john51merc

Ancient Roman mythology states that the deity Mercury was a wing-footed messenger who had a knack for gracing mortals with financial gain. But there was so much more to Mercury than fiscal prowess and communication. This Roman god was also known for eloquence, guiding travelers, establishing boundaries, providing luck, and — truth be told — a little trickery. Kind of fitting, then, that Ford Motor Company’s mid-market division was bequeathed with both the deity’s name and likeness when organized during the late Thirties. It was an upscale traveler as comfortable as a messenger in flight that alluded to financial success without blatantly flaunting it. It was only later that the trickery trait emerged.

Dearborn’s mid-level division, named for the wing-footed messenger, was intended as a cut above Ford-branded vehicles, and the Mercury line offered a broad variety of options on many of its models during the 1960s that could increase both comfort and performance, often discreetly. Mercury’s more exclusive mid-market muscle cars were also produced in fewer numbers, yet that didn’t mean there was less demand among gearheads, then or now.

“Back when I was about seven or eight years old, my dad, Jeff, bought a used 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente. It was a 289-powered car with an automatic transmission, and the power — what I knew of it then — and the looks were what got me hooked on the Mercury brand,” Chambersburg, Pennsylvania’s Curtis Thomas explains. “At about the same time, I took a real interest in the A/ and B/FX cars that the big names were racing back in the day. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Mercury.”

A mechanic and auto body restorer by trade today, Curtis kept his Mercury ownership dreams alive — twice. “I bought my first Mercury when I was 15: a 1964 Cyclone with a 210-horse engine under the hood, with an automatic on the column. It had black bucket seats and a Polar White paint job. After I fixed it up, I drove it around for a while and eventually sold it,” Curtis states with a hint of longing. He adds, “I had been wanting another Mercury since. Something that could fulfill a vision I had of a B/FX racer. All you see today are A/FX style cars; you don’t see much B/FX stuff at shows.” The trick to meeting a second ownership goal, and turning his vision into reality, was to build up a fiscal nest egg, so as to be ready when the right subject came along. That effort was aided by another of Ford’s creations, the Fox-body Mustang. During off hours, Curtis would put his mechanical expertise into further practice by buying a pony in need, fixing it up, and then flipping it for profit. He repeated this nearly a half dozen times, until one day…

“Two years ago, I was sitting at home scrolling through social media when I spotted this 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente two-door hardtop for sale in Harrisburg. That’s close enough to me, so I drove up there to check it out. The car had been painted Yellow Mist at the factory and was sold new in Harrisburg, but by the time the seller got his hands on it, the body was weather-worn with patina and looked green because of all the muck on it — it was very dirty. Originally, there was a 260-cu.in. V-8 under the hood, but in its place was a warmed-up 302. And it was an automatic column-shift car, but this guy had gaffed a Hurst Quarter-Stick into the cabin. The decklid had been spray-bombed with cheap primer for some reason, and the wheels were wearing Cyclone hub caps.”

Curtis quickly saw the potential, even though the seller had lost interest. “While I was looking the car over, it came out that the seller — the second owner — had bought it thinking he was going to turn it into a lowrider. The first thing he did was cut the floor up for the Quarter-Stick, but then he changed his mind and wanted a ’62 Impala instead.” This certainly worked in Curtis’s favor, and he didn’t hesitate.

“I’m really good at seeing through a mess and visualizing what something will look like before I even put a wrench to it. It had taken years for me to find one that had almost zero rust, so yeah, it was dirty, but there was almost no rot,” Curtis reports.

Finding the Comet for sale could be chalked up to a combination of patience and kismet. Years earlier, while Curtis was detailing cars at Conners Auto Sales fresh out of school, a Chevy pickup arrived wearing a Curtis Ford Mercury front plate (Pennsylvania issues only rear license plates) — a dealership that had been in Harrisburg. Curtis kept the plate, as it bore his name, and hung it in his garage for posterity. Years later, with the newly acquired Caliente hardtop stowed in the same garage, a simple vision morphed into something far more meaningful, as Curtis explains.

“My dad and I were brainstorming one Saturday afternoon and told him what I’d like the car to look like. He said, ‘Why don’t you put Curtis Mercury on the side because it’s your name, it’s a Mercury, and you have that old license plate. Both came from Harrisburg, so if you put it all on the car, it all ties together.’ That was it. After finding a profile of a white ’64 Comet online, I printed out an enlarged image and sketched out how I wanted the exterior to look.”

Curtis launched into his project by subjecting the Comet’s exterior to a pressure washing, followed by a thorough scrubbing of the interior, the latter of which was enough to eliminate the need to source new upholstery. Curtis was also able to analyze the condition of the Mercury’s brightwork — only a single gauge bezel within the cabin needed to be restored. Focus then shifted to the mechanical design.

“The car ran okay, but I really wanted to make sure it would last. Fortunately, the seller knew all the details, so it was a matter of simple double-check and some visual adjustments,” said Curtis, going on to explain, “The block was a 302 with a .040-inch overbore, so it worked out to 308 cubic inches of displacement. He used Edelbrock aluminum heads with 1.6:1 roller rockers, along with a cam profile that was close to the hi-po units Ford used. He also had an aluminum Edelbrock intake installed with a 600-cfm Holley.

Curtis wanted the Comet engine to have the right look as well. “I swapped the valve covers for real-deal 289 “hi-po” units, and put them on with spacers so that there would be room for the aftermarket rockers. I also bought a reproduction hi-po air cleaner assembly. The only thing someone did wrong was paint the engine blue; they were black in ’64, but I can address that later,” Curtis says.

“What bugged me was the condition of the floor after the transmission swap. My eventual plan involved the installation of a four-speed, but to keep the budget down at the time, I opted to keep the Hurst Quarter-Stick automatic shifter in place. The transmission has a 2,600-rpm stall converter and a shift kit, and I’m okay with that right now.”

Even though he was sticking with the automatic, Curtis still kept an eye toward the future. “The other thing I needed to do was swap out the steering column — that still had all the automatic stuff hanging out of it — with a column from a floor-shifted ’65 Mustang. Then I cleaned up all the rough metal cuts in the transmission hump in a dimension that will allow for the four-speed. It’s one less thing that needs to be done later.”

But there were other things for Curtis to attend to immediately. “Something I was able to change right away was the rear axle gearing. The car was fitted with ‘airplane gears’ at the factory and the seller had purchased a set of 4.11s for the 8-inch differential. I wanted to make sure this Comet had not only the right visual attitude but the right track attitude. So, I put the 4.11s in. Then I cut the springs in the back to get the tail end to drop a bit for that classic Sixties drag-strip stance. Up front I installed 90/10 drag shocks so that I’d get a little extra lift during a launch. For traction, I swapped the stock rear wheels for a pair of 15 x 6-inch steelies from Coker, along with M&H drag slicks. At the other end I installed American Torq Thrusts with Firestone ‘pie-crust’ tires.”

All the purpose-built attitude would be for naught were it not for a matching exterior. With the “patina’d” exterior providing a perfect canvas, Curtis reached out to his friend, Glen Shaw, a.k.a. “Pooch,” to manage period lettering weathered to match the paint. Simultaneously, Curtis color-matched the body, enabling him to paint not only the gray primered trunk lid, but also a recently purchased teardrop fiberglass hood; the original was safely stowed. A final touch on those two panels was a layer of satin clearcoat.

Finally, there were but a few interior tweaks that needed to be addressed. The first was the installation of a period-correct Moon tachometer and a Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge, the latter a true representation of what Ford installed in its high-performance cars during the era when new. Second was a period racing helmet that was found and, eventually, emblazoned with “Junior” — Curtis’s nickname.

“We finished the Mercury a month before the Ford Nationals at Carlisle. I didn’t trailer it there, I drove it. She’s pretty snappy on the street. So far, Carlisle is the furthest I’ve driven it. That drive up Route 11, rather than the interstate, was a hike for her with those 4.11s. At 50 mph I was already tachin’ 3,000 rpm!” Curtis relates with no regrets. “It’s such a fun ride. It handles better than I thought it would for a tribute racer. If you don’t mind taking your time getting somewhere, it makes for a great day behind the wheel.”

Owner’s View

I haven’t raced the Mercury yet. I would need to put seatbelts in it since it never had any when it was sold new, though period racing belts would be ideal. As built, I think it should run in the low 14s or high 13s in the quarter-mile. The goal, however, is to take it to the next level for that A/FX vibe. That means getting a Ford FE 427 with dual quads feeding it. But right now, I love driving it. People wave and come up beside to say they haven’t seen one in years. My plan is to enjoy it for two years, then get to work putting the FE in, and then enjoy it on the track.—Curtis Thomas

SPECIFICATIONS

ENGINE

Block type: Ford “small-block” 302-cu.in. V-8, cast-iron block, Edelbrock 5.0, cast-aluminum cylinder heads, 60-cc combustion chambers

Displacement: 308 cubic inches

Bore x stroke: 4.04 x 3.00 inches

Compression ratio: 10.0:1

Horsepower @ rpm: Unknown

Torque @ rpm: Unknown

Valvetrain: Manley stainless 2.05/1.60-in, intake/exhaust; Speed Pro hydraulic lifters

Camshaft: Speed Pro CS-1020R; hydraulic

Induction: Edelbrock Performer 289 cast-aluminum intake, single Holley 650-cfm four-barrel carburetor; Ford OE mechanical pump

Lubrication system: Ford gear-type pump

Ignition system: Ford breaker-point

Exhaust system: Hooker headers; custom 2.50-in dual exhaust; dual Flowmaster mufflers

Original engine: Ford 260-cu.in. V-8 w/ 2-bbl. carburetor

TRANSMISSION

Type: Ford C-4 automatic; Hurst “Quarter-Stick” shifter

Ratios: 1st/2.46:1 … 2nd/1.46:1 … 3rd/1.00:1 … Reverse/2.20:1

DIFFERENTIAL

Type: Ford 8-inch, Traction-Lok limited-slip

Ratio: 4.11:1

STEERING

Type: Ford recirculating ball, power-assisted

Ratio: 16:1

BRAKES

Type: Ford hydraulic, unassisted Front/Rear: 10 x 2.50-inch drums

SUSPENSION

Front: Ford independent, unequal length control arms; coil springs; 90/10 shock absorbers, anti-sway bar

Rear: Ford solid axle; altered semi-elliptic leaf springs; telescoping shock absorbers

WHEELS & TIRES

Wheels: American Racing Torq Thrust (front); OE-style stamped steel (rear)

Front: 15 x 4.0 inches Rear: 15 x 6.0 inches

Tires: Firestone (front); M&H (rear)

Front: 5.60-15 bias-ply Rear: P235/60R15 radial slicks

PERFORMANCE

1/4-mile ET, factory-stock: 19.0 @ 75 mph* (Motor Trend, 8/63)

1/4-mile ET, current best: N/A

Current 60-foot time: N/A

* Tested vehicle was 1963 Comet S-22 fitted with a 164-hp 260-cu.in. V-8, four-speed manual transmission and a 3.50:1 final drive ratio; 0-60 mph time was 11.50 seconds.

Photo by David Conwill

Your week is off to a great start because you made the time to check out this week’s Hemmings Auctions Roundup. Forty-six new listings ran through our online auctions between Sunday, October 30, and Saturday, November 5, and we saw a sell-through rate of 80 percent. Of the 37 that sold, nine were post-auction Make Offer listings. View the latest consignments and consider placing your bids after subscribing to the daily Hemmings Auctions newsletter.

1966 Pontiac GTO

Reserve: $47,000

Selling Price: $53,550

Recent Market Range: $54,110-$75,550

The GTO was arguably at its stylistic zenith in 1966 when this convertible was built. It’s stood the test of time and been reborn as a restomod with a Tri-Power-topped, overbored 455-cu.in. V-8 under the scooped hood and a console-mounted four-speed between bucket seats. The custom red paint was called an “8” on a scale of 10; the white vinyl top was recently fitted; and the Parchment vinyl-upholstered interior sported a wood-rim wheel, vintage-look modern stereo, and accessory gauges. Cragar mags added a period touch. The seller promised this Pontiac was rust-free, and it was said to be a fine-driving head turner. Three videos and ample photos helped the GTO sell as a relative bargain.

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

Reserve: $115,000

Selling Price: $131,250

Recent Market Range: $118,150-$145,450

A color change to Riverside Red from its factory-sprayed Daytona Blue during a 1989 rotisserie restoration was the sole alteration to this promised otherwise-correct 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. The split-window coupe was a rare, very basic example believed to retain its original 327-cu.in. V-8 and three-speed manual, which have motivated the car a mere 1,875 miles over the past 33 years. Such little use accounts for its “no flaws” cosmetic condition of paint, brightwork, and red vinyl interior. The chassis appeared clean, although the tires were of indeterminate age. A seller willing to answer questions, plus the fine presentation of this classic Chevrolet, helped it hammer for a tidy sum.

1997 Land Rover Defender 90

Reserve: $82,500

Selling Price: $86,625

Recent Market Range: $83,110-$105,550

The “North American Specification” Defender 90 was a short-lived import in the late 1990s that, as years passed, became more and more valuable. This 1997 model presented like new in site of the 103,000 miles on its odometer thanks to a 2017 repaint in the factory Coniston Green color, blemish-free vinyl interior interior, and detailed undercarriage. Alterations from stock included the fitment of LED headlamps and taillamps and a CD-changer-equipped stereo system. The 4.0-liter V-8 and automatic transmission were said to operate without issue, and only minor surface rust was divulged on the chassis; the tires were recently installed. This Land Rover neatly sold in its expected market range.

2013 Cadillac CTS-V

Reserve: $25,000

Selling Price: $32,550

Recent Market Range: $23,110-$34,350

The combination of two doors and three pedals made the second-generation CTS-V a bona fide collectible right out of the showroom. This example, which sold as a Make Offer listing, was a two-owner car with little over 98,000 miles on the odometer. Its supercharged 556-hp 6.2-liter V-8 was driven moderately, the seller promised. The limited-slip differential was rebuilt and suspension control arms replaced. It was divulged that areas of the body were repainted due to hail damage, but minor blemishes remained. The leather/Alcantara upholstery showed minor bolster wear on the driver’s seat and the driver’s floormat was likewise affected. If carefully kept, the Cadillac will likely appreciate.

1943 Willys MB Jeep

Reserve: $25,000

Selling Price: $29,925

Recent Market Range: $21,110-$32,450

Willys was churning out MB jeeps by the boatload during World War II, and it’s probably safe to assume none were as carefully finished as this restored U.S. Army example, which appeared to have driven right out of 1943. It was promised to be rust-free, its olive drab paint a fine complement to the new canvas top, and its accessories included a jerrycan and military antenna. Canvas-upholstered seats and a functioning heater were the only nods to comfort. The 60hp four-cylinder and manual transmission were said to function without leaks or issue, and no problems with the brakes or suspension were noted. Bidders responded enthusiastically, and after an impressive 53 bids, it got a new home.

1958 Chevrolet Corvette

Reserve: $147,500

Selling Price: $156,975

Recent Market Range: N/A

The number of fuel-injected first-generation Corvettes that Chevrolet built was very small in proportion to total model production, and this Panama Yellow ’58 was reportedly one of 144 built that combined that engine with the heavy-duty brake and suspension options. Promised to be numbers-matching from the factory, its rebuilt 290-hp V-8 and four-speed manual gearbox with fresh clutch were said to be “strong and powerful.” The fiberglass body’s two-tone paint were described as “above-average driver quality,” and a body-color hard top and interior-matching soft top were included. The black vinyl seats looked fresh, like the undercarriage. It ultimately changed hands as a Make Offer listing.

For seemingly decades, the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association, that rolling cross-country custom-car show series with a magazine attached, had a nothing-after-1972 rule. But time marched on, and one day in the new millennium, suddenly the game changed: now it was nothing after 1987.

This meant emissions-era machines could be here for the first time: big-bumper anything, Colonnade GM A-bodies, the last of the full-size leviathans, the first of the downsized generation, and the early vestiges of Detroit’s power and performance resurgence. Were they outside of the hot rod and custom brief? Depends on the car, of course. Was there an outcry then? We don’t remember one if there was, but the crowds at the events we’ve gone to all seem perfectly happy to be there.

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Today, years later, it’s only right and proper that the event update the rules, allowing now-vintage rides like Fox-body (and many SN95) Mustangs, LT1-powered fourth-gen F-bodies, trucks of all marques (including early redesigned Dodge Ram pickups), Vipers, and lots more interesting machinery. Plenty of these have been modified, and are still being tweaked. Entire businesses are dedicated to servicing a single marque in order to make those machines quicker, prettier, grippier, and/or more comfortable. There’s still nothing newer than 25 years old allowed through the gates (which seems to run counter to an earlier policy change to a rolling 25-year cutoff, similar to the AACA’s); it’s just that time has marched on, and the ever-sliding scale of what’s 25 years old has moved forward. Will there be an outcry now? (We hope not, although scores of anonymous keyboard warriors will doubtless make their opinions known.) Goodguys has a vested interest in keeping its membership rolls chock full of people (70,000 is the number we keep hearing), so bringing in younger enthusiasts and catering to their tastes is a good way to keep the numbers up. They’re not going back. Good for them.

Will street rods get squeezed out? Of course not. Whether pre-war, street-rod, kustom-with-a-K, and custom lead-sled iron turns up at the events is entirely up to the people who own them and want to go to the events. Wherever they go, Goodguys is the biggest game in town, and is a great way to get as many regional eyeballs on your ride as you can stuff into a sunny weekend. Frankly, anyone looking at a Goodguys show as strictly a street-rod show will be disappointed. The events we’ve visited have frequently skewed heavily to the muscle era, even after the age limit was raised to 1987, with ‘50s steel a distant second. Expanding the parameters all those years ago didn’t flood the show fields with newer machinery then, and it won’t do so now that 1997 is the hard limit. These newer cars and trucks will simply become part of the rich tapestry of old-car enthusiasm in our hobby. People will still bring what they like, it’s just that Goodguys is casting a wider net now.

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It meets younger enthusiasts on their own turf: Instead of trying to convince da yoofs of liking what you like, Goodguys is letting in the kind of stuff that they are drawn to, that they remember fondly and with glowing nostalgia. If the kids like lead sleds, cool. If they liked slammed pickups, sweet. If they remember their uncle’s fourth-gen Z28 six-speed and want to see some just like it, awesome. If they’re into new million-dollar hypercars full of bleeding-edge tech, well … Goodguys has to draw the line somewhere.

Goodguys wisely recognizes that the generation who are into ‘80s and ‘90s cars, the kids who drew them in their school notebooks and fantasized about peeling out of the high school parking lot behind the wheel of one, the kids who have warm memories of those machines, are now grownups with families and are coming into their prime spending years. Getting that generation hooked now, showing them that this is an inclusive hobby, can only yield dividends.

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The last Goodguys event of the calendar will be the 25th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals at WestWorld of Scottsdale November 18-20, 2022, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their next events in 2023 will start the ’97-and-younger rule. We can’t wait to visit some Goodguys events next year and see what marvelous machines this change flushes out.