- 5,642
- North Dakota
- RacingCowboy570
- RacingCowboy570
Due to the demise of Edsel, the Comet was initially released without any divisional badging, only "Comet" badges. It was sold through Mercury dealers, but would not be branded as such for two more years.
Introduced in March 1960, initial body styles were 2-door coupes, 4-door sedans and 2- and 4-door station wagons. Two trim levels were available, standard and "Custom", with the custom package including badging, additional chrome trim and all-vinyl interiors. In 1960, the only engine available was the 144cid Thriftpower straight six with a single-barrel Holley carburetor which produced 90 hp (67 kW) at 4200 rpm. (Some sources list it as producing 85 hp (63 kW) at 4200 rpm.) Transmission options were a column-shifted 3-speed manual and a 2-speed Merc-O-Maticautomatic transmission (unique to the Comet, despite sharing a name with the Merc-O-Matic installed in other Mercurys).
Ford had purchased the name "Comet" from Comet Coach Company, a professional car manufacturer in which the term belonged to a line of funeral coaches, mainly Oldsmobiles. The coach company then was renamedCotner-Bevington.
Comet was officially made a Mercury model for the 1962 model year, and it received some minor restyling, mainly a redesign of the trunk and taillight area to bring the car more in line with the Mercury look. This is the first year the car carried Mercury badging. While the 1963 model looked almost identical to the earlier models, the chassis and suspension were redesigned to accommodate an optional 260 cid V8 engine using a 2-barrel carburetor and producing 164 hp (122 kW). Convertible and hardtop(pillarless) coupe models were added to the Comet Custom and Comet S-22 lines this year.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Comet
Last edited:
