1965 Mercury Comet 5-Speed
The Mercury Comet is an automobile that was produced by Mercury from 1960–1969 and 1971–1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car. In its first two years, it was marketed as the “Comet” and from 1962 as the “Mercury Comet”.
The compact Comet shared a naming convention associated with the ongoing Space Race of the early 1960s with the Mercury Meteor, which was introduced as the base-trim full-size Mercury sedan.
What we have here is not your run of the mill second-generation Mercury Comet. Aside from the restmod aspect, we have to note that this is a 1965 car, which was the second-gen model’s last year in production.
This 1965 Mercury Comet was finished in black and has since been modified in the style of the limited-production A/FX Cyclone produced for 1964-65 racing seasons. The build was completed by Randy Delisio’s Performance and Restoration of Lyons, New York and featured installation of a 482ci V8 from Robert Pond Motorsport, a five-speed Tremec manual transmission, and a limited-slip differential.
Staggered chrome 15″ Cragar SS wheels are fitted with 26″×7.5″ Hoosier Pro Street radials up front and 295/65 Mickey Thompson slicks at the rear. Disc brakes are equipped at all four corners.
Red vinyl upholstery and door panels are fitted in place of the factory black trim and are accompanied by a color-coordinated dash, while the rear seats have been omitted in favor of matching carpets. The Hurst floor shifter features a cueball knob.
Instrumentation includes a 120-mph speedometer and a five-digit odometer. Additions include a dash-top Sun Super Tach, auxiliary oil pressure and temperature gauges, ignition and fuel toggle switches with flip-up guards, and a push-button start.
The Mercury division came up with a great advertising campaign to promote their second generation Comet in 1964. They called it the durability challenge. First, they ran the cars for 40 days and 40 nights at the Daytona Motor Speedway Durability Run. They logged over 100,000 miles with an average speed of over 100 miles per hour. Out of the five cars that ran only one had any mechanical issues.
Next, they put the Comet through an East African Safari adventure rally. Six Comets took the field with 92 other entries. Only 21 cars finished the punishing race. Two of these cars were the Mercury Comets. The company expected a better showing in the African Rally and tabled the idea for a more traditional form of advertising the following year.
