Perhaps because of its intended lineage, the folks behind what would become the Comet seemed to work very hard to endow it with very creative, very descriptive names.
When the car was originally developed by the Ford Motor Company, it was originally intended to be part of the Edsel marque. But since the Edsel proved to be such a complete and utter failure, the powers that be at Ford, rather than shut down this slightly updated version of the Ford Falcon, transferred it over to the higher end Mercury line, and even that had to wait two years. For its first two years of life, the Comet was not badged under any other brand even though it was sold exclusively at Mercury dealers. It wasn’t until 1963 that it officially bore the Mercury name.
The name comes, obviously, from the many small ice meteors that streak across the sky. As with the name of many cars, especially at the time, it was meant to invoke a feeling of space and speed.
In 1964 the Comet saw its first major redesign which included adding, not replacing, new names. The performance base model was dubbed the Cyclone with its top of the line trim dubbed Caliente.
A cyclone is a furious storm akin to a tornado, the kind of strong brute that had sent Dorothy flying through the air to the Land of Oz. Caliante means “hot” and that’s exactly what Mercury wanted to make when it began turning out the Comet Cyclone in 1964.
The mid 60s Comets proved to be fierce runners at the race track, dashing to many top finishes as a modified A/FX runner. And with little wonder. With a base single-barrel carb six that produced 120 horse power out of a 200 cubic inch displacement, this car was plenty fast for its day. But upgrade to the standard eight and you had a 289 cubic inch motor using a two-barrel card that generated 200 horses. But it was the top end V 8 that did all the damage. It was a four-barrel, 289 cubic inch power plant that churned out 271 horses.
In 1966, what could have become a true muscle car in Mercury clothing began its descent into automotive mediocrity. That year the car stepped up in class from a compact to a midsized with what seemed like more of an emphasis on it edging into a family cruiser. Even though a Cyclone GT served as the pace car at the 1966 Indy 500, it seemed as though the midsized writing was on the wall. Mercury discontinued the name after 1968.
It was revived with some muscle intent in 1971 as a near twin of the Ford Maverick. By then the battle for muscle car supremacy had already been pulled out from under the Comet.
The blue Comet seen here is a beautiful 1965 Cyclone Caliente that sported that top of the line V 8. The red beauty is a 1969 Cyclone CJ. It was nice to see themt but would have been nicer to drive them.
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