This 1965 Mercury has been sitting for an extended period, the owner thinks that it could be as long as 20 years, but now it needs someone to buy it and undertake a full restoration. It’s going to be a big job, but the end product has the potential to be something very nice. You will find it listed for sale here on Craigslist. The Mercury is located in Chicago, Illinois, and is being offered for sale with a clean title. The owner has set a price of $4,500 for this car.
The owner states that the car has been repainted in Victory Red. I’m not sure if that means that it started life a different color, but at first glance, the car actually looks quite good. The first thing that I do need to point out is that the wheels fitted to the car in the photos do not go with the car. It will have a set of rollers fitted to move the car. The twin-scoop hood looks nice, but it will require some major repairs as apparently, it blew off the car while it was being transported. Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the bad news.
We have rust! The seller provides a number of very clear photos that demonstrate the extent of the rust issues in the Mercury. All of the floors will need replacing, as will the front torque boxes, and rear spring frame rails. The seller does have partial replacement rails included with the car. The good news is that the front core support, frame rails, shock towers, both front fenders, doors, and rocker panels are all in good condition, although both rear quarter panels will need some work.
The interior will also need restoration, but it does appear to be complete. There is an aftermarket radio/cassette player fitted, but thankfully whoever installed it had the good sense to hang it under the dash rather than butchering the dash to fit it. The seats have a number of very small cracks and splits in the covers. They could be used as they are, but if you are undertaking a restoration as extensive as this one, it makes sense to get the interior trim up to the same standard as the rest of the car.
Under the hood is the 289ci V8, which is hooked to a 4-speed manual transmission. The engine has been fitted with an aftermarket Edelbrock intake and Holley 650 double pumper carburetor. Sadly, that’s as far as the good news goes. The owner states that the engine is locked solid, and in his opinion, it is going to need a complete rebuild. That’s a blow on top of the already extensive list of jobs that have accumulated on this car.
This is a major restoration job, there’s no doubt about it. However, I think that we’ve all seen cars that are much worse that have been restored. For me, the hardest thing to take is the sheer amount of work that is required. However, the thing that tips the scale for me is the fact that it is a Cyclone. There are very few of these on the market at present, and the cheapest is priced at $27,000, with the most expensive sitting at $36,000. That might make it worth it.
I like these better than the later bigger models but man this project is not for the faint of heart or financially strapped.
One of the pretties Detroit cars of the mid 60s. But restoration
being “not for the faint of heart”…is an understatement.
As someone who has owned a 65 Cyclone for years, this car is a lost cause IMO.
As much rust as can be seen from these photos — there is almost certainly much more hiding. This car looks like it is close to collapsing from all the rust perforation in high-stress locations.
Putting the car on a perimeter frame would be a huge undertaking and quite likely would reduce the value of the car.
The interior is far from complete as both the console and the shifter “hump” are missing. The consoles — IF you can find a good used one, are very expensive. The shifter hump in metal is unobtainium. Fiberglass repros are available.
This is a parts car, IMO. It would cost considerably more than its 30-40k market value (restored to excellent) to revive.
At first glance I see similar styling cues mimicking the ‘65 Goat hardtop. IMO the cheap price is still a huge risk based on the visible metal work needed and who knows what needed metal work is not visible. Plus, there’s hood damage, locked up motor and pictures dated April 2014. Untreated rust stands still for no man or woman.
Uh no
Lots of interesting Ford/Mercury’s coming through here, this one would have been a cool ride at one time. Like the looks of these old Comet’s, sharp lines.
Neat car, whether its the lo or hi hp 289. Fix the rust and lose the wheels (in favor of the chrome wheels/lug nuts it came with) and drive it – then restore as you go, otherwise a major resto would keep this car off the road for another 3-5 years (if do it yurself) And the $4500 ask isn’t out of line imho
Scrap heap material. Someone needs to buy it to get those very rare Motorwheel Spyder wheels. 1 of the great designs from the 1970’s
Although they have a reputation for cracking in the hub area.
Lol.
Nick ….. no…. LSD was invented not long before these wheels… you can tell…
Yes, the ad does tell you which engine came in the car. The VIN is listed in the ad, this car came with an A code 289, non-high performance 4bbl engine, not the K code 289 high performance engine.
Steve R
CAUTION: Mercury and Ford did not always use the same engine codes. Example, in 1964 a K code Cyclone came equipped with the 210 HP 289.
This Cyclone just might have originally come with the Hi-Po since Mercury used the same A code for both the 225 HP and 271 HP versions. Available as special order only the only way to tell for sure is by looking at the build sheet. One indicator would be the Warranty Plate, no code in the DSO space says it definitely came with the 225 HP 289.
Is that hood factory??????
Yes.
No that is not a factory hood. It’s a fiberglass after market AFX hood. The factory fiberglass hood was recessed in and not functional.
No, the factory offered a hood with two slits- non functional. It was fiberglas but is very rare.
The hood on the car is no doubt from Crites Restoration in Ohio, it is a replica of the factory drag race car style.
This Comet is almost too rusty to save, it might be a better candidate for a perimeter frame swap.
Ok tell me how you so a frame swap on a unibody car ?
Thanks for the correction about the hood.
Steve R
With all that rot on the underside this has got to be a mud biscuit under that shiny paint. Too bad, looked promising at first glance…….
My kind of hot rod however I don’t like the rust didn’t notice the price didn’t read that in depth I love small blocks with a 4-speed in a small car. I like the fact that it appears to be originally red. Not my favorite brand of car but I like those Fairlanes comets and Cyclones early models.
Since this is going to be body off in any case, it would seem far better to find a parts car with a solid frame rather than try save this one. Certainly a car worth saving, but better your bank account than mine.
Uhm? These are all unibody cars, there is no “frame” to separate from the body. The frame is the body. There was never a Comet, Mustang or Falcon, that was ever anything other than a unibody, in the history of the world.
Like the styling the early Comets much more than the later years but can say the same about mustangs and Camaros. This one in body style and color, not condition or performance, reminds me of one that I saw at the dragstrip where I raced in the sixties and early seventies. That one came from the factory without a rear seat, etc. Like this one but needs too much restoration for me.
A 427 Cyclone is one of my bucket list cars (There are many on my list). This just cries out to be A/FX’d with a cammer. The ghost of “Dyno” Don Nicholson came to me in a dream and said so.
Ok let’s say restored it’s worth $30k, take a $4500 purchase price then add a $25k restoration and guess what? Unless you can do most of the work yourself, this is a loser.
Quote- “So how do you do a frame swap on a unibody car?”
There are many companies offering full perimeter frames for just about any car, unibody or not. On a car like the Comet you would cut the whole floor out from sill to sill and from firewall to the rear tail pan. The frame is then placed into position and a new floor is fabricated, the body/floor can be welded to the frame or made removable by installing tabs and rubber mounts.
Here is one of many companies offering these frames”
http://roadstershop.com/product/brands/2254/
As an owner of a Comet Cyclone for over 50 years, I know these cars inside out.
@Mercury Man – We’re glad you do. Thank you.
Tell me, did the 225hp 289 auto Cyclone come with single or dual exhaust? I had a white/red interior with above drive trainand I’m sure it had a very pretty sounding single exhaust. Am I mistaken?
My x wife had one of these 65 comet cyclone 289 hp came from Ford with 4 bbl and headers dual exhaust , auto trans limited slip rear and a rally pac which had a tac , clock and cannot remember the last gauge maybe a vacuum gauge , had a white body with a red roof and a red interior. it used to kick butt on my brothers 69 Ford Mustang with a 351 2bbl auto. nice car we traded in in on a 1970 Mustang because the tin worm was going after it . always liked that car fun driver
Like…..and the last rust free shell from here brought about that rolling.
My buddy got a 66 cyclone gt for his first car in 1991. car had 390,auto ,410s,fiberglass hood sorta like this car and a big double pumper carb . Old Merc ruled the backwoods Ky town we were from at least when we could afford gas . This thing run killer but rough as a night in jail probably 2 or 3 gallons of bondo in the quarters. Good old days