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.
Lead trim: Cyclone GT 351 cu in Cleveland two-barrel V8
Mercury Cyclone GT1970–1971
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mercury Cyclone GT 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.
FactThe 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.
The 1970 Cyclone GT was for the sporting gentleman who placed more emphasis on style than speed: the basic package offered comfort-weave bucket seats, a full-length console, twin racing mirrors, an integrated hood scoop that could be made functional for optional ram-air induction, hide-away headlights, three-pod tail lights and unique lower-body line trim. The cost was a small-block 351 Cleveland with a two-barrel carburetor and a three-speed manual transmission as standard, with options of the four-barrel Cleveland followed by a set of 429 big blocks up to the Super Cobra Jet and Drag Pak plus a four-speed transmission and a selection of automatics; although early sales literature shows the Boss 429 as an option, none were built. An oddity was the Action Special Equipment Package (deluxe wheel covers, white sidewall tires, a vinyl roof and a bench seat replacing the standard buckets, all for about a $15.60 credit), taken by 953 buyers. 10,170 GTs were built in 1970 and 2,287 in 1971 (the 1971 model marketed as the Montego Cyclone GT).
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
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclone GT 351 cu in Cleveland two-barrel V8 | 1970–1971 | 5.8 L V8 | — | — | — | 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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