as a "sport" package, although it shared the same mechanicals as regular Comets, with the only changes being S-22 badging, bucket seats, and a center console.
The Comet line of cars was folded under the Mercury brand for the 1962 model year, with Comet models wearing Mercury brand and Comet model emblems. Rear end styling was revised to better resemble other Mercury models such as the Meteor. The S-22 had six bullet-shaped taillights, while regular Comets had four oval with two optional flat reverse lights. A Comet Villager station wagon, basically a Comet Custom four-door station wagon with simulated woodgrain side panels, was added to the lineup. (The Villager name had previously been used to denote the four-door, steel-sided station wagon in the Edsel Ranger series.) The Comet Drive automatic transmission was renamed Merc-O-Matic (unique to the Comet, despite sharing a name with the Merc-O-Matic installed in larger Mercurys).
While the 1963 model looked almost identical to the earlier models, the chassis and suspension were redesigned to accommodate an optional 260 cid V8 engine (borrowed from the Fairlane) using a two-barrel carburetor and producing . Two new body styles, a Convertible and hardtop (pillar-less) coupe models were added to the Comet Custom and Comet S-22 lines this year.
The front ends of these Comets differed from their Falcon counterparts in that they had four headlights instead of two; similar situations resurfaced in the late 1970s, with the Ford Thunderbird/Mercury Cougar and the Ford Fairmont/Mercury Zephyr.
Second generation (1964–1965)
The 1964 Comet was redesigned with a much more square shape, though it was still built on the same unibody as the 1963 model. Its basic lines were shared with the new Falcon, but the front grille used styling similar to that of the Lincoln Continental. Along with the redesign, the model designations were changed. The performance version was known as the Cyclone, replacing the previous S-22. Then in descending order of trim levels were the Caliente, 404, and 202, replacing the previous Custom and base models. The two-door station wagon bodystyle was discontinued. The top-of-the-line station wagon continued to be known as the Villager. The 144 inline-six engine was dropped, leaving the 170 as the base engine. The 260 V8 was available at the beginning of the production run, with the new 289 being available mid-year. Due to the success of the full-sized Ford and Mercury "fastback" roofline introduced in mid-1963, the Falcon and Comet two-door hardtops got a similar roofline with sharper corners.
For 1964, Ford produced about 50 high performance, lightweight Comet Cyclones, equipped with their racing two-carburetor 427 engine, similar to the related Ford Thunderbolt. To avoid competing with each other, the Thunderbolts ran in Super Stock on tires, but the Cyclones were modified to run in A/FX on tires, where they were as dominant as the Thunderbolts were in Super Stock. Drivers included Ronnie Sox, Don Nicholson, and Wild Bill Shrewsberry in conjunction with Jack Chrisman. Shrewsberry still owns his original 427 Comet in Caliente trim.
For 1965, the Comet received updated styling front and rear (including stacked headlights, similar to what full-sized Fords, Pontiacs, and Cadillacs would use at the same time). The base six-cylinder engine was increased from ; still using a single-barrel carburetor, it produced at 4400 rpm. The base V8 engine was increased from and, using a two-barrel carburetor, it produced at 4400 rpm. The standard transmission continued as a column-shifted, three-speed manual transmission. The optional automatic was changed to a "Merc-O-Matic" three-speed automatic transmission (essentially a Ford C4). The 289 V8 was available in three horsepower ratings: base two-barrel 200 hp, four-barrel , and the high-performance version from the Ford Mustang, paired with a four-speed manual transmission.
Third generation (1966–1967)
Beginning in 1966, the Comet grew from a compact to become a mid-sized car. It was now based on the same chassis as the Ford Fairlane intermediate (and the previous Mercury Meteor intermediate, which was only offered in 1962–1963). These intermediate-sized cars used the same basic chassis as the original Ford Falcon and Mercury Comet compacts, but were stretched with longer wheelbases. The previous-generation Comet shared its platform with the all-new Ford Mustang in 1964, and when the Comet graduated to the intermediate platform, the Mercury Cougar became the platform shared with the Mustang.
The Comet wagon introduced a Dual-Action tailgate, able to both fold down or swing aside, an idea soon copied by all the major U.S. manufacturers.Flory, J. "Kelly", Jr. American Cars 1960–1972 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Coy, 2004), p.456.
The 1966 Comet received distinct outer body panels. The Comet Capri replaced the previous Comet 404 and the Comet Voyager four-door station wagon replaced the previous Comet 404 station wagon. The Voyager name had previously been used to designate a full-sized Mercury station wagon that was positioned between the base Commuter and the top-of-the-line Colony Park station wagon models. The Comet 202 four-door station wagon was discontinued. The new top-of-the-line series was the Comet Cyclone GT.
New engines available in the Comet for 1966 included a 390 cid V8 engine with a two-barrel carburetor producing at 4400 rpm, a 390 cid V8 engine with a four-barrel carburetor producing , and 390 cid V8 engine that produced . The 335 hp 390 cid V8 engine was standard on the Cyclone GT and optional on other models. The Cyclone GT when equipped with an automatic transmission was referred to as the Cyclone GTA.
A Cyclone GT convertible was the pace car for the 1966 Indianapolis 500.
Beginning with the 1967 model year, the Comet name was used only on the base Comet 202 model, available only in two- or four-door sedan body styles. Other models were now referred to by what had previously been their subseries names. Mercury's mid-sized line-up ranged from the basic Comet 202, through the Capri, Caliente, Cyclone, and Cyclone GT models, as well as steel-sided Voyager and simulated wood-paneled Villager station wagon models, which were comparable to the Capri.
In 1967, the Comet was offered in very limited numbers with the famed 427 cubic inch FE "side-oiler" V8 engine, either as a single 4-barrel (the W-code with 410 horsepower) or a dual-4-barrel setup (known as the "R" code with 425 horsepower, just like the similar Ford Fairlane.) Only 60 cars were powered by the 427, with 51 produced with the "R" code and nine of those 60 produced with the W-code 427. Six of those were Capris and four were Calientes, with no convertibles produced. Only one W-code equipped car was a Capri, which makes it the rarest Mercury ever. All 427-powered Comets were equipped with a 4-speed Toploader transmission, a 9-inch rear end with 3.89:1 gears, and a Traction-Lok limited-slip differential. Mercury also lightened these cars by removing the sound deadening (saving about 150 pounds) in an effort to increase performance. Some cars also had the battery relocated to the trunk to move more weight over the rear wheels and increase traction, which also improved performance for drag racing.