Located in Charlotte County, Florida and listed here on Craiglist, is this 1963 Mercury Comet. Priced at $2000 with a clean title, there is potential locked away in this old war horse. A huge shout out to Levi Andrus for the lead on this classic.
Firstly, I need to address what is the elephant in the room for me. The seller is claiming that this is an S22. I have done a fair bit of reading on this because I wasn’t terribly certain, and I have my doubts (but I have been known to be wrong). It’s this shot of the rear of the car that raises the question. In my studies on this I keep reading that the S22 from 1962 and 63 were fitted with 6 bullet-shaped tail-lights. The fact that there are only 4 on this one leads me to believe that this isn’t an S22. The seller states that they also have all of the original S22 badges for this car. Regardless of whether it is or isn’t an S22, how can you not like those lights?
What gives me some cause for optimism is that the seller states that he drove the car around until last Summer. He then parked it in its current location on this cement pad, removed the wheels and put it up on stands. He says that parking it on the pad was to keep it out of the grass. That’s pretty smart thinking if you haven’t got a shed to store it in. As you can see, there is some rot-through around the rear wheel arches, in the corner of the passenger door, and potentially some rust on the bottom of the rear roof pillar. Unfortunately there is no mention of any corrosion on the underside, and no photos either.
It’s hard to tell from this shot too much about the interior. The seller states that a previous owner removed the original seats and the floor console. There is a replacement seat which doesn’t match, and no sign of a driver’s side door trim. The seller is brutally honest though. His words were “what you see is what you get”. The dash looks to be in good condition and thankfully hasn’t been hacked about to fit an after-market stereo or gauges.
So let’s take a peek under the hood, shall we? Resting in pride of place is a 302ci which looks kinda nice. It is backed by a C4 transmission. My greatest concerns here are the lack of an air cleaner and a missing oil filler cap. Those of you who read my posts will soon learn that I don’t like seeing openings on engines which can allow foreign bodies to enter. The seller says that the engine runs, and that it needs a new exhaust manifold. He says that any buyer can drive it straight onto a trailer, so there’s some cause for optimism there. The car was also fitted with new brakes last year.
So, what do you think? The seller says that this Comet “would make a nice weekend cruiser with minimal work”. Is this Comet set to once again burn brightly, or is it destined to quietly fizzle out?
Love the car overall. Not knowing what lurks underneath is a major concern. Seeing a quarter panel in that shape lends suspicion to a bevvy of other issues. if the price is right and you know what you’re getting, save her !
yep…something you don’t see….pretty sure not a S22….the dash even had a emblem….soo not sure but as a little rare and nice motor looks… some one close might have a winner.
My older brother bought a 64 four door with a 289 CID and c4 transmission. This was in the late 70’s the car was owned by an elderly customer that brought the car to the service centre where my dad worked. It was as straight as an arrow and went like a rocket ship. At the time my brother was sick with cancer so he didn’t care much how he treated the commit, needless to say he drove the $h!t out of it. After he passed away my younger sister got it and treated it no better. She broke the torgue side motor mount off three times in two year. It was sad to see how she beat the life out of that car. I honestly don’t remember the final fait of the car my dad may have scraped it. All I really remember is how fast it was and how much fun it was to drive. If the rust isn’t to bad in this commit then I say it’s worthy of restoration. You don’t see a lot of these around and this one restored would be every bit as nice as its mustang cousin only way more rare.
Great lines. this one is a standout at car shows and on the street.
From what I have read bucket seats and a console shift was standard on S-22’s.
Though the seller’s seats may have been changed, it is obviously a column shift.
I believe all were column shift unless 4-speed, but an S22 definitely had 6 taillights and an emblem on the chrome trim behind each front wheel. They are rare enough to keep on the road, my ’63 “resto-mod” is a good example of why they deserve a second chance
These make great hot rods, maybe more so than the early mustangs.
People often take off the air cleaner for photographs, all the old car magazines did that, the air cleaner for this Comet has been relocated to the passenger seat.
I’d leave that look as much as possible and throw on a set of loud mufflers. They don’t always have to be shiny and ship shape.
I like the car, and if it runs it sounds like a good buy. I have to wonder about the “custom taillights”, they don’t look very custom to me, and the seats and console are not from an S22. This sounds like bs.
Sorry, I meant console, not console shift.
That black bench is obviously a later addition.
But the missing badges and tail lights as mentioned are clues that it is not an S-22.
It’s not an S-22. Trust me. I know the early Comets. S-22 was really an appearance package. I’m assuming you could get all the stuff later via the dealer if it didn’t come that way from the factory (check the VIN) but that didn’t happen here either or else it would say S-22 on the glove box, as mentioned above. I would worry about rust as there’s no frame tying in the front and rear but if it’s not terrible, this could be fun. Not original engine but at this point, who cares? If it were close to me I’d be looking at it for either a parts car or something more, since it has the 302.
These are fun cars with a big block crammed into them! One of my older brothers did just that back in the 70’s. I can still hear all the cussing coming from the garage that was heard from blocks away as he shoehorned it in. LOL Took him a while but I agreed with him, it was well worth it. Kind of a poor mans Thunderbolt!
I had one in the mid 70’s, 260, 2 barrel, BW T10, it was fast, would regularly beat a couple of 383 Riad runners I knew. I loved the car, was a ton o’ fun. But being in Illinois, it had not much in the way of quarter problems, I would have loved to park it and restored it, but I had no place to keep it at the time.
Sorry, too early yet, Road Runner, and not much left in the way of quarter panels, is what I meant to say
Great car,I remember them from my drag racing days in the late 60s.
Dyno Don Nickolson drove a Mercury comet that had a 427 engine, was that a fast comet.Any way ,good find
Spider, he ran a 1964 I do believe. Steve, are you sure your brother did that in a 63 and not a 64? Ken, great story. I have a hot 200 in-line 6 in mine that I’m not quite done with but the cars are so light, you’re right that they move.
Not wild about the Edealbrock carb. Had one on my 64 Galaxy and could not pass a gas station.
A possible concern is if the car was originally a V-8. If not, and the rear axle was not upgraded, it won’t stand up to ANY abuse.
I had a 64, but it had a 6 in it! I find it amazing how cars like this were 300 dollar cars back in the 70’s now people get more than what they cost new!
This comet was a 6 banger. Check the numbers and u’ll see. Don’t care for that body style, 65 was my game.
That’s what I thought too! Didn’t want to say because I didn’t know for sure!
Looks like the car was not even red according to the door cage let alone S22
Looks like this car was a 6 cyl and not red according to the doorcage white
Custom is a sub model. The original ad states that the Taillights center console and original bucket seats have been removed and swapped
What information do you have that point you to believe that this was originally a six-cylinder car?
I’d get it up on a hoist before I made an offer.
This car is an S 22. It has all the original badges. The car originally had the 260. That motor and original transmission is long gone. The current engine and transmission have been in the car for quite a while. The previous owner removed the front bucket seats And the center And the center console. The original s22 tail lights were removed and replaced with tail lights from a comet custom. 3H13F552496 Is the Vin number
This is a true S 22. The Seats, And center console were removed. The original taillights we’re also removed and replaced with tail lights from a comet custom. Custom is one of the sub models. The parts were removed to put on a base model comet that was in a little better shape. This was originally a 260. That was removed in the 80s and replaced with the 302 and C4 transmission. The badge that says S 22 is still on the glove box. Still have the fender emblems as well. Yes the car is red, it was originally white. Nowhere in the ad does it claim that it has the original paint job. Here is the Vin number 3h13f552496