Ford built about 50 1964 Comet Cyclones with racing 427 power, and they dominated drag racing so hard they got shuffled into their own class to keep things fair.
Lead trim: Comet Cyclone 289 cu in four-barrel V8 (1965) · up to 210 hp
Mercury Cyclone1964–1965
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mercury Cyclone yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactFord built about 50 1964 Comet Cyclones with racing 427 power, and they dominated drag racing so hard they got shuffled into their own class to keep things fair.
The Mercury Cyclone was marketed by Mercury from 1964 to 1971. Introduced in 1964 as the Mercury Comet Cyclone, it replaced the S-22 as the performance-oriented version of the Comet line, positioned as a muscle car representing Mercury in racing as a clone of the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt. The Cyclone started as an option for the 1964 Comet, with a 289 cu in (4,736 cc), 210 hp engine, a spoked steering wheel and bucket seats, and some chromed engine parts. In 1965 the engine was updated to the four-barrel carbureted version of the 289 with performance options including a handling package, a special fan and a "power transfer" rear axle; the page quotes it at 200 hp, but the Mercury Comet page lists the four-barrel 289 at 225 hp (200 hp being the two-barrel), so no 1965 rating is entered here. Special features were a black-out stand-up grille, bucket seats with sewn-through pleats, center console, chrome-plated wheel covers with lug nuts, engine "dress up kit", unique insignias, a vinyl roof in black or white and a "Power-Pac" gauge cluster. Production was 7,454 in 1964 and 12,347 in 1965.
Collectors Spotted in the Mercury Cyclone Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Mercury Cyclone yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comet Cyclone 289 cu in V8 (210 hp, 1964) | 1964–1964 | 4.7 L V8 | 210 hp | 300 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Comet Cyclone 289 cu in four-barrel V8 (1965) | 1965–1965 | 4.7 L V8 | 200 hp | 285 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The 1972 Montego Cyclone was barely a blip: Mercury built only 30 of them before replacing the package with the new Montego GT.
The 1970 Cyclone GT looked every inch the muscle car — hood scoop, racing mirrors, hideaway headlights — but came standard with only a 2-barrel 351 small-block and a 3-speed manual. The big engines were all extra.
Wood Brothers Racing's #21 1971 Cyclone set a NASCAR record that still stands: 18 wins out of just 32 races that season.
The race version of the Cyclone Spoiler II didn't use a Mercury engine at all — under the hood sat the same Boss 429 block as the 1969 Boss Mustang.
Ford planned an even more aggressive nose for the 1970 Cyclone Spoiler II — then built exactly one prototype and stopped there.
The 1969 Cyclone Cobra Jet's optional Ram Air setup — a 735 CFM four-barrel carb — got no horsepower bump on paper at all, despite obviously adding more than the quoted 335 hp.
The 1968 Cyclone was more than fast for a muscle car — it set an actual world record at 189.22 mph at Daytona, earning it the title of fastest car that year.
The 1968 Cyclone (with the GT package as its performance trim) was crowned the fastest car of the year after setting a world record speed of 189.22 mph at Daytona.
A Comet Cyclone GT convertible paced the 1966 Indianapolis 500, a serious honor for what was supposed to be Mercury's mid-range performance model.
This Cyclone GT wasn't just a muscle car — a convertible version led the field at the 1966 Indianapolis 500 as the official pace car.
Ford built about 50 1964 Comet Cyclones with racing 427 power, and they dominated drag racing so hard they got shuffled into their own class to keep things fair.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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