Don’t let the listing title fool you, this is a 1975 Mercury Comet – not a Ford Maverick. And therein lies some of Mercury’s late-life marketing dilemma – more on that to follow. This tip came to us from Ted, and it was titled, “Looks nice even with biga** bumpers.” Hmmm, more on that to follow, too. This is an unremarkable car from a time when the domestic auto industry was starting to do a big slide into what looked like an automotive abyss. Still, the Comet, and more significantly, its cousin the Maverick, were important components of FoMoCo’s ’70s lineup. And that being the case, this compact Comet warrants a looksee. Hillsboro, Ohio is where you’ll find it and it’s available here on Facebook Marketplace for $4,500.
Mercury’s Comet was offered between ’71 and ’77, and it was essentially just a Maverick with a different grille and taillights – and therein lies the bane of Mercury’s existence as by ’75, the two marques were slowly becoming more and more similar. As the twentieth century continued, minor styling cues were pretty much all that set the Ford and Mercury brands apart right up to Mercury’s 2011 discontinuance. As for sales, Ford knocked out 143K Mavericks in ’75 while the Comet count only amounted to 53K copies. Talking about those biga** protuberances, known as five MPH bumpers, they did this Comet no favors, IMO. I would suggest that both the Comet and the Maverick were among the worst for integrating federal rammers into an overall exterior design that went into production well in advance of this safety mandate. Scanning this Comet’s exterior, we note that while its panels are straight, it’s suffering from some rust-through (floors and passenger side quarter), and the paint is clearly faded, in some instances into the underlying primer. It looks complete, though, with no indication of missing trim.
The seller tells us that this 250 CI, in-line six-cylinder equipped Comet “runs and drives but needs carb either rebuilt or replaced.” I imagine, however, with only 72 net HP on tap, it’s always going to be a wheezy drive. A “Select-Shift” three-speed automatic transmission makes the rear-wheel connection. The mileage is claimed to be 43K miles and the seller states that the reading is recorded on the title.
The avocado green interior reminds me of a new suburban home kitchen from the mid-seventies, but I must add that the vinyl upholstery shows well. There is some evidence of wear on the tops of the door panels but that’s about it. The previously listed floor pan damage is in the driver’s side footwell, so it may be prudent for one to lift that mat and see what’s really going on underneath. This is a factory A/C equipped car but there’s no mention of the unit’s operational capabilities.
The seller suggests, “I’m a little flexible on price but not a whole lot.” Well, that’s good to know as flexibility is likely going to be needed to affect a sale. If this Comet were 302 CI V8 equipped, I could see it moving somewhat with ease, but as it sits, I would imagine that the demand is going to be limited. Then again, this is a very original and non-messed-with Comet and that may help to up its appeal. If you were interested in this car, what would you do with it- fix it a bit and drive it as is or go the modified route?
Removing the AIR pump and all of that emissions crap might add a few horsepower.
I know I’m old because a car we wouldn’t touch with a 39-1/2-foot pole is now a collectible.
In the fullness of time, it actually looks pretty good
Sold!
That has to be the first Comet/Maverick I’ve ever seen with factory A/C.
My uncle owned a ’74 Maverick that had factory A/C.
Very nice car, a slant 6 for this car is enough. If it was a Grabber then it could use a 302 V8.
just put this motor (RV cam not needed) in my 1st gen bronk w/a
NV3550 5speed behind (kept D20 x-fercase & D44 frnt chunk). Any
i6 has it on the bent8 off rd do to low rev grunt.
Mad Mike’s Mav (same as here) has the 300/4.9 (‘gasser that’s a diesel’
or ‘million mi motor’) he takes to the strip. See Oct ’11 CarCraft Mag for his locally (EastHamp, MA) built blue (not this grn) one.
Those bumpers are a deal-killer.
It’s interesting that as power output shrank the factory made air available with the 6 cylinder engine. Yes, I recall era well and you’d be a glutton for punishment to buy that combination. Good looking Comet nevertheless.
Sold quick. Looks like someone had to have it. My guess is nostalgia is at work there a bit.
This would be painfully slow with the 250 inline. The engine made 72 horsepower for ’75 and the car weighed north of 3,100 lbs. Automobile Catalog has 0-60 in 20 seconds. A buddy had one in high school, a dark brown 4-door sedan, and my guess is that’s about right. That would be terrifying to drive on today’s roads where cars are so large and powerful now.
A friend has a 1971 Comet GT, when he was going through the car he bought some spare fenders and other front end pieces such as bumper filler and bumper for his and Mavericks. Eventually he used or sold most of the spares, he said switching to a small bumper on a 1973 and later wasn’t hard, once you found the the correct early parts because they were direct bolt ons. The mid-70’s Camaro is another example, the front fenders for the 1970-1977 are the same, even though they started using a big energy absorbing bumper in 1974. It’s possible someone bought this Comet because they knew about the parts interchangeably and took advantage of the lower price.
Steve R
Don’t get bent out of shape figuratively about big bumpers. Federal law mandated bumpers could sustain 2.5 mph then 5 mph crashes without damage. Car makers scrambled to find solutions while experimenting to meet new federal clean air emissions and federal CAFE mileage standards all at the same time. What is an issue is the low horsepower on the Comet L6 which makes the cars underwhelming Detuned engines for better mileage and less emissions but the kabash on reasonable acceleration. I do not blame Fomoco stylists and engineering. It was Uncle Sam trying to regulate everything they didn’t like about passenger vehicles all at once.
My father had one of these back in the mid-’70s, although his was equipped with a three-speed manual transmission with column shift (three on the tree). It was an unfortunate yellowish-orange with a dark brown vinyl top. Not only was the Comit underpowered, but the engine didn’t generate enough heat to keep the windows defrosted in Northern Maine where we lived. Forget about trying to keep anything else warm. A truly dreadful car that, due to its color scheme lived up to the name “Vomit Comet”.
Barn Finds had a much nicer example, a 1976 Comet with only 39k miles showing on the clock, painted in a Florescent Green for sale not too long ago. That one also came with a six-cylinder and A/C, with cloth bench seats instead of vinyl, but the ask was a bit steep, at $13.6k. This one is closer to realistic, but will need a lot more work and money to restore to decent condition, but I’d feel a lot less guilty about an engine swap in this one, as the other one was “too nice to mess with”, IMHO. I’d have no such qualms about restomodding this one as part of an overall restoration, dropping a 302 or 351 V8 in the engine bay to increase the power output. Used mills from wrecked Mustangs are plentiful, and there’s always the crate motor option.
I know the big bumpers were a fact of life in those years but wow!!! GM was able to make it work with the NOVA group of vehicles, so did Chrysler with the Valiant, Duster, Dart- and so did AMC with the Hornet/ Concord… I just don’t know how the Mavericks and Comets got out of the design studio this way
This was probably Hank the Deuce’s way of giving Uncle Sam the middle-fingered salute, LOL! The good news, if any, was that by 1975, the three-point belts with inertia reels replaced the awful early shoulder belts with the keyhole tab and stud on the early 1970-74 examples, so that’s something. Those were guaranteed to stay on the ceiling for the life of the car, as anyone who even attempted to wear them gave up after about five (5) minutes! I know, I tried, and I think I lasted about three (3) minutes, LOL!
The price –size–looks –beats any late model –over price –wore out piece of junk any day . 43,000 miles at $4,500—beats any late model vehicle with 150,00 at $8-$10,000 dollar wore out piece of junk any day.