Throughout the late 1960s, the Cyclone was Mercury’s mid-size performance car, sandwiched between the Cougar and Marauder. The fourth and final generation of the auto was built between 1970-71 and a 429 cubic inch V8 – like we’re told is in the seller’s car – was standard equipment. This ’70 Cyclone looks as though it was recently pulled from a field or barn where time and Mother Nature have been unkind. Described by the seller as salvage, it can be found on a trailer in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and here on craigslist for $4,000.
In 1970, three levels of the Cyclone were offered: Cyclone, Cyclone Spoiler, and Cyclone GT. The Spoiler version was all about power and had the hottest engines with front and rear spoilers and an integrated functional hood scoop. The GT was more for those who wanted luxury and performance was less emphasized with a 351 V8 instead of a 429. That leaves the basic Cyclone, which is likely what the seller’s car was when it left the factory. Mercury assembled 13,496 Cyclones in 1970 with 1,631 of those being the Spoiler editions.
We’re don’t know a lot about the seller’s car, like how long has the car been sitting in its present condition. The body is not in good shape, with the bottoms of both doors rusting away and more trying to get a stronghold elsewhere. The seller calls the color “orange” which might have been Competition Gold when it left the assembly line. There are dents and dings everywhere and only a part of the rear bumper is left hanging by a thread.
There are no photos provided under the hood or inside the passenger compartment or trunk. So, we don’t know what’s happening there either. But we’re told the 429 V8 and C6 automatic transmission are numbers matching, perhaps the best thing the car has going for it. The automobile managed to collect 97,000 miles before it was put out to pasture. We assume it does not run and changing that status alone may take a lot of work. Is this a car you would try to restore or you instead pour over it for any salvageable parts for another project?
Wow that’s one used car, too bad it’s so far gone. Left front fender doesn’t look loose so I assume somewhere underneath the car is not too stable anymore. Maybe just bent as the frontend of the car has been distorted and the nose is gone. Remember one a friend owned back in the day ran pretty hard.
Put this corpse back out to pasture. Sunk so low the back bumper tore off during extraction from the mud.
Pretty expensive donor. “Frame” is toast.
How far the mighty have fallen, In the mid 80’s i saw one of these in Welters junkyard by Amazonia, I remember the dash layout most of all and how cool those gauges looked, first time i ever saw one up close overall the car was in very good shape and could have been bought cheap if a person wanted it but i was not interested in Mercs back then. Sure it got shredded
$4,000. Yeah right. I Live close to this car. Not worth the gas money to go for a look see.
Another one dug out of somewhere & expecting to see big $$$, Get real !! At another 100,000.00 to it & drive it away
Cyclone, Run! Looks beyond restoration this vehicle will drain your inheritance. The front end looks snobby with rusty rockers.
Reminds me to a lesser degree what happened to the front clip of the ’72 Torino in “Fear is the Key”.
If it was an SS 454 Chevelle or Ram Air 4 GTO people would be all over this ready to spend two or three times this amount…for a two bit hunk of junk. Rarity and demand, this car has rare like a pink red steak, but it’s a …Mercury. Never big time amongst the car crowd, despite being a dolled up Ford. I really like these especially if it has the cobra jet version of the 429, even a souped 351 Cleveland would get things interesting especially from the drivers seat,
discounting the one I owned for a heartbeat I’ve seen maybe two or three in my 55 years of existance. Rare, beyond belief.
Not as rare, believe it or not, even in my very congested area, as a ’68 Caprice WITH HIDDEN HEADLITES & any motor available.
I only seen ONE since/in ’68 & i remember where i saw it like it was yesterday!! & Chevy made 2 commercials with such a Caprice yet(on youtube). Go figure.
& I have NEVER seen a ’69 camaro hidden headlite RS with the 230 or 250 strait 6 cyl motor! – tho there was a convertible at Carlisle a few yrs back.
I wonder how far this car flew, when someone Duke’s of Hazzard’ed it…. I see 1500 here… drive train and maybe a clean vin….scrap the rest…won’t be much
Yup. Looks like a 16 year old kid saw railroad tracks ahead and jumped it. I bet there’s scrape marks (gouges) on the bottom of the oil pan.
She’s splitting That’s not a good thing. That means the frame is weak. Probably from rust, meaning that the rest of the underside probably has significant issues, probably from being parked on damp ground over many years. She’s gut shot, as my grampy would have said.
I positive the price is. $4.00❗
Do Ford sell new chassis? That’s the only way you’ll save it.
This is a wicked drivetrain crying out to be rescued from a car that can’t be saved. Maybe someone with a garden variety Cyclone or Torino from the same era will see the value of using the guts for a restomod.
A soon the new owner takes a seat he will have two half cars….
I can’t blame the owner of this, yes its to far gone for me to tackle but at the stupid prices people are paying for would be scrap metal you may as well try and see if someone bites. If it were mine I would be peppering Gas monkey garage and other shops in Texas to see if one bites