Hi. Im going to look at a 60s comet tomorrow.. Wondering if they can be built to look cool!?? I searched but didn't see pics that convinced me.
That's not a Comet, that's a '61 Mercury full-size, most likely a Monterey. Good custom material. Make sure all the trim parts are there, you'll play hell trying to find them.
Thanks the guy doesn't remember what year or wat model it was, he got it as a project long time ago and knows very little about old cars.
I've asked those questions and the answer was yes...complete and titled but all in boxes,,,body work and chrome all done
Paint it gloss black or white, put together and enjoy. Probably not gonna improve its outlook by try to customize. Nice good looking cruiser as is.
Looks like a lot of work. But beautiful when complete. It would take a low price for me to pull the trigger. good luck.
Hello, On my way to the local surf spot early in the morning, I spotted this old Comet sitting on the side curb with a Red for sale sign. Since our son was finishing up his “learning to drive” mode, it looked like a good first car. The cost was minimal and I thought someone wanted to clean out their garage with a car that was no longer being used. It was clean, the mileage was very low and the tires looked new. So, after inspecting it, I now had a car story to tell my wife. She left the purchase up to my investigation. thanks @themoose Thoughts ran through my mind as to how to make the Comet sedan cool? It was on a lowered rake, had Moon Discs and a good coat of Carnuba Wax and that was a nicely prepped car for a teenager. Nothing fancy, but slightly better than how it started. The insurance company told me that it would raise our family insurance plan, but that it was a compact car and therefore, be less than a 4x4 truck or fancy sedan. Three drivers, three cars, then each had its own insurance for our family. One version was a lowered all around look. Several of my older friends had VW bugs lowered to the ground and perhaps, our son would like that look. He actually did not care as his goal was to be able to take his friends where they wanted to go to have “teenage” fun. He also, liked the light blue color. Jnaki He looked at the Comet with me and liked the simplicity of the sedan. My wife was ready to give him her old 2 door sports sedan, but he said that his friends had ridden in her car at one time or another and would then think it was a “mom” car. So, he declined. She actually had an ulterior motive. Her car was 7 years old and she wanted a new car for herself. But, for all of vehicles we test drove, a 2 wheel drive pickup truck, (lowest insurance of all vehicles), a small sporty hardtop, a Golf VW and a small station wagon, he like a 2 door sedan with some horsepower and only 17,000 miles on it. It was the only Black car we drove for a test and he decided that was the car for him. Now, since I had already taught him the ins and outs of driving a stick shift car, he was ready. He drove that sedan until he graduated from college and then gave it to a friend in need for a dollar. It had 100k miles on it and his friend drove it another 10 years. We made a good selection for his first car. Recently, we noticed a 4 door sedan with a twin fin surfboard on top, sitting in a parking lot and ventured over to check it out. It was a cool 4 door Mercury Comet style from Canada. It was called a Meteor. The owner had originally purchased it with a v8 motor and stick shift for his daughter in 1991. She drove it for a while and then got another car. So, the dad now had his beach cruiser. For your build, you have different ways to go. Build it so it runs well, is safe, reliable and then think about your style. Stock looking restoration or a few hot rod styling cues. YRMV
I know one guy who started a '62 Comet as a gasser, got discouraged and sold it after sinking some $$ into it. That I should have grabbed, he sold it on the QT. It didn't need much to finish it off. I helped him source a lot of parts for it.
Hey, you gotta remember its not a comet.which is a combackt car.and is not a midsize fairlane type. A 62 mercury meteor is a fairlane type mid size car. 61 mercury meteor is a full size.whether it is meteor 800 or 600. No even near to compare 1960 full size mercury
My neighbor across the river has a '60 two door Comet. His dad inherited from his aunt 30 yrs ago. They got it running & parked it in the pasture behind the chicken houses. His dad has passed & I've been trying to buy it. Prolly aint got no floor in it now. Gonna take a 100 hp tractor & bushog to get to it...
That's not a Canadian car. The Canadian Meteor was a slightly restyled Ford, this one was the US Mercury companion model based on the Ford Fairlane platform. Introduced in '62 (same year as the downsized Fairlane), it sold poorly and was dropped by Mercury after the '63 models so these are pretty rare. The one pictured is a '62, there were only minor trim changes for '63. In '64 Mercury added wheelbase/length to the Falcon-based Comet to bridge the 'model gap' that created, then in '66 dropped the Falcon base and moved the Comet fully onto the new-for-'66 Fairlane platform.
The OP is lucky this is a '61. Mercury has always had an on/off relationship in terms of how much 'Ford content' their cars had, but the '57-60 models carried this the furthest with little commonality with Ford models. Those years shared more parts with Lincoln and Edsel than they did with Fords and some parts are very hard to find (glass in particular). The '61 models marked a return to the fold, using a restyled Ford base so the parts situation isn't nearly as grim.
Being a Meteor the platform shared quite a bit with the Fairlane of the same model year except for the strange front suspension that was unique to the Meteor. It had two coil springs per side, a smaller coil was mounted forward of the axle line in conjunction with the strut rods. No other FoMoCo vehicle ever used that design before or since the Meteor.
killer cruiser material. not sure on your exact model. I’m no 60s merc expert other than the 60-63 have some cool lines. A simple slight drop, cool hub caps or wheels, bellflower tips, flake the roof, all sorts of things can be done. Door count is irrelevant by most younger folks as far as coolness. So build away
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