Beginning in 1966, the Comet would lose some of its compact car heritage. It would become a mid-size automobile using the same chassis as the Ford Fairlane – which had a Falcon chassis stretched to accommodate a longer wheelbase. The Caliente was the top-line series, carrying a higher level of trim. This ’66 Caliente is a project car that the seller has no time to allocate to it. A single bid of $2,000 here on eBay might take it home from Hudson, Florida. Thanks for the tip, Larry D!
Mercury built 159,000 Comets and their variants in 1966, including the 202, Capri, Caliente, and Cyclone, the latter being the performance model. Just 3,922 Caliente convertibles left the factory, making it one of the make’s scarcest cars 55 years later. The seller’s auto looks to have been sitting outside for ages and maybe wearing replacement sheet metal on the passenger side as the rear quarter panel doesn’t match everything else.
The photos provided reveal a fair amount of rust in the places you can see, which means there is more where you can’t. It may or may not be complete as you’d have to take inventory to see what’s missing besides the radiator cap. The convertible top is non-existent, so the interior has been exposed to the elements.
When it was running, Ford’s venerable 289 cubic inch V8 powered this Merc, paired with an automatic transmission, neither of which has likely been functioning in some time. These cars seem to get lost in the shuffle with mid-1960s Ford products, the Mustang and Cougar usually take the front seat. In Concours condition, Hagerty estimates these are $20,000 cars, so a restoration here would be a work of love. But how many vintage cars are out there that you can buy today for two grand?
New Year resolution: No more projects, lol.
I say the same with beer and model kits. It doesn’t work either!
Resolution: Don’t buy any more rust-bucket POS non-running black holes!
Finish the project I’m on now, sell and start another one. I’m afraid this Merc is beyond my capabilities or desires.
Not for me.I swore off rust buckets.
A nephew of mine had one of these about 20 years back, he really enjoyed it and I recall it was a nice driver. It was red on black bucket seat car, 6cyl auto. I seem to think it was a ’65 but looked just like this listed car. Kyle called his car a vomit with a throw up top, lol…
The distributor is missing so the engine insides have been open to the elements. Besides PS it has no power anything. Every exterior panel has cancer. The interior is complete trash. The rear is missing the trim, lights and bumper. The best thing about this car is the pair of sneakers on the back seat! Between the mechanical, body and cosmetic issues it’s not worth the money to haul it away.
Best looking Mercurys ever were the ’66-’67 Comets. This one is a rusty piece of junk. That’s a shame.
I have same, 1966 Comet Caliente with drop top.
Its a rust bucket as well, but with possibly better exterior panels.
Hate to give it up. The C4 transmission had just been overhauled when the Comet was put into storage some 25-years ago.
Best for me at this time is to put it up for adoption, and wave goodbye if someone is willing to haul it away.