64 427 Comet on ebay

[agtw31]

now this is badass old school assassin [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercury-C...c55d0a370#v4-37

[Bill Pritchard]

Nice!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/cool.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img]

[x Baldwin Motion]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bill Pritchard</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nice!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/cool.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img] </div></div>

yes, very cool !! put plates on that and drive it !!

[Lightweights4Me]

That old Comet AFX car was not only the original New England Mercury Dealers sponsored AFX car but it was one hell of a cool piece to show up on ebay! That car is the real New England Mercury Dealers AFX Comet that was raced hard all over New England from 1964 through 1971 - 1972! The owner did not give enough information to show potential buyers this cars fairly successful racing heritage. This car was raced all over New England and was a National Record Holder at one time. Its amazing that nobody picked up on this car because of its historical significance. I have known this car for years and was shocked to see this link. That car was Dealer built in 1964 after it was stolen from the lot of Fore Rivers Mercury in Quincy Mass and when the car was recovered it was immediately converted to an AFX car by Fore Rivers Mercury along with the help of another New England Mercury Dealers who's name escapes me right now. It was also sponsored by Woodward Spring, Awon Battery, Goldies Salvage along with several others. The Original driver was one of the wrenches from Fore Rivers Mercury and he did quite well with the little AFX Comet from 1964 through late 1966 when it was sold to a privateer who continued to race the car with the 427 Side Oiler that was installed in early 1966 after the 427 High Riser granaded. That old AFX Comet was stashed away many years ago and it was just great to see the car again. Thanks for the link.

[olredalert]

----Tony,,,Guess Im confused. Was the car a normal Comet that was stolen, recovered, and then converted to an &quot;AFX&quot; car or was it an &quot;AFX&quot; car that was stolen, stripped, recovered, and put back together??? The first scenario could possibly have been the reason for the low final bid. Cool car all the same. Im surprized I had never seen it back in the day as I made many a trip up to New England Dragway thru that period.......Bill S

[Lightweights4Me]

Bill, This car was an all new for 1964 Cyclone K Code 289 3 speed Manual Transmission car that was stolen off the lot of Fore River Mercury in Quincy Mass when it was new and was recovered some time later and then converted to an AFX drag car by the Dealership along with the help of some others. There were simply not enough Factory built Comet AFX cars built to satisfy the demand of the Dealers nor the Private purchasers at the time so there were many cars like this built all around the country. It was just one of the many Dealer built AFX cars of the era and although it was not one of the handful of factory built AFX cars, its still a very cool old car with a lot of history. Im sure I dont need to tell you that real 64 AFX Comets bring North of 200k even in todays lousy market and even the 65 small block BFX Comets demand prices well into 6 figures. Like many of the drag cars of the time, this was eventually sold to a private owner who continued to campaign the car into the 70's before it was put out to pasture. Fortunately one of the locals had the foresight to stash the car away for over 30 years before it was purchased by a gentleman who was after the car for over 20 years. His persistance paid off and he eventually bought the car and did a decent job of bringing the old Comet back to life. He did not get the lettering quite right but that can always be straightened out. I was just happy to see that the car was still around. I would have lettered the car accurately had it been mine but the owner chose to combine some of the original style lettering while taking some liberties with some of the other lettering. Like I said, I was just glad to see that it was still around and that another of this era's AFXer's is still alive and well. As far as the price goes, well I think it was a great deal either way. If you look into the price of building the 427 along with the other drivetrain components including some very cool Vintage performances pieces that are still with the car, you couldnt think about putting the drivetrain together for the price of the car. I just love to see that some of these long forgotten drag cars have survived. There are some early photos of the car that are being made from the originals and when I get them, I will attempt to post them although Ive never had much luck with posting photos to this site. By the way, you may not remember this car because of the paint scheme which is not nearly as accurate as I would have liked and keep in mind that the paint scheme was changed drastically by the end of the 1966 racing season. Just my thoughts. Im just happy to see that another cool old drag car has survived after the better part of 50 years. I hope this was helpful. Have a great weekend.. Tony

[x Baldwin Motion]

Thanks for the history Tony. You can always email me the pics and I will post them for you.
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img] Chris

[olredalert]

----Thanks for the reply, Tony. I pretty much assumed that to be the case as I had a rough idea that an original AFX Comet would be worth more than $26,000. It is priced really well, and probably will sell now after the auction as so many E-bay cars seem to do........Bill S

[Lightweights4Me]

Chris, Thanks for the offer to post the photos. My friend knows the guys at the old engine shop that last built the 427's for this car in the early 70's and there is a great photo of the car from back in the day that they are going to have duplicated for my friend and he is going to scan it and email it to me once he has it in his hands. He has seen the photo as its framed and hanging in their shop. I will forward it to you when I get it and hopefully you can post it. I appreciate the help. There are some other photos of this car that were taken by one of the guys that worked at New England Dragway back in the 60's and my friend is trying to get his hands on those photos as well. I will keep you posted. Thanks again...tony

[Lightweights4Me]

Bill, Im glad I was able to help or at least share the information that was shared with me about the car and its history. That Comet AFX was built in typical mid 60's fashion which was not always pretty but it wasnt about being pretty with those guys. It was all about going fast. It was just a drag car and nothing more and that car was raced hard for 7-8 years and then sacked away. Your right about ebay...the car was sold the day that the auction ended and from what Ive been told, several serious Ford Drag car collectors were among the guys trying to buy the car. Im just surprised that nobody pulled the trigger on the car with its very fair buy it now but it looks like the buy it now was added within the last few hours of the auction. I didnt think you could make any changes to your auction within the last 12 hours so either it was changed with 12 or more hours left in the auction or maybe you can add a buy it now or lower a reserve within the last 12 hours. Im just not sure. I do know that the Comet was appraised at over 100k several years ago and that the owner did not want to part with the car at any price back then. Jerry Heasley was supposed to do one of his &quot;Rare Find&quot; articles on this car 6-7 years ago but Im not sure if it ever made it to print. What strikes me as funny is that there are many Clones out there and yes they are well built and look great and most of them are streetable but they are usually priced between 40k and 85k for a quality car and yet here was an honest Vintage AFX 427 Cyclone with cool history and yet it seemed to slip through the cracks. I guess it comes down to bad timing and an auction that was not very well done in my opinion and then there is the simple economics of the whole thing. Many buyers want something that they can get in and enjoy driving to their local Cruise Night and with that AFX Comet, well that just wasnt going to happen. Its been a drag car since it was new and can not be street driven or at least not in its current as raced form. Either way another cool old Drag car from days gone by and cool to see it around. I hope this helps and when I get those photos, I will send them to Chris to have them posted. Thanks again..Tony