A friend recently sent these photos of a 1963 Mercury Comet currently undergoing a “progressive restoration” – those are actually all original body panels…
Apparently, the owner wanted to try out different color schemes before settling on the final direction. If anyone has a spare ’62 or ’63 Mercury Meteor they’d like to donate, many of its body and mechanical parts will swap right in, as both models shared a stretched Ford Falcon chassis.
Looks like a “three-on-the-tree” up there (or possibly the optional four-speed manual). Given the single exhaust pipe, I’m guessing this Comet is motivated by the 170 cu. in. (2.8-liter) straight six.
Interestingly, during its first two years (1960-61), the Comet did not carry the Mercury name—originally, it was to have been sold as an Edsel, but we all know how that worked out. Hopefully we’ll see this car again, next time wearing fresh paint–of one or (at most) two colors–and straight bumpers.
Wainscoting on the door panels? The Mercury really WAS up-market, wasn’t it!
Thumbs-up on the taillight design.
That was the Squire option. 🙂
Seriously overlooked cars,all the glamour and style of the American car without the thirst and bulk.I had a white one like this with the 170 inch 6 and Mercomatic 2 speed,an honest reliable vanilla workhorse,sold it to a friend of my brothers who ran it for another year without problems.
Nice Merc, taillights are toned down from the original version but still very handsome.
When I couldn’t decide on color for my TR4 I turned to paper and pencil, but it takes all kinds I guess.
If you could get the body straight enough I’d go for black with white roof !
Not to be pedantic, but based on the year-specific side, hood, cove & grill trim that is a ’62, not a ’63.
And it is a 3-speed manual, the 4-speed was floor shifted.
You are correct at least that’s what my title for it says!!!
Lol
Let’s put the cryptic 4-on-the-tree myth to rest. It never happened, whether on Falcons, Comets, Econolines, whatever. No post-war Detroit product ever had it. The closest was Brazilian-built Mavericks with the Willys F-Head, THEY, and only they, were about the only Detroit-type cars in our hemisphere to have it. The optional Dagenham 4-speed was floor shifted, period, regardless of model. And it was never offered in Econolines, BTW.
Ford offered the 4-speed column-shift in the early 60s. They must have sold a dozen or so of them.
That’s a home-built arrangement, converting the three-speed linkage to four-speed. The ’61 Ford 390/401 four speed transmission wasn’t even installed at the factory; it came in the trunk of the car (seriously). It was strictly intended for racers, and they typically used a Hurst linkage. But obviously, this one was converted in this rather unusual way.
Yup that is someone’s homemade conversion. I’ve heard of people doing it on early Econoline/Falcon Station Buses too.
Floor shift on Econoline would be several feet behing the driver seat.
I was referring to converting the standard 3 on the tree shifter to control a 4sp and then fitting a separate lever under the dash for reverse as shown in the video above.
The Chevy flat-front van had an optional four-on-the-tree – at least according to the owner’s manual. I had a 1969 for a very short time…six weeks…sold it off again as I couldn’t get suspension parts and lacked the time needed.
I’d love to have an early Comet. I go back and forth between the different years though. I do like the canted taillights on the 60-61 but then if it was going to be a driver I’d want to upgrade a few things and you need the new for 62 (stronger so it could also hold up the Fairlane) front suspension components for a bolt on aftermarket disc conversion. Then again the 64 with it’s Continental style grille has a certain charm.
Despite what Wikipedia might say I don’t think much if any of the exterior sheet metal interchanges with the Meteor. Yes they are both on lengthened Falcon platforms but the Meteor was stretched a little bit more and and widened a bit too.
Aint seen a Comet but the Compact Fairlane its based on came here in large numbers all with tiny little V8s no 6s. You got a 6 if you bought a Zephyr or one of those new fangled Falcons from ozzy but with a Fairlane you got 8 cylinders. I reality there is very little Falcon in the Fairlane chassis and its this chassis Ford Australia looked to for stronger parts to fix the pathetic Falcon Its also the chassis Lido went to to build the Mustang the Falcon was absolute crap until it was strengthened but this size Ford was a winner.Later model OZ Falcon brakes fit these too an easy swap in.
Sorry but your Australian centric view isn’t really true. A lot of the Fairlane was carried over from the Falcon/Comet. For the intro of the Fairlane Ford realized that the front suspension components were not up to the task of the much heavier, relatively speaking, intermediate car. So all cars based on the Falcon chassis received the new front suspension components. It was not just those Falcons down under that received the new front suspension components. It was done across the board and a big driving force behind it was to keep costs down by using the same parts on both models.
Bryce you will recognise the Comet front sheet metal that later appeared on the XP – with a different grille of course.
Alsok, a final year for the Comet as a “senior compact”. For ’64, it’ll take the void left by the mid-size Meteor and act as a mid-size/intermediate until the Montego kick it off and became the Maverick counterpart for ’71. .
Yes the Meteor was dropped for 64 but the Falcon stayed in that Senior Compact category and shared a fair amount with the Falcon, the doors for example, until it became a true intermediate in 1966 and gained a little more wheelbase.
Sure brings back merories. My first car was a `63 Comet S-22 two door sedan. This was an upmarket version with bucket seats and a vinyl interior. It had the six and a floor mounted three speed manual transmissioin-something rare from what I`ve been told.All tan with power steering. Purchased it in 1971 for 200.00.I didn`t even have a license then, but I learned how to use the manual by driving in my alleyway.Good solid reliable car. Miss it.