History 64/65 Comets old drag cars lets see pictures

Wasn't this the Beswick car first?

 

I dont think so I think they got seperate cars.Of the first four SOHC 65 comets Three were white with red interior.Hayden Prophit,Arnie Beswick,And george Deleorean.You dont hear much about the Deleorean car.I would of imagine if Ronnie would of atayed with Mercury he would have got it.Isnt there some conteversy over the current Hayden Prophit car,Isnt there two of them,one that you see in the posts here that has been making the circut and another that is suppose to be the original in Rick kirks museum.Heres a pic of Beswicks car

 

I recently saw a pictuire of a black primered 65 Comet with a chopped top A.W.B. It was in the build up area of Fremont Drag Strip. It was lettered Dyno Don on the side. I've never heard of that version before. Dose anybody have any info on that version?

 

This is the Dyno car later on after Pete Gates. When the car was found (by a friend of mine) it had the chopped top, straight axle and AWB. It was part of the "Lady Bug" racing team.

 

Who ended up with the Beswick car when Mercury got it back? He didn't run it very long.

 

I found this the other day.Its from a newsletter from the Comet East Club back in 06.I would think the car is all the way restored by now but I havent heard anything current on it or any new pics.

Heres the link to this article,There are three pics of the car there,I cant seem to move them over here.

http://www.cometeastcarclub.org/Newsletter/CE_News_v5_5a.pdf

kunz's ​

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comet: "Return of the Flying Farmer"​

By Bob Gajewski​

From out of a small thundering herd of only six known to
exist from the Mercury stables, we now reveal with great
pride Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick's 1965 A/FX Comet
Cyclone. This car now resides in Michigan and is owned
by a good friend Dave Kunz. What a marriage: A super car
and super guy. But without any further ado, let us continue
on with the saga of one of the rarest Mercury mastodons
ever to devour 1,320 feet of asphalt.
Unlike the infamous 427 Fairlane Thunderbolts, the A/FX
Comets did not enjoy a propagation of the species. The
Comets were not mass-produced by Dearborn Steel
Tubing or Kar Kraft. These A/FX Comets were factory bred
and born. For those of us who have been denied an
existence prior to 1950, the "A" designates a 427 motor
and the "FX" designates "factory experimental." Hence the
name "A/FX Comet”. Now back to the "Flyin' Farmer,"
a.k.a. Kunz's Comet. Dave acquired the Beswick Comet in
1984. The Comet first resurfaced publicly in a 1984 edition
of "Super Ford." Here it appeared in Minnesota, sporting
white paint and a blue stripe. The former Beswick Comet
contained the famous 427 medium riser fuel injected
lunger, 4-speed top loader gearbox and 9-inch 3l-spline
locker. All this was encased in the factory fiberglass and
sheet metal skin.
According to Dave, Arnie "Farmer" Beswick piloted the
A/FX at the Winternationals in Pomona. The farmer also
scorched the old U.S. 19 strip in Albany, Georgia with a
blistering 1/4 mile 10.88 E.T.
In May of 1965, Arnie parted ways with the FX'er, perhaps
to try his luck with his second string GTOs. The Comet
then fell into the hands of Paul Rossi. Rossi substituted the
427 with the famous SOHC 427 Hemi dual quad mastodon
motor. Rossi pioneered the Cyclone sporting new gold
metal flake wrappings and appropriately names the Comet
"Goldfender". Paul had acquired the car out of Morrison,
Illinois. He match raced the car at the now defunct Motor
City Dragway, at Detroit Dragway and in Canada during
the summer of 1965. Paul then sold the car in 1966. Ford
got the car back and farmed it over to one Roy Stefi, who
extracted the SOHC cammer. At this point, the Comet
became a "dollar" car drifting over [to] White Plains, N.Y.
The Farmer car then found its way to Canada and into the
hands of Jim Melsten who flogged the Comet with its goldmetal-
flake trim in various match races. A 427 medium
riser wedge was once more cradled between the gold
fenders. After this, the former white Cyclone, now gold,
was repainted to blue, then [later] re-dyed to red. The
years melted away and the Beswick Comet became lost in
obscurity, changing owners and hiding its true identity
under many layers of paint.
Enter David Kunz. Dave set out to capture an original A/FX
Cyclone. Little did he know that his Comet safari would
lead him to Canada, where he would discover the famous
Beswick beast. When purchased, the Comet was wearing
a coat of red paint. However, she had weathered the
passing of 20 years remarkably well and the fiberglass
front bumper, steel rear bumper, fiberglass fenders, ram
air hood, fiberglass doors and deck lid were all intact and
in place as was the prized Ford Motor Co. warranty
"disclaimer" tag; still affixed to the door.
With his prize safely nestled in his garage, Dave
immediately undertook-the most important task first. He
performed a "chain fall" tune up and commenced
dismantling the tired 427 powerpack. During the course of
disemboweling the engine, Dave discovered the motor had
been assembled incorrectly, cam bearings improperly
installed, very poor oil circulation and a multitude of other
sins.
Rumor has it that the machine shop, who specialized in
Chevy engines, did the "blacksmith job" on the Comet
motor. No wonder those Chevys collected so few time
slips! Leaving nothing to be overlooked, Dave had the
engine honed true with a torque plate, installed a flat
tappet cam, beefed rockers, a forged Lemans crank, rods
and internals. Mixing it up at the rear, Dave installed a 35-
spline spool. With the mighty 427 now properly buttoned
up, Dave topped it off with a Calumet-Jackson injector
setup. This allows the "27" to gorge itself on gas, alcohol
or nitro. The Comet also sports the same traction system.
That is, the same factory installed traction bars that the
Beswick car launched with.
Originally, a 3-point cage overshadowed the driver. This is
now replaced with a 6-point cage. A standard Ford dual​

point distributor still adequately

8​

handles feeding spark to all 8 lungs. Dave adds that the
Cyclone ran quicker with the 427 than it did with the SOHC
cammer. The 2-1/4" headers handle the job of purging
spent gases well. Transmitting the 427's power to the rear
wheels is your basic tried and true 4-speed top loader. A
beefed Mark Williams prop shaft with a heavy duty slip
yoke and pinion yoke turn the 9" PRO gear securing the
l5"xll.5" rear tires are 5/8 wheel studs.
The Comet also sports the original 5-spoke Cragar mag
wheels that came standard. The same Logghe Brothers
wheelie bars that Paul Rossi ran with still separate the rear
bumper from the asphalt, and the original leaf springs still
cradle the rear end. A tubular type front axle holds the
front tires.
Dave runs 11-1/2 inch Goodyear’s on the Comet.
Originally, l5"xlO" tires were standard on the FX. Big
meats for 1965 standards! Somewhere between Beswick
and Kunz, the Comet got a slightly shortened wheelbase
for weight transfer. Dave still retains a set of original
magnesium Halibrand rims.
The A/FX Cyclones came without rear seats and only two
front bucket seats. The instrument panel from the cluster
on was a fiberglass panel with a block-off plate for the
heater. A very spartan interior adorned the cockpit. Interior
decorations included red carpet and door panels, sans
window cranks (B/FX Comets had window cranks). The
A/FX utilized weight saving plexiglass for the side glass
and backlight. The interior is Rangoon Red. In fact, that
was the ONLY color. The ominous fiberglass hood sucked
in fresh air through twin snouts feeding a direct ram air
system - simple but effective. Dave chose to retain all the
previous owner's handiwork such as the Beswick white
paint scheme, Rossi's parachute, reworked steering gear,
relocated front axle, and Logghe wheelie bars. In order to
preserve Mercury's drag racing history from 1965, Dave
has wisely chosen to duplicate the Beswick car exactly as
she ran in early 1965.
Dave, not one to farm anything out, picked up his air gun
and blew the fresh white paint job on the Comet. Then,
armed with photos of the Cyclone from ' 65, he loaded the
white Cyclone on a trailer and trucked on over to George
Garner. Now George does with a paint brush what Van
Gogh did with canvas -creates a masterpiece. George
duplicated the exact lettering that appeared on the Comet
when Beswick flew it in 1965. George even duplicated the
misspelling of Jardine headers to "Jardene" to preserve
automotive drag racing history. All this was accomplished
off of old magazine photos. Dave obtained an injector
setup that actually came off of a Lemans GT-40. Dave, of
course, replaced all injector lines himself.
According to Dave, only six 1965 A/fX Comet Cyclones
were built. One factory backup was sold to Moyer's
Dealership in Maryland. The six A/fX Comets were piloted
by: Arnie Beswick, Hayden Proffitt, “Fast” Eddie Shartman,
“Dyno” Don Nicholson, George Delorean, and Ramazinski.
Dave says all six Comets exist today.
By now I'm sure most of those readers who are experts of
A/FX Comets are probably saying: "You missed #7. What
about Chrisman's Comet? Chrisman's Comet is a story in
itself, but just for general info, here's an abbreviated story
on Jack's Comet. The 1965 Chrisman Comet was not a
factory '65 A/FX. This car was actually a '64 Cyclone that
was a totally re-skinned car using a '65 front clip and
quarters to produce a '65 Comet. This car ran a Sox &
Sons blower perched atop a SOHC cammer engine;
hence, this was not a factory '65 A/FX car. From time to
time, campfire stories tell about other long lost A/FX
Comets resurfacing. Again, there were only SIX of these
factory freight trains built. Four of these contained the
SOHC 427; the remaining two had the 427 medium riser
engine.
Those of us who are fortunate enough to own a '65 Comet
can be proud of its heritage and history. You can imagine
Dave's feelings when he pulls his trailer onto the road,
knowing that he is pulling along the actual car that wrote
the Mercury history book.​

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in a 1988
issue of the Performance Ford Club of America magazine.
It has been edited by the author and is used here with his
permission. Comet East wishes to express our gratitude to
Bob for supplying us with this insight into a piece of Comet​

racing history.

 

Thats right Paul Rossi got it. I got him and Deleorean confused...

Thanks

 

Heres some more pics of George's comet.This site has a few of these shots for sale.

 

Alice Cooper is a car guy and enjoys FORDs.
Look for him at the Scottsdale Barrett/Jackson.
In years past he has always created a hot rod with an album theme to auction.
Also still the best showman in rock and roll!!

Matt

 

Ken;that 64 Cyclone is an unrestored oroginal.I have been around that car alot at various races and shows.The guy that owns it has alot of great old Ford racecars and at least one recreation.I will call John[Scrapiron]Richmond and see if I can get more info on the Comet,he knows the owner real well. ROY.

 

I'm using Photobucket for the first time...I hope this works..I'm trying to post some pictures.

 

I actually was able to post some pictures! The dark blue car,the Mr. 289 car,and the yellow car are the same car.It's the Pflueger B/FX car.The burgundy Cyclone has the same DSO,build date and the VIN unit number is two units apart.These are two of five of a special ordered "group".I have more pictures...I just have to remember how I posted these...

 

Great Pics !!! Thanks for posting

 

Troublemaker427 thanks for the info. I thought the Dyno car ended up in hawaii. Which car was the one that was found in hawaii?

 

Earl Wade told me this story back in the day about all the teams that were to get Comets were to meet at Bill Stroppe's shop to pick out their new cars.Dyno was to get first pick.
Doug Nash's dad was head of S.American operations for Ford and ,needless to say, had a little pull.Doug got to Stroppes shop the day before and weighed all the cars and got the lightest one of the bunch.When the teams got there, Dougs was already assigned to him. Dyno was pissed that it went down like that, but there was nothing he could do about it.
I got to see a lot of that car at Pete Gates house when Dyno was useing his house as headquarters in 66-67

 

Looks like Darrell Drokes 66 Long Nose Mustang in the other lane

 

Thats from the Andy Griffith show correct ??

 

^^Those taillamps made me remember this...ever seen a Comet Ranchero?

 

Two cars were found in Hawaii.One was a B/FX Comet and the other a A/FX Comet.The A/FX Comet was actually a B/FX Comet that was converted to A/FX by Pfluegers friend,Bill Stroppe.Pflueger wanted an A/FX car,but wasn't a Ford Drag Council member,so he ordered a 65 B/FX Comet and had it converted.Driver was Earl Char.

 

64Cyclone;I think that Ranchero is from Northern California,I saw a couple of pictures of one at a Ford Show at Sacramento Raceway.I've seen two others here in So.Calif.,a Red one and a flat black one.The biggest issue is modifying the core support and adding headlight pigtails,I know because I have a similar project going. ROY.

 

Hey guys, I received a message from Jack Chrisman's daughter the other day and invited her to check out this thread. There are alot of his pics posted here but if you have any that haven't been posted, it would be cool to post a few!

 

64Cyclone;did she mention anything about the tribute car they were going to build?I met her and Jack's wife at a Goodguys race at Pamona a few years back.They came to my pit and showed me old photos and talked about building a 64 they had bought. ROY.

 

Pflueger never had a Comet at Lions.I think the picture was taken at Hawaii Raceway Park and the driver is Earl Char.

 

Check out the class lettering on the car...C-Stock and B/FX.

 

65 A/FX Pflueger Comet as it ran originally,and as it was found.Car was originally a B/FX car converted to A/FX by Bill Stroppe.Car was built exactly like Dyno Dons A/FX Comet.

 

bakersfield 1997

 

Do you know if anything is going on with restoring the car?