The Tale of the Comet

About three years ago I told the story of my first car, a 1937 Ford convertible sedan. It's been a while since the subject came up, but recently Dennis David, the CarPort's western Connecticut scout, sent me a photo of his first car, a 1963 Mercury Comet.

The Comet, of course, was basically a stretched Ford Falcon with fins. Introduced in March 1960, its prices started at $1,998, just $86.00 above Falcon. First season sales, while not approaching its cousin's 435,676, were a respectable 116,331 units, particularly considering the mid-model year start. Moreover, the new "companion" model pumped up Mercury's overall sales by 80 percent.

Body styles were the same as Falcon's, a two-door sedan, a four-door sedan, a two-door station wagon and a four-door wagon. The wagons,which used all Falcon sheet metal from the cowl back, were devoid of fins. (These are all 1961 models, which received a new grille.) Engine choices were taken from Falcon, the basic 144 cid six and its larger 170 cid brother. The instrument panel, too, drew from the Falcon parts bin.

Nineteen-sixty-two brought yet another new grille, and a cleaner-looking rear end with taillights moved from the fins to the fenders. Wagons, too, got new taillights. The big news, however, was the S-22, a dressed-up two-door with bucket seats.

For 1963, Comet, like Falcon, gained a convertible, then, at mid-year, the new fastback hardtop and a 260 cid V8. In 1964, there was new sheet metal, a top-line Caliente series and an available 210 hp 289 V8, christened "Cyclone." A 200 cid six became the base engine in 1965, when the Cyclone was boosted up to 225 bhp.

Thus ended the first generation Comet, since the 1966 models were based on the 116-inch-wheelbase Fairlane. Comet sales had remained fairly steady between 135,000 and 193,000, significantly adding to Mercury's bottom line.

Dennis's Comet rode a bit high in the front, because the engine was an optional extra. He finally did get it running, unlike my Ford, which lacked some vital parts. Neither of us, though, ever put his first car on the road.

Do you have some pix of your first car? Send them to the CarPort.

Small and Swift

The Overland car, volume seller from John North Willys's Willys-Overland Corporation, held a steady second place to Ford during the 'teens, but sagged measurably in the early 1920s. So in 1926, Willys came up with an inexpensive car, the Whippet. Small and swift, like the canine whose name it bore, the Whippet caught on quickly, helped by the Model T's old-age decline. It's visual cue was a gently-rounded radiator shell, topped with a bounding dog mascot. Some cars were badged as Overlands, but most bore the Whippet emblem.

Body styles included coupe, coach and sedan, and sales of 253,000 cars, helped by prices as low as $610, pushed the make to third place in 1928. Power came from a 134 cubic inch L-head four, and later a six was added to the mix. The flagship sleeve-valve Willys-Knight continued in production, but drew few buyers.

In 1929, though, Hudson's Essex nudged past Whippet for third place, and 1930 was no better. Total Willys-Overland sales sank below those of Pontiac and Oakland. For 1931, the Whippets gave way to Willys sixes and eights, but sales slipped to sixth, then tenth. For 1933, John Willys decided to concentrate on the low end of the market, and discontinued the large cars in favor of the Willys 77. In a time when the Terraplane was helping Hudson out of the doldrums, you'd think it might have been a tonic. Alas, sales fell still further, to 15th place, and stayed there for most of the thirties, despite updated models. The Whippet's little four cylinder engine, though, went on to become a hero. Re-engineered and refined, it went on to power the immortal Jeep.

The Last Stutz

Stutz was the "Car that made good in a day," turning in a creditable performance in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. It is the Stutz Bearcat, of course, that became best known, despite the fact that there were Stutz sedans and touring cars throughout the car's life. In the 1920s, the "Safety Stutz," with its low-slung chassis and iconic "Vertical Eight" overhead cam engine made its mark in America. Although the low-priced companion make Blackhawk of 1929-30 was not a success, the four-valve DV-32 engine and Super Bearcat model kept marque in the public eye until 1934.

Then, alas, the money ran out and production stopped, although a few chassis sent to England were bodied there and sold as 1935 cars. Finally, in 1938, the remains of the company were sold at auction.

But motor vehicle production did not stop there, not quite. In 1932, Stutz acquired the Pak-Age-Car, a compact rear-engine delivery van, which had been distributed through the Stutz dealer network. Re-engineering the Pak-Age-Car to use a four-cylinder Hercules engine, Stutz put it into production at its Indianapolis factory. It was a stand-and-drive vehicle, with the engine mounted to the rear transaxle, the whole power train easily removable for servicing.

When Stutz bankruptcy loomed in 1938, the Pak-Age-Car moved to Auburn factories in Connersville, Indiana. Auburn, too, was in trouble, so off-loaded Pak-Age-Car marketing and distribution to Diamond T, which continued to sell the little vans until March 1941, when war preparations took over the Connersville plant.

According to The Stutz Club, only about four Pak-Age-Cars survive. I snapped this unrestored example at the National Automobile and Truck Museum of the United States in Auburn, Indiana, next to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. As it happens, there was once a Pak-Age-Car operating near the CarPort's headquarters in southeastern Connecticut. John M. Russ of Norwich purchased a new Pak-Age-Car from John P. Nielsen & Sons, the Hartford Diamond T dealer in April 1940. An independent route man, he delivered products for Thumm's delicatessen. I'm grateful to John's widow, Pauline Russ, for these photos.