1964 Mercury Comet - Different Is Good
Englander Jon Webster’s ’64 Comet is built like a professional drag racer, but is street driven too
Back in the '80s, Hot Rod magazine coined a term, and subsequent hot rodding movement, called "Dare to Be Different." It sparked a wonderful wave of great and innovative builds based on brands and bodystyles people didn't usually bother with—Studebakers, Hudsons, Ramblers, Nashes, station wagons, and yes, Mercurys. The compact Mercury Comet stemmed from its crosstown cousin, the Ford Falcon. As you scan these photos, you might think that the serious quarter-miler build on this compact Merc would look great on a '65 Mustang notch—and it would, but why not leave it on, and love it on, this handsome Comet hardtop?
What you may or may not know is that the Mercury Comet has an impressive competition history. Some of the first A/FX cars were Comets—the great Dyno Don Nicholson himself raced them. And cars very similar to Webster's '64 also ran competitively in the European world rally series back in the day. They've also been built and deployed to set a variety of FIA speed and endurance records. And it's handsome as hell, so enough already!
Rushden, England's Jon Webster's Comet wasn't originally destined to become a drag racer. The owner explains, "The car was found by a friend in Arizona. It was imported to the UK to modify for FIA saloon (production-based sedan) car racing, but that fell through. I bought the car when I visited the importers in 2011. The intention was to build a street-legal race car for the UK Street Eliminator Series. The car was acid dipped because it at first looked the worse for wear. It came back super clean, so the body work was minimal."
Webster is no stranger to hot Fords, his stable otherwise having included a '59 Morris Minor with a Ford 289 engine swap, a previous '64 Comet running a 460, a '97 SVT Mustang Cobra with a 525-inch big-block, and an MG SVR packing a turbocharged 377. That should address any questions you might have about Brits and their enthusiasm for the Blue Oval. Santa Pod is one of the UK's most significant drag racing tracks, and Webster notes he's a member of the Santa Pod Racers Club.
You'll notice that virtually none of the Comet's original frame remains, most of it replaced with serious tube subframe work and coilover suspension. The suspension hardware up front is by Strange featuring a 6-inch stroke to allow max weight transfer on hard launches; there's Penske multi-adjustable hardware out back, doing its best to manage the Ford 9-inch rearend packing a Strange Locker and 3:50:1 rear gears. Webster Race Engineering bent and welded up the full chrome-moly tube frame, subframe connectors, and rollcage. And check out all the high-quality carbon-fiber panel work that smoothes the engine bay and other areas of the car; something they definitely didn't have back in the '60s.
The engine pushes the edge of small-block reality. Webster could have bought a race-built big-block crate motor and called it good; but since he's obviously acquainted with high-level engine swaps, that wasn't going to cut it for the gold Comet. The basis of this 377ci bored-and-stroked small-block is a Fontana block running a 0.30-over bore and a 3.75-inch stroke. The block's been tuned up with custom liners, and piston cooling oil squirters. Silverstone, UK's ICE Automotive Racing Engines packed the block with more good stuff, including Oliver steel rods, Wiseco forged slugs (yielding 9.5:1 compression) a Bryant billet steel crank, and a Comp Cams roller stick. Topping the stout block are Yates C3L heads that are ported, relieved, and running top-grade valves, springs, and rockers.
