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Gorgeous Mercury Comet Factory Drag Car Steals Hearts One 1/4 at a Time

Factory drag cars are nothing new. Sorry if you were under the assumption that the modern Ford Mustang Cobra jet was something novel. These limited edition drag cars have their true origins in the late 60s. While not the most famous name in drag racing, this 1964 Mercury Comet is the real deal. A Genuine factory dragster that raced in the A/FX racing class.
Mercury Comet 16 photos
Photo: Ray Skillman Classic Cars
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Sharing its DNA with the Ford Falcon and later the Ford Fairlane, the Mercury Comet was intended to be a sportier, more luxurious version of Ford vehicles already on the market when the third generation hit the scene in 1964. Only 21 drag racing-spec Comets were produced between late 1964 and early 1965. Of that production run, it's thought as few as 15 exist today.

Under the hood of this purpose-built drag car was a 427 cubic inch (7.0-liter) V8. Unlike average 60s V8s, this one has all the fixings. Dual inline 4-barrel carburetors, an aluminum airbox, aluminum intake hoses, and aluminum case Borg Warner T-10 4-speed with a wicked-looking Hurst shifter feeding power to a Detroit Locker 4.56:1 rear end with 31 spline axles.

This particular example has been painstakingly and thoroughly restored to its original McCoy Mercury liveries and now looks very much like it did in its days running the A/FX circuit. Items like the trunk-mounted fuel cell and suspension bushings are all new, replacing old and worn-out units. Apart from that, there's not all that much different here than how it would have looked in 1964. Now it's for sale out of Ray Skillman Classic Cars in Greenwood, Indiana.

Official pricing information is reserved for the most serious inquiries at this juncture. But an A/FX spec Comet just like this one is valued between $275,000 and $325,000, according to Mecum Auctions. That's a brand new Ferrari 812 Superfast kind of territory. But in terms of bad-ass front-engine, rear-drive cars, we'd say the Mercury and the Ferrari are about on the same levels of the "Wow!" factor.
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