In case a bright yellow 1972 Mercury Comet GT doesn’t grab your attention, perhaps this will: It’s a rust-free survivor with 47,683 documented miles. This Comet was found by a Barn Finds reader here on eBay in Raymore, Missouri. After just 4 bids have been tendered, the high bid is $11,211, but the reserve has not been met. If you can’t wait to see if you’re the lucky high bidder, the seller is offering a buy-it-now price of $29,500.
It’s quite obvious the Mercury Comet was the counterpart to Ford’s Maverick. Aside from the hood, grille, and taillights, it was basically a Maverick. Adding the GT package made it even more unique with exterior features including side stripes, blacked-out grille, “racing” mirrors, and hood scoop. The interior received some improvements too, in the way of high-back bucket seats, unique door panels, and a black instrument panel.
First, this Comet was repainted about 25-years ago. If that disqualifies it as a “survivor” I’d like to apologize for misleading you. If it’s any consolation it appears to have been repainted in the original Medium Bright Yellow. I’m generally not a fan of yellow paint, but I think this Comet has just the right amount in just the right shade. The black vinyl roof, black body side stripes, and blackout treatment on the hood probably help soften that yellow blow. The seller says all body panels are original and there is zero rust. The raised white letter BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires wrapped around the Magnum 500 wheels emphasize that muscle car feel.
The interior looks clean. Woodgrain accents on the door panels offer a bit of contrast in this otherwise mostly black interior. Another hit to the survivor status – the dash pad has been replaced. A floor-mounted automatic shifter is centered between the front high-back bucket seats. The under-dash A/C is an aftermarket unit that was installed in 1972. The seller has not used it in 2-years, so I’d assume it’s not functioning. This comet is described as running and driving great.
Under the hood is a 302 cubic-inch V8. There aren’t any close-up photos, but it looks to be in survivor condition in the engine bay. I hope I’m not weakening my “survivor” argument, but the seller has recently installed dual exhaust.
I’ll let the Barn Finds readers weigh-in on whether this is or isn’t a true “survivor,” but it does appear to be an honest Comet that presents well. I’m curious to see what the high bid is here because this looks like a unique, simple car that would offer plenty of enjoyment to that high bidder.
This is perfect, just as it is! I would be surprised, however if it reaches near the $29.5K BIN pricing, bu then, what do I know?? GLWTA!! :-)
always liked the shape of these and thought it was a bummer there was never a legit performance variant.
memory is the 302 had like 160hp and only available with a 2-barrel.
regardless we had a couple semi-hot-rodded examples in our town including one that could smoke one of its bias ply rear tires all the way to the next stop light when peeling out of the ice cream stand where i worked in high school
Very sharp Comet but BIN of almost $30k is nuts! Doubt any legit bids will come anywhere close to that.
A buddy of mine back in the day had a ’74 brown sedan with the 200 straight 6. We used to call it the Vomit. We’ve sure come a long way since then! Wow. 30k for a Comet. It’s nice but wow. 30k for a Comet.
I’m with everyone else, BIN is very aggressive. But, this is a great looking Comet. The early small-bumper models (including Maverick) come across really well when trimmed like this.
A repaint, aftermarket A/C, no detailing of the engine compartment & what ever else it needs. To call his/her price outrageous would be an understatement.
This info is from Collector Car Market Review.
1972 Mercury COMET 200-91hp (6cyl-1V) AT
#4 #3 #2 #1
2dr Sedan 1850 3600 5200 7800
GT 2sd 2250 4400 6300 9500
4dr Sedan 1425 2950 4200 6600
Add:
250-98hp (6cyl-1V) NC%
302-140hp (8cyl-2V) 5%
Air conditioning 10%
Deduct:
170-82hp (6cyl-1V) -5%
3spd manual transmission -10%
Manual steering -5%
Absolutely love this car….and the 73 he’s selling as well. Wish I lived closer….and we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic. These are just what I want!
So sharp!
If this was a manual, in a more desirable color, with this mileage, I would say maybe* 19,500. This is stratospheric money for an automatic.
Thrilling looks,
Low output 302,
Oh man, Ford/Mercury coulda had a real contender with these, just a little more juice under the hood.
Agree with above numerous comments, thirty grand for a ’72 Comet seems high. High as a kite!
My father sold cars in 1972, he was retired but needed something to do. He drove a 1972 Maverick as a demo, and as I was only 9, I was still amazed at how cheaply the car was made. As a family I had only known a 55 Fairlane, 63 Comet, 66 Galaxy, and a 1969 Mercury Marquis. The Maverick was just blah. Granted this one looks much better, but not 30 large better. There was nothing about this car that made you stop and go, ” I gotta have one of those ” . Its a Mercury Comet for God’s sake.
This seller has the Barrett-Jackson virus… 30K? Good grief.
I ordered a 1971 Comet GT. new, a year later I purchased a ‘72 Comet GT for my wife. Mine was triple black, I upgraded it to a four speed, tri power, better brakes, and Minilite wheels, hers was yellow, no vinyl top 302/C4.
Both had special stripping and spoilers. I sold both of them in the 90’s, her car surfaced on eBay a couple of years ago, it’s now in Ohio. Mine is owned locally but has not seen daylight in decades.
The example that is offered here is very nice and has potential to be even better. I did notice that the vinyl roof is not the original material, it has been replaced. (Center seam) the hood scoop was originally yellow and the striping on the car including the panel on the hood are gloss, they were dull black vinyl from the factory. The 15” Magnums look great.
An absolute YES to the car but an absolute NO to the buy it now price. 15k to possibly 20k (to the right buyer for 20k) but a very cool car except for the B.I.N.
Brings back memories. Had a 74 and a 72 Maverick Grabber, both with the 302’s. The 72 had headers, 4 barrel, and cam upgrade. It was a quick car that fooled a lot of people.
My neighbors behind my mothers house had one of these growing up!! He was a couple years older than me but we became good friends and he would give me a ride to high school in it!!! He died a couple years after high school working for a tree company clearing the trees around the electric wires when the saw caught the wire!!! Rest In Peace Ronny LaRue!!!
Hood scoop should be yellow. Hood striping is not correct. The side striping should run in a straight line, not follow the body lines. Still a nice car though.
Don’t see this bringing anywhere near $29,500, but then again a red and black ’71 Comet GT sold for $29,500 last week on Ebay.
Good eye. It looks like the early cars are straight striped and for 1973, they changed to a curved one, though it doesn’t 100% look like this.
And no year had a painted hood scoop. They had a black stripe ahead of it that was shorter and didn’t go all the way to the front. And of course, the Magnum 500 were never offered on these .
So basically, this looks like somebody’s interpretation of the perfect Comet GT. And in that respect, they did a great job. But as everybody is saying, I think the BIN is optimistic considering it’s not 100% original and it really wasn’t a performance car when new.
Sold for $17,500, wow. Clean car, but that selling price could get you a very nice ’75-’79 Trans Am.
Knowing what I now know about this car…the naysayers are right. This bird smells like someone’s autumn 1971 fantasy of a new Comet GT rather than a vehicle Mercury actually produced. Props to the sharp-eyed posters here.