1966 Mercury Cyclone GT
A POWERFUL & RARE MERCURY FOR UNDER $ 10K
Ford ’ s Mercury division has been synonymous with midprice luxury transportation . But few know that the division that gave us the “ Breezeway ” retracting rear window also built one of America ’ s first factory muscle cars . In 1958 , Mercury released a dealer-installed Super Marauder tri-power option for its 430 cubic-inch big-block engine . Adding tri-power bumped up advertised horsepower to an incredible 400 , and helped contribute to making Mercury a performance powerhouse . The option was short lived and by the early-1960s Mercury took a
Text by Joe Babiasz , photos by Brendan Moran
back seat to Ford , their lower priced cousin , in the manufacturing of tiremelting performance cars .
By 1966 , Mercury was once again anxious to get back into the muscle car arena . Using the midsize Comet platform , engineers put their collective heads together to develop the Comet Cyclone and Cyclone GT . The standard Cyclone included all the visuals necessary to identify it as a muscle car , but powertrains were limited to a 289 cubic-inch small-block and a 265 or 275-horsepower , 390 cubic-inch engine , depending on the transmission ordered . A two-barrel carburetor topped the base Cyclone 390 . While providing adequate performance , it simply wasn ’ t enough to keep up with other factory muscle cars of the time . For enthusiasts who wanted neck-snapping performance , ordering a Cyclone GT was a necessity .
Under the Cyclone GT ’ s hood rested Ford ’ s 335-horsepower , 390 FE engine . This powerhouse included a Holley four-barrel carburetor mounted on a cast iron intake manifold . Its 10.5:1 compression ratio required premium fuel , and dual exhausts were standard equipment . An engine
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