Built on a stretched Ford Falcon platform and dressed up in Caliente trim, the 1965 Mercury Comet offered a 289-cubic-inch V8 in three states of tune up to 271 horsepower – a genuine performance option most buyers overlooked in favor of the flashier Mustang next door. Here’s why this quietly capable Comet deserves a second look from muscle car fans.
The Mercury Comet, sedans made from 1960 through 1965 are on a stretched (by 5″) Ford Falcon platform. Stacked headlights are a new addition in ’65, as is the peppy 200 CID 6 cylinder engine, now putting out 120 HP (89 kW) @4400 RPM using a one barrel carburetor. The V8 option for ’65 is the 289 CID and with the two barrel delivers 200 HP (150 kW) @4400 RPM. The basic transmission is a column mounted 3 speed manual or the optional 3-speed Merc-O-Matic.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
MCF thanks Gateway Classic Cars for the images provided here.
click any image to view a larger picture
Ford Falcon underpinnings do not exactly scream muscle car pedigree, and yet Mercury turned that humble compact platform into one of the more underrated performance bargains of the mid-1960s. The Comet had been riding on a stretched Falcon chassis since 1960, and by 1965 Mercury had figured out exactly how to dress it up without losing the lightweight, tossable character that made the platform worth building on in the first place. Buyers who walked past the flashier Mustang next door and found their way to a Comet Caliente discovered something the badge snobs missed — a genuinely quick small car wearing a name most people had already forgotten was ever exciting.
A Falcon Underneath, a V8 Under the Hood
The Comet Caliente offered Mercury’s 289-cubic-inch small-block in three states of tune — 200, 225, or 271 horsepower depending on carburetion — giving buyers a genuine choice between a comfortable cruiser and something closer to a proper performance car, all riding on a Falcon platform stretched five inches for the sedan body styles. The Caliente trim was Mercury’s way of dressing up the everyman Comet, with a padded dash, door courtesy lights, deep-loop carpeting, and a horizontal chrome taillight bar that set it apart from the base cars on the same lot.
The Numbers That Made It a Sleeper
Body style pricing tells its own story: a Caliente sedan started at $2,320, the hardtop coupe at $2,350, and the convertible at $2,600, with the hardtop coupe proving the most popular by far at 29,247 examples built for the year. Buyers could pair any of those 289 options with a base three-speed column-shift manual, the Merc-O-Matic automatic, or a proper four-speed floor shifter, which means a well-optioned 271-horse Caliente hardtop with a stick is exactly the kind of quietly potent driver that flies under the radar at most classic car shows today.
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related posts:
Dodge Challenger SRT8 2008 images
Buick Riviera 1963 images
Plymouth Satellite 1967 images
Lincoln Town Car 1977 images
Chevrolet El Camino 1966 images
Ford light duty pickup truck 1993 images
Plymouth Barracuda V-8 1965 images
Avanti II 1978 images
Jaguar XKE 4.2L Inline 6 1966 images
Buick Roadmaster 75 Riviera 1957 images
Cool cars straight six or V8, makes little difference in daily driver, I’d prefer the 200 in. six, I’be owned three of them through the years and they are very reliable, easy to maintain and good for a few hundred thousand miles. My older nephew had a ’65 V8 coupe, bucket seats, console a fine first car for him.