Hot Rod Ramblings: Ford Falcon is “Car of the Week”
December 7, 2009 by Hechtspeed
After doing the Volk ‘29 Roadster story last week, I was way into traditional hot rods. But, knowing that my daily driver/hot rod needs to be more practical, have a heater and a back seat, 1960’s rods make more sense.
My parents were up visiting from California and of course, poppi and I talked cars. He had a 1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone for about 15 years or so. I’ve thought many times I should do a tribute Comet, black just like dad’s, high revving 289 ci or 302 ci and a modern 5 speed. The problem is, Comet’s are hard to find clean. Plus, they’re a little bigger than I typically like. I’m a small car kind of guy. The Ford Falcon is the Comet’s baby brotha from another motha.
I was doing my usual daily classifieds browsing on Craigslist and found this 1964 Ford Falcon Futura with a V8 and 4 speed trans, front disc brakes, and a straight body already being used as a daily driver.
Typically what I do when I get hooked on a new “Car of the Week” is I go straight to Google Image searches. My ultimate Falcon build would be a combination of Trans-Am, SCCA, Pro-Touring and Restomod build styles. These were some of the inspirational cars I found on Google. Enjoy!
This Falcon has a great road race feel going on. I love those wheels and the flat cornering.
I really dig the 5 spoke grey Torque Thrust wheels on the left above. Silver is a good color for the Falcon.
Pikesan found this one and sent me the link. Thanks buddy! I think this is the perfect setup for a Falcon road racer. I really like the mini-fender flares. The radiused rear fender is just what the small rear wheel well needs to fit these 16×10 wide PS Engineering wheels on a Falcon. I think it looks great don’t you? That 2 tone paint is a nice touch too.
Found this red one on RacingJunk.com. This is a perfect example to start building a track ready Falcon. It looks clean with the painted front and rear bumpers.
I’ll finish up with this resto-mod Falcon running 17″ wheels. The Falcon looks good in white I think. The hardtop coupe Sprint model is a great cruiser.
So, I check Craigslist (Utah, Phoenix, LA, Vegas), RacingJunk.com, BringaTrailer.com. What else do you guys use for finding your project cars?
Let me know by leaving a comment below.
Hechtspeed
Stories like this one...
Thought I was gonna have to correct you on the “little” brother thing. I always thought the Comets and Falcons were totally same, just looked different. I found this at BringaTrailer.com from user JH:
…did a little quick research and the 63 – 65 comet IS based on a falcon tub, but had extra inches added in the middle to give it a 4″ longer wheelbase and more interior room. this left the comet approx 2″ shorter in wheelbase than the same year fairlane, but with the ‘pointed’ quarters, almost the same overall length. now we know.
More info:
http://bringatrailer.com/2009/08/09/bargain-starter-1964-mercury-comet-caliente/
This might change your mind about the Comets:
http://www.historicgrandnational.com/81.htm
Awesome pictures of a road racing 1964 Comet