There were few more depressingly awful cars produced by Detroit in the mid-1970s than the wheezing, homely, 1976 Mercury Comet. It was a far cry from the hot little number that the Comet once was. The horsepower was gone, the crisp styling was gone, and the malaise of the 70s was in full force. This car erases all of that is is one of the coolest freaking sleepers we’ve ever seen, and we’ve seen lots.
We saw the eBay listing for this car and rattled off a string of astonished swear words that would make a prison inmate blush. Everything about it is spot on. The gray paint, called Dove Gray by the factory, virtually forces you to look for something more interesting to see, the poverty caps on all four corners kind of detract from those meaty rear tires, the little 306ci small block Ford motor is packing a Weiand mini-blower making 6psi of boost, then there’s the 100hp shot of juice on top of that!
The motor seems to have been built by a true BangShifter featuring a 1993 Cobra crankshaft and 1970 Windsor heads that have been ported/polished and filled with 1.94in Chevy intake valves. The motor is backed by an AOD transmission that has a manual valve body and a 3,000 rpm converter. In the back it is a 9″ Ford rear-end and 4.30 gears.
We could keep talking but a doctor told us if our current condition lasts more than four hours we’ve got to go to the hospital.
This thing is freaking awesome.
Source — eBay Motors — 1976 Mercury Comet Sleeper!
