1963 mercury comet full#

Styling was plain, though decent, and a convertible was added for the first time. Wheelbase grew to 116 inches, and front track was increased three inches to 58 inches, finally allowing room for big block engines.

1966 Mercury Comet CycloneĬomments: The Comet was all new for 1966 and shared its chassis and body shell with the Ford Fairlane, making it a true intermediate.

Though not technically available, some Comet’s snuck out of the factory with the special order 289 V8 with 271 bhp and some even received the wild SOHC 427 V8.Įngines: 289 V8 225 bhp. It came standard with bucket seats, console, wheel covers that looked like chrome wheels and chrome engine dress-ups for the 210 bhp 289 engine.Ĭomments: The Comet received a slight performance boost in 1965 as the 289 V8 was upgraded to 225 bhp. To capture some of this excitement, Mercury announced the Cyclone two-door hardtop in January of 1964. Specially built drag racing Comet’s with 427 big blocks also were making some noise on the tracks. They had the high performance 289 V8 rated at 271 bhp which was not available in the production model. The Comet got a boost in its performance image when a fleet of Comet Caliente hardtops averaged more than 105 mph for 100,000 miles in Daytona. 1964 Mercury CometĬomments: The Mercury Comet was restyled for 1964 and got the Cyclone Super 289 V8 added to the option list. There was room only for a small block and the first was a 260 cid V8 rated at 164 bhp.Įngines: 260 V8 164 bhp. 1963 Mercury CometĬomments: The Comet received its first V8 (along with the Falcon) for 1963. The standard powertrain was the 170 cubic inch inline six cylinder engine coupled with the two-speed Comet Drive automatic.Ĭomments: The Comet officially became part of the Mercury line in 1962.

1963 mercury comet full#

The S-22s were 2-Door Comets with the addition of Moroccan vinyl bucket seats, a center console, a unique stainless spoked steering wheel with a S-22 center, upgraded carpeting, unique rear quarter panel emblems, undercoating, and special stainless full wheel covers. 1961 CometĬomments: The Comet continued as its own model (not a Mercury) for 1961, but the big news was the introduction in late 1961 of the S-22 model. The sedan’s wheelbase of 114 inches suggested intermediate, but Mercury positioned it as a compact. The Comet was based on a stretched Falcon frame. But with the Edsel brand eliminated before the 1960 model year, Ford released the Comet as a separate model, that was sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers. 1960 CometĬomments: The Comet was developed as a compact car for the Edsel line. But through continuous refinement, the Comet, and its spin-off variations the Cyclone and Spoiler proved to be quite a worthy muscle car. Introduced in 1960 on a stretched Falcon frame, the Comet had to be Mercury’s compact, intermediate, and pony car entry at the same time. Introduction: The Mercury Comet was the everything car for Mercury. They're easy to multiply ratios with the final drive and then compare with the original, if you can find specs.ĭrivetrains are actually deceivingly complex, as you're figuring out.1960 – 1972 Mercury Comet/Cyclone History If you know the tranny model, you can find the gear ratios.

If the Mustang transmission is geared low, with a 3.50 rear end it will have a whole lotta low end torque, which a muscle car would want for acceleration, but it won't have much top speed. It doesn't sound like whoever messed with yours knew what they were doing. Mine pulls more effectively because a 4.10 magnifies torque to a higher value.Ī genuine gearhead can play with these ratios as well, if they know what they're doing. They get better gas mileage on the highway because they cruise at lower engine speeds. The 2x4 trucks have 3.73s or 3.55s in them because the wheels are smaller than mine. As an example, my '99 Ranger has a 4.10:1 final drive ratio, it's a 4×4 with Ford's factory larger wheels. To compensate for this, the manufacturer can play with final drive ratios and transmission ratios, to a lesser extent. It negatively affects acceleration, but the wheel being larger in circumference means the car will roll further in one revolution of the wheels. Bigger wheels have more weight further from the axle, which makes them harder to turn from the same size hub. Bigger wheels will go faster, but they also have a higher moment of inertia, translated as the 'effort' needed to start them spinning.

It would be a big help if you could find out the gear ratios within the transmission.