HomeMediaPick of the Day: 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT

Pick of the Day: 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT

429 Cobra Jet + Drag Pak = SCJ

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The Mercury Cyclone had a strong presence in NASCAR, but that never translated into sales from the showroom. They don’t often show up at shows though, if you want one, they’re not difficult to find. Until now, finding a 1970 Cyclone GT like our Pick of the Day would be more difficult. This unique vehicle is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in Seekonk, Massachusetts.

When the Cyclone series was designed for 1970, the models were shuffled up a bit. The base Cyclone was brother to Ford’s Torino Cobra, so they somewhat competed with the Plymouth Road Runner. While not as cheap, they both offered few frills aside from a more substantial 360-horsepower 429. For those who wanted something fancier, they could move up to the Cyclone GT, which offered a more luxurious interior and standard hidden headlights. While the standard engine was not interesting — a 351 two-barrel — buyers could opt for a 351 four-barrel, the aforementioned 429, and the 429 Cobra Jet. But if you wanted something loaded for bear and were into the stripes and spoilers trend, then the Cyclone Spoiler would be your choice because the 429 CJ with ram air was standard.

While the Cyclone Spoiler is rare, with 1,631 built, the same equipment in the Cyclone GT is much rarer as only 394 were built with the 429 CJ. It even gets more interesting when you learn that only 73 Cyclone GTs were built with the Drag Pak, which added forged aluminum pistons, solid lifter cam, four-bolt main bearing caps, oil cooler and Traction-Lok with 3.91 gears. When the Drag Pak was ordered, the CJ became a Super Cobra Jet.

This restored Competition Yellow 1970 Cyclone GT features all the bells and whistles you’d expect with a top-tier muscle car: great color, four-speed manual transmission, gauges (the Instrumentation Group included those nifty canted gauges) and heavy-duty equipment including digger gears. This vehicle originally wasn’t equipped with ram air, but it has been added to this vehicle now. Mileage is claimed to be an authentic 15,392 miles. Additionally, the 429 Super Cobra Jet has been bored and stroked to 533ci and has been dyno-tested at 527 horsepower and 599 ft-lbs of torque.

The selling dealer says that “the undercarriage is also highly detailed throughout with many correct parts. The floors were re-painted in the correct red oxide color. This underside is so clean it should be displayed with mirrors at car shows,” as the picture below supports. “The fuel system, steering system, suspension components and braking system was restored or replaced.”

The sale of this 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT will include the original invoice including the Elite Marti Report, which gives other production statistics than what already has been mentioned. Considering 4,475 LS6 SS 454 Chevelles and El Caminos were built in 1970, this Cyclone is quite unique. If you are among the more discerning collectors out there, you should approach the selling dealer because “Best Offer” is the price that’s listed.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

Diego Rosenberg
Diego Rosenberg
Lead Writer Diego Rosenberg is a native of Wilmington, Delaware and Princeton, New Jersey, giving him plenty of exposure to the charms of Carlisle and Englishtown. Though his first love is Citroen, he fell for muscle cars after being seduced by 1950s finned flyers—in fact, he’s written two books on American muscle. But please don’t think there is a strong American bias because foreign weirdness is never far from his heart. With a penchant for underground music from the 1960-70s, Diego and his family reside in the Southwest.

1 COMMENT

  1. Alas, put this one in the “The One that Got Away” column. I knew it was a long shot, being in my late teens and stumbling across one of these in red, with a front bench seat and a four on the floor. The price was right. All my lawn mowing and part time job money would have been allocated, but my father when informed of my very watered down version of the car, was not going to cover my insurance if i opted for this machine.

    It’s current owner had too many DUI’s at the time, and lost his license, so he was opting to sell it for a very reasonable price. I’ll never forget him demonstrating the incredible torque, by starting out in fourth gear! To this day…I still remember that!

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