Photo: Mecum
Caliente is the Spanish word for hot, but there was a time when it was a trim in the now defunct’s Mercury brand. It is a word made famous back in the 1960s and 1970s by the Comet, one of the successful Mercury cars of that era.
Born in 1960, the Comet was initially a car sold with no particular make badge, and you could get one in either standard or custom trims. Two years later, it became a Mercury car, and by the time the second generation came into the picture, in 1964, the trim offering increased and shifted to include the Cyclone (performance version Comet), Caliente, 404, and 202.
It is the Cyclone and Caliente that presently steal the show when it comes to the collector market. And when one that is hardly modified and has spent all but five years of its life in the hands of the same owner pops up, someone is bound to notice.
This 1965 Comet Caliente just surfaced on the auction block of Mecum, waiting to go under the hammer in mid-June in Tulsa. It’s an unpretentious machine in that it does not come with some crazy tune or custom work, yet a noticeable apparition given its still rather pristine look.
Draped in a tan exterior color over a tan interior, the car gets its kicks from a 289ci (4.7-liter) engine running with a C4 automatic transmission. Rocking Holley valve covers, a dual exhaust, and power steering, the car is going with no reserve, complete with receipts dating all the way back to 1970.
Mecum does not say how much it expects to fetch for the model, but for reference, valuation company Hagerty estimates a concours-condition one to be worth just around $17,000. The one we have here is not quite there, but some well-placed love and care could turn it into a real jewel in no time.
It is the Cyclone and Caliente that presently steal the show when it comes to the collector market. And when one that is hardly modified and has spent all but five years of its life in the hands of the same owner pops up, someone is bound to notice.
This 1965 Comet Caliente just surfaced on the auction block of Mecum, waiting to go under the hammer in mid-June in Tulsa. It’s an unpretentious machine in that it does not come with some crazy tune or custom work, yet a noticeable apparition given its still rather pristine look.
Draped in a tan exterior color over a tan interior, the car gets its kicks from a 289ci (4.7-liter) engine running with a C4 automatic transmission. Rocking Holley valve covers, a dual exhaust, and power steering, the car is going with no reserve, complete with receipts dating all the way back to 1970.
Mecum does not say how much it expects to fetch for the model, but for reference, valuation company Hagerty estimates a concours-condition one to be worth just around $17,000. The one we have here is not quite there, but some well-placed love and care could turn it into a real jewel in no time.
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