Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II

Mercury does not build many cars like the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II: a 2-door hardtop fastback, built from 1969 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Its designer of record is Larry Shinoda.

The story

The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II is a muscle car that was produced by Mercury in early 1969. The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II was a special, more aerodynamic version of the Mercury Cyclone.

It was produced specifically to compete against the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird produced by Chrysler, and the nearly identical Ford Torino Talladega, in NASCAR stock car racing, and was sold to the public only because homologation rules required a minimum number of cars (500 in 1969) be produced and made available for sale to the public. A total of 503 cars were built in both Yarborough (285) and Gurney (215) versions, a during the first few weeks of 1969.

Under the skin

The record carries the shape — a 2-door hardtop fastback — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.

Its place in the line

On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Range Rover Range Rover, the Toyota Hilux, the Suzuki Jimny. Nearby in the Mercury catalogue sit the Mercury Bobcat and the Mercury Capri.

The money

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.