For my money, the 1964-65 Comet has earned a place in Mercury’s top-five offerings over their long, sometimes illustrious history, right up there with the bathtub 1949s and the 1967 Cougar. For 1964, Mercury canceled its slow selling Meteor intermediate and began a scorched earth marketing campaign for the only-slightly-smaller Comet, sending it to Daytona for a 100,000-mile endurance run, Africa for the East African Safari Rally, and the dragstrips of America with a 427 stuffed between the fenders. Even if it was clearly a spiffed-up Falcon, Mercury gave the Comet a racing image, and as such, cars like this nice little ’64 Caliente offered on eBay in Fraser, MI, have more swagger than you’d otherwise suspect. This one was sent to the Barn Finds offices by the reliable Curvette, and its asking price is $27,900 or best offer.
The eBay Caliente, however, is far from a race car. It has a non-original 164-horsepower 260 small-block (the seller says that it’s from a ’63 model, which has few if any differences from a ’64). All ’64 Comets had a generator for the last time, but this car has power steering and power brakes, and the engine compartment is nicely detailed for a driver. The transmission is the new-for-1964 C4 three-speed Merc-O-Matic, and the rear axle ratio is code “6” on the data tag: 2.80:1.
The Comet’s interior is code “69” Medium Palomino, and although it’s been reupholstered in a non-original vinyl and velour pattern, the colors seem to match the door tag. What doesn’t match is the paint; it was also originally “Palomino,” but the car got a new white paint job in March of 2024. All the jambs were painted, but there’s a little overspray here and there where it doesn’t belong. Regardless, bucket seats and a console were options on the Caliente, but the bright trim and woodgrain insets were standard, and the seller mentions that the wood trim shows some wear. The AM/FM radio this car has was an original option; the spare radio in the trunk tells me that it might not be original (or it doesn’t work).
The seller doesn’t include a picture of the door tag, but they mention that the District Sales Office code is “54,” which coincides with the Seattle area and might explain the Comet’s almost complete lack of serious rust. Someone at some point gave it a shot of undercoating, but it doesn’t look like anything recent, and there aren’t any signs of serious rust repair in the pictures. Unsurprisingly, the car was built at the Los Angeles plant, with a scheduled built date of December 12, 1963. The exhaust system is new, according to the ad.
Aside from the non-stock paint color, the only obvious modifications are the Magnum 500 wheels and (perhaps) the vinyl top. A black or white vinyl top was optional on the Cyclone models, but I found no mention in the sales material of it being available on the Caliente, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hiding on a sheet somewhere. I like it; single-tone white might be a little too much white for this car, and the contrasting top color looks good. The whole car looks good, as a matter of fact, and even if you won’t be tackling the roughest roads Africa has to offer, the little Comet should handle Michigan’s potholes just fine.
My father had an eye for the unique. Included in the mix were an Austin A40 Somerset drophead coupe, a clutch of Opel GT’s and a 1964 Comet Cyclone. As a young child, I recall drifting off to sleep laying on the center console while we motored through the night. My brother and I both lament he didn’t hang on to that car, like so many others he squirrelled away in outbuildings and barns.
Love the unique’s! My first new ride was an Opel GT, and I almost bought a Comet Cyclone at a Goodguys show. Someone else upped my offer. I guess they go together in some abstract manner.
Gone baby gone. He may have gotten the ask. This was a nice Mercury. I know it was a twin to the Falcon but it looks longer somehow. The only way it would be better is if it were a convertible.
Those am/fm radios are mighty scarce for 64 and 65 Comets.
Oddly enough, FOMOCO used that “Ford O Matic” (and I suppose “Merc O Matic” ?) name on a variety of different transmissions including the original C4. Also, the 221/260 & early 289 up to late 1964 used a smaller 5 bolt bell housing and then went to a 6 bolt. Back in the day, these engines & smaller bell housings were sought after in junk yards for swaps into smaller cars like sports cars and hot rods. I put one in a CJ5. :-) Terry J
One of the cars I should have kept (and there are many) was a 1965 Comet convertible. It never left me stranded, even in the middle of a St. Louis winter. Does anybody else remember the ad campaign where Mercury said “100,000 miles at 100 miles an hour on the banks of the rugged Big D”? Big D was the Daytona Speedway. The car was a 1964 Comet hardtop.
Re. vinyl roof availability on a Caliente. Specified or not, one can always assume that the top-o-the-line of a particular model series, would be the first, & perhaps the only model, to receive an optional vinyl top.
Sweet !
Maybe I’m in the minority here, Aaron, but I love all white cars, as long as they sport black wall tires and lots of chrome. Bucking the prevalence of the times, both my ’73 Riviera and ’76 Capri II are bereft of the vinyl tops, and I like their looks minus them. It looks good on the Comet, and it’s more appropriate on a Sixties car. I even put a vinyl top on my -68 Mustang fastback – hey, Shelby did it first!
Listing ended with no buyers.
Nice
Looks alot like my 65 Falcon Futura Fastback. Traded in my 48 Chevy, 200 down and payout $2000, at 65 a month. 200 cu in. six 3 speed on the column. Fun little car for a 19 yr old. Mustang had just came out and all my friends were buying them and I wanted to be different so I got the Falcon
This listing ended on Thu, Dec 4. No sale