The Mercury Comet and the Ford Maverick of the early 1970s are cars that people seem to either love or hate. This 1972 Comet is a car that I suspect will see comments from both sides of the fence. You will find this one listed for sale here on Craigslist. Located in Pittston, Pennsylvania, this Comet comes with a clean title and an advertised price of $6,500. A big shout out to Barn Finds reader Pat L for bringing this Mercury to our attention.
At first glance this little Mercury looks quite nice. The seller claims that the car has traveled 39,330 original miles. I don’t know whether they have any documentation to verify this, so I take such claims with a pinch of salt. I do think that the American Racing wheels set off quite well on this car. I don’t mind the color combination with the vinyl top, but that top has some issues. The reality is that it will need replacing. If I were the owner and had to do this I would be quite inclined to maybe either ditch the vinyl top and paint the roof, or consider a slightly darker vinyl to provide a better contrast to the paint color.
The interior is in generally reasonable condition. The seat and door cards appear to be quite good. The carpet is showing some fairly significant fading there and would require some attention to bring the interior up a notch. The dash pad looks okay, but the wheel rim cuts across our view in the spot where I’d most expect to see any early cracks. The wheel itself is also showing some wear, and I think that there may be a crack in the rim, but I can’t be sure.
Under the hood is the 302ci engine backed by an auto transmission. Power output on the 302 took a substantial hit between the 1971 and ’72 model years. The seller has installed a 4-barrel carburetor along with header and a new dual exhaust, so hopefully this has unleashed a few extra “ponies”. The car is also fitted with air con, which would be great on those nice Summer days that you people in the northern hemisphere are currently enjoying.
As I said in the beginning, these are cars that seem to divide people’s opinions. I guess that part of that is due to the fact that they really don’t fit neatly into any particular category. This means that it doesn’t matter how you classify them, they will always have short-comings in that particular category. Checking out what is out there for sale at the moment has shown me a non-runner for $4,500 at one end of the scale, and a absolutely immaculate example at $16,000. To my mind it could potentially be worth the price if the mileage can be verified. That vinyl top is sure to impact the value. I’ve made a decision though: I’m sticking firmly on the fence and letting the readers decide!
My first car was a 1972 Comet GT. 302 -2bbl, C-4 with floor shift. Red,black stripes. Purchased from a family friend in July 1987. The rear quarters were already rusted to the trunk. So fun to watch the burnt rubber smoke come out the interior. Beat the hell out of it, drove it home in reverse one day, there it sat until my parents donated it. Still have a few polaroids, great memories. Best buddy had a white 4 door Comet, 250 i-6…I’m feeling old !
Adam, nice write up. Please check out and research how horsepower was rated. Not trying to bust balls here.
In 1972, horsepower rating/reporting changed from gross horsepower to final drive horsepower (Gross to net, like payroll after taxes ,lol)
Example…A 1971 ford 302 engine rated at 210 HP did not lose 70 HP for 1972. Yes cars did get de-tuned during the malaise years of the ’70s, but they didn’t lose 40% of their HP in any single year..
Love your presentations, just pay a little more attention !
Thanks so much for that John. I was aware of the change in determining power measurement that you mention and realize that it can be deceptive and a trap for young players. I know that the 302 lost some power in ’72 and that hopefully the modifications that this seller has made would claw that back. In Australia we were luckier than you were in the US. Our emission laws didn’t start to bite us until 1977. Our government never changed the method of measuring horsepower so we all knew how much power we lost to comply with the new laws. I’m sure that it would make a lot of Americans whimper if they knew that it wasn’t until 1986 that we had unleaded fuel and catalytic converters inflicted upon us. Thanks so much for the feedback though. I’m using all of the feedback as a means of being a better writer.
Adam I think you do a GREAT job on your wright ups PLEASE keep up the good work! I am coming down under in May of 2019 for a long stay(18+ months) and would like to find a restoied US car nothing over the top but a Good driver with AC Make and model not importaint. I would like to find a Local to ride with me and tell me about your Great country. I am NOT rich but do have $$$ to spend on a cool trip.Thanks for your time.All expences + weekly pay
Growing up, there were two Comets and one Maverick in the family…two were lost to the tin worm, the other written off in a fail to remain accident. For reasons of nostalgia, I would one day like to add one to the family corral once again.
Pretty sharp looking car with the small bumpers and factory V-8.
Nice…these will most likely increase in value due to most being crushed…still a good looking car in my book….
It’s like a baby ’70/’71 Torino. Would make a beautiful summer lets go for ice cream car.
If I am going to pay full price, like the seller wants here, I would want an intact vinyl roof and a buff and wax job.
$6500.00 is not the price for a fixer-upper.
It sure is in Canada Miguel.
That is only if somebody pays that price.
Who is spending 5 digits on Mavericks and Comets?
@Miguel, I agree with @JackM in terms of Canadian prices…I’m floored by what I’m seeing with the market here. I’ve been looking for months now to pick up another toy, but anything decent is simply priced far too high. Most of what I’m seeing, should realistically be 40-50% less than asking. I’ll either be purchasing in the US, or waiting until next year.
Someone might, this one’s in pretty good shape, and especially with an 8 with factory AC. You never know. Most of these rotted away.
I have owned at least four cars with vinyl tops. No matter how well you take care of them, they still have a very limited life span. Windshield and back glass pinch welds always rusted prematurely too.
Earl Scheib used to offer a spray on textured “vinyl top” option with it’s paint selections.
“Don’t Buy New ! Paint New”.
These were not bad cars at all. Considering they went up against the Vega they were fantastic. I remember the ads for the Maverick, 1995.00 would get you into a new one, stripped down of course, but what did you expect? Take off the vinyl top; the always eventually leak and rust out the roof, and paint it. I think body color would be best as I remember contrasting painted roofs looked kinda strange but if you want it that way, go for it.
This would have competed against the Nova.
The Pinto was the competition for the Vega.
I bought a 72 Comet GT brand new. My first new car. The one I ordered from the factory was to be BRG, tan/ginger buckets and a 4 speed manual. But as it was late in the year they couldn’t make it as the 73 were just starting production and I sure didn’t want the stupid 5mph “safety” bumpers. Instead I was offered a 72 GT in gold with black accent strips, 302 auto. I was not happy about the Automatic but it looked good in gold with GT accents and fake scoop. It was not a fast car or great on twisty roads but I did drive it across Canada and had fun. Sold it in Victoria BC. Never missed until the past few years now that they are becoming popular. It would have to be in REALLY good condition to part with hard earned pension funds now.
Wad the Comet, or Maverick, ever available from the factory with a four speed?
Thought all sticks were three speeds.
The Maverick and Comet of this era were never available with a 4 speed manual.
I liked the Mercury over the Ford Maverick, and for me it would have to be the V8 with a 4 on the floor, any automatic was a deal breaker for me. On the vinyl top I worked part time for an upholstery shop back in the 70’s and 80’s we used to do a lot of top R&R, it was a time consuming job to prep for the new top, and risky doing the trim removal especially around the rear window, The owner of the shop always told me if you crack the window it was called a holiday, I asked why the name holiday and he said if you crack it you get a permanent holiday from my business, lol. We did the tops back then for $100 bill, I wonder how much to do today? Vinyl top cars need to be garaged IMO.
This is a nice find, hope it finds a new home.
I had a Maverick, but 4 doors it had the same power plant in it and it was very dependable! I live about as far north as you can go without crossing the line! Cool weather? I am about to die, it’s 100 degrees here I hate hot weather!
Would this car have sold in the US?
The rear.
This was a Brazilian car.
I personally think that it would have! I like the looks of it myself!
The rear looks odd to me with the tail lights so close together like they were an afterthought.
Looks like cobbled later year Pinto tail lights were used.
This looks like a pretty solid car, but don’t know about the 39K original mile claim. The tail lights are incorrect. They are from a ’73-’77 Comet. The ’71-’72 Comet’s had a smaller reverse lights.
Owned a 75 maverick with a 302, automatic. Fun to drive, bench seat, girlfriend could sit close. I tend to remember the fond memories, not the fact the thing would regularly vapor lock and I would have to loosen the gas cap to relieve the pressure and open the hood and wait for it to cool down. Also had to unbolt the motor mounts to change two of the spark plugs, still requiring two universal joint socket extensions in order to get the out. Hit by an economize van inthe left front fender, so hard it buckled the roof and caved inthe right rear quarter panel. Gotta’ love uni body construction. Still, a lot of fond memories as a 19 yr old.