(first posted 7/6/2015) For today’s two door sedan jag, we head a few miles north of Eugene to Junction City, a little town that feels like it belongs in the Midwest. Actually, a good portion of the southern half of the Willamette Valley feels like the Midwest, with its rich, flat soil and many farms, along with a goodly number of Mennonite farmers.
Down the street a bit from the Dairy Queen, I spotted these two worse-for-wear Comets; almost twins, except for their different year, model and number of doors. We’ll focus on the ’65 two door, but it makes a convenient comparison to the ’64 four door next to it.
These were the last two years of the original Comet, which arrived in 1960 (CC here). They were still riding on the same lengthened 114″ Falcon chassis (109.5 for the wagons), and shared much of the same boxy design re-fresh the Falcon also got in 1964.
Of course, the big change for 1965 were the stacked vertical headlights, which was a bit odd as the big Mercs did not take up that new affectation sweeping the land after the huge success of the ’63 Pontiac. Frankly, they don’t work very well on the Comet, and I consider the ’64 to be the better looking car by a healthy margin.
Realistically, the reason the Comet got these was to pave the way for the ’66 Comet, which also had them, and probably didn’t have much say in the matter, given how similar it was tot the ’66 Fairlane. The real oddball in these ’66-’67 Comets was thee two door sedan, which used a Falcon center section but kept the Comet’s longer 116″ wb. Dave Skinner found and posted this rare ’67 two-door sedan here last August.
This ’65 Comet has a decidedly Mercury-family instrument panel, to remind folks they weren’t riding in a Falcon, even if everything else suggested so. I’m not certain, but I’m guessing the air cleaner originally crowned the standard 200 inch six, although it might be the optional 289. Looks like an automatic too. Somebody wanted a basic tw-door sedan, but one teenie little step up from a Falcon with a three-on-the -tree.
The four door is a higher trim 404 model, as this very tasteful white insert trim section on the rear fender makes clear to the world. I’m not sure what the fate of these cars was, but they weren’t there the next time we drove by. Scrap or being lovingly restored?
Would not surprise me if they were scrapped, but I also would not be surprised to hear they are being restored. They could have been moved out back as well.
The 65s are fascinating since it’s probably the most blatant copy of Pontiac styling of all the stacked headlight Fords, there’s oddly a lot of similar details between it and a same year Tempest, only differences really are scale and the obvious Falcon roots.
The 64 is definitely the winner though, I like the 65 but, to be honest, only in 2 door hardtop form, 64 looks good all around. Either way though, both 64 and 65 Comets are among my favorite Mercurys, the originals have too much Edsel stink to them and the later ones are just badge engineered Fairlanes and Mavericks, these were just right.
Edsels are cool,they don’t stink!My first American car in 1981 was a 64 4 door Comet with a 170″(I think) 6 cylinder and auto.Ultra reliable,comfortable and while not a car for the speed freak it looked great and wasn’t that bad on the hard stuff.I’d love another one today
Im weith Gem here – Edsels do not stink.
They may have sunk, but now they do anything but stink. 😉
Every time I look at one of these, I can’t help but wonder if some poor office boy delivered the 65 Fairlane drawings to the draftsmen for the Mercury front end and the 65 Comet drawings to the Ford draftsmen. Those two are just backwards.
Damn, I didn’t know that our 2 door sedan jag was getting an extended run, I passed by a green 58 Chevy Biscayne 2 door sedan over the weekend but did not stop to photograph it, partly because I figured the 2 door sedan party was over. Oops.
Ha! sounds shockingly plausible. The 65 Fairlane does look pretty much like a squared off 64 Comet
And the 65 Comet looks like a shrunken 65 Galaxie 500. The 65 Comet would have made a great 65 Fairlane.
It’s kind of hard to predict how long a jag will go on….it might take an external influence to stop it. Medication? A gag order?
In the meantime, there’s still a few in my files. 🙂
I’m not a fan of either the 64 or the 65 Comet as I prefer the same year Falcons. If I was buying a Comet, it would be a 67. To me, the 64….in the upper trim levels, looks over – decorated while the lower trim levels look too naked. Having ridden in a 65 Caliente 2 door, the rear deck looks WAY longer than the hood, and the interior looks and feels cramped.
The idea that the drawings for the Fairlane and Comet may have gotten mixed up almost seems plausible.
Seeing these ’64 & ’65’s really brings back memories–Don Nicholson and the whole birth of the “funny car” dragster, and then FoMoCo and the East African Safari Rally (wanted to show that Comet was as tough as Falcon, I suppose):
That is a V8 air cleaner.
It’s a sign of the times that my first thought on seeing 404 is the http file not found error. Followed by the Zipp 404 bicycle wheels which cost more per set than the average CC car.
I am in harmonious agreement that the 64 is a better looking car. As the 64 Fairlane is much more pleasing to the eyes compared to the 65.
My first car was a hand-me-down ’64 404 4-door sedan; almost identical to the car in the photo. Equipped with a 200ci 6 and the 2-speed Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission, the Comet was capable of going almost 70 mph going downhill with a tailwind.
From a reliability standpoint, it couldn’t be beat, though. It started – first try – under every possible weather condition, and it didn’t need to “warm up” to run right.
The Comet eventually rusted out pretty badly, and we sold it to a neighbor when it wouldn’t pass NY state inspection. The new owner worked at a gas station, so he slapped a new inspection sticker on it and kept it on the road for another year or two until even he didn’t feel safe driving it.
Curious that Ford briefly used Buick-esque ventiports, as seem on the ’65 (the low end 64’s have them too).
I think the highest and best use of these two would be to combine them into one LeMons race car.
I prefer the 64 too Paul. A betting man however would wager against its ongoing existence due to its four door post configuration. It’s all about two door bodies.
I guess I’m in the minority in liking the stacked headlight ’65 better than the ’64 (although either is better than the ’65 Fairlane). The ’65 Cyclone and GTO are two of my favorite sixties’ cars, better even the stacked headlight versions that followed the next couple of years (which seem to be much more beloved).
In fact, with the exception of the AMC Ambassador, just about any sixties’ stacked headlight car is a winner, with the leader of the style, Pontiac, having the most success.
Too bad the ’64 wasn’t a Coupe too but either are fun if cheap little cars , I hope they weren’t so rusty as to be scrapped .
-Nate
To me, the ’65 looks older than the ’64, just because of the stacked lights and recessed grille.
The ’64 has almost got a touch of the Lincoln Continentals
Learned how to drive in a ’65 two-door sedan with 3-on-tree. Flunked my first two road tests because of that clutch. Just couldn’t get the hang of starting from a dead stop on a steep uphill grade.
I grew up watching & learning to drive Amercian cars. my first car to drive was 56 chevy Belair.If there is Ford Mercury Comet 1965 or 1956 chevy Belair for sale that needs lots of TLC i’d be interested. please reply on my Email Thanks alot.
I wonder whatever happened to Rachel Veitch’s 1964 Comet Caliente with over 560,000 miles. I know she died, but I hope the car didn’t end up in a junkyard.
I got a feeling that the mystery of the Comet has to do with Edsel’s placement within the Corporation. It is as though Ford management wanted a Falcon for Ford, and a Comet for Edsel, but no Mercury small car since it was supposed to be the “Big M” – the Zephyr to the Lincoln. The death of Edsel left the Comet hanging at a time when Ford wasn’t yet certain what to make of its “Big M” marketing failure and its Continental failure.
Mercury seemed unsure if it wanted the Comet, and even after it was a success, Mercury still wasn’t certain what to do with it. So by the time the first generation finished its run, Mercury wasn’t certain if it was supposed to be a Comet, a Meteor, or a Montego compact, or intermediate small Mercury.
Then there was the styling issue – the 1965 Comet looked more like a Ford than the Fairlane in 1965. The Fairlane looked like the Mercury line. GM is going through a change between their Oldsmobile/Buick/Pontiac compact intermediate vehicles during this same time. The original F-85, Special and Tempest were doing something similar with their brand counterparts the Cutlass, Skylark and Lemans.
It is all very weird.
This 2 door post ’65 is one of 2 built with K-code solid lifter 289. It was ordered thru DSO system which is similar to GM’s COPO.
I consider the ’64 to be the better looking car by a healthy margin.
So do I, but I must admit to having owned one as my first car and hope that doesn’t throw off the results too much.