1974 Mercury Comet GT

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.

Old-timers might remember the introduction of Mercury’s compact Comet, an event featured with a series of television commercials with the jingle, “One-hundred-thousand miles at one-hundred miles per hour on the banks of the mighty big D.” The message was a reference to a promotion in which the cars averaged 100 mph for 100,000 miles in an endurance demonstration at Daytona International Speedway.

The base engine was an overhead valve six-cylinder unit displacing 200 CID and offering 84 SAE horsepower. An optional 250 CID one-barrel version was available bringing horsepower to 91 horsepower. The 302 CID V8 was also available at extra cost, bringing horsepower to 140 horsepower. Optional packages included the GT, DeLuxe, and Convenience and Custom group. The GT equipment included a 302 V8 motor, front disc brakes, power steering, high back bucket seats, pony wheels, GT hood Scoop, GT side stripes, and contrasting paint around the tail light and in the front grille.

The thing that set this Comet apart was the color. It was orange with an orange interior and included orange on the steering wheel and column, dashboard, seats, headliner, door panels, package tray and even the seat belts. The only things not orange were the dash pad and carpets, which were finished in black.

Your 1974 Comet is really an attractive car, especially with the rare all-orange interior and those great looking mag wheels. This special orange exterior paint color codes was only available in the Mercury line in 1974.