1970 Mercury Cyclone

1970 Mercury Cyclone Hardtop A major redesign and reshuffle shook things up in 1970; all models featured a unique gunsight grille. The base Cyclone played the role of the former Cyclone CJ, now available with a choice of two 429 engines: standard was the 360hp version and the 370 horse Cobra Jet was optional. With a transformed market open to cars with a performance look without the performance, the Cyclone GT was well positioned, but only 10,170 GTs-plus another 1695 Cyclones and 1631 Spoilers-left the factory. Hagerty.com For consignment, a 1970 Mercury Cyclone hardtop showing 85,599 miles, but the true miles are unknown due to exemption. This car has been owned since 2012 by our consignor who purchased the car in Florida with professional restoration taking place in Maryland soon after. Exterior It is the front end that provides a captivating first look, deeply set quad headlights with upright marker lights that seem to pinch the middle, extruding that center gunsight grille, here with a Cobra emblem added. To make the most of oncoming air, a big front spoiler grabs from the ground and a hood scoop augments the grille intake, all for an aggressive look. A black stripe serves as the runway to the hood scoop and is surrounded in a sea of two stage Dark Ivy Green Metallic paint, contrasting with more black in the tail light bezels, side mirrors, and rear wing. The plain Jane Ford hubcaps give the car a sleeper profile, bolstered slightly with the white lettered tires, but dual exhaust in back tell a different story. Overall, the paint and trim is nice. Imperfections include a bent pinch weld behind a rear wheel, touched up chips, other chips including on the hood scoop, missing trim pieces ahead of the scoop, and a point of slightly misshapen window trim. Interior It's 1970, so saddle vinyl frequently gets called up to the big leagues for an appearance, here beginning on the door panels with a tri-panel design and a scratch or two on otherwise clean doors. The split bench is clean and flat and invites your shotgun rider to get closer and the rear bench resides in a monochromatic environment of brown vinyl in excellent condition. A wood rimmed steering wheel fronts a horizontal instrument cluster that shows some patina with some peeling woodgrain applique, discolored trim, and hazy plexiglass. The padded dash pad takes in a series of white faced gauges in coves and canted towards the driver. Tan loop carpet covers the floor along with Cyclone embroidered mats while up top, a stitched headliner presents in nice shape. The trunk is rust free and wears a period plaid vinyl cover. Drivetrain Now we're talking! Backing up that aggressive look is a 429ci V8 rated at 360 horsepower and fueled by a 4-barrel carburetor. It's mated to a C6 3-speed automatic that routes power the now legendary Ford 9 rear with 3.25 gears. Visually, the engine bay is clean and original looking. Undercarriage Clean and dry conditions are found underneath with some typical surface rust and metal oxidation. The dual exhaust runs through FlowMaster mufflers and exits through polished tips. Power disc brakes are up front, power drums in the back and the suspension is fairly standard with coil springs in front and leaf springs in back. Drive-Ability We slip into the slippery seat which is soft enough to conform and keep us in place, start the big V8, and move the column shifter into D. The exhaust note is nice, but we're also getting some exhaust leak noise. Meanwhile, the car has a notable miss but does have straight tracking, and responsive brakes. We note the horn and turn signals are not working but all other functions, including the AM/FM/Cassette player on board, work as they should. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase. What started with the 1964 Comet Cyclone, ended with the 197