This is the Cyclone the day after I brought it home in June of 1998. No rust on the outside of the car, but the clearcoat is flaking off. It was painted and rust proofed before it was stored back in 1983, so there really is not much body work to be done.
It is a 1968 GT with the 390 4V engine. Rated at 325 horsepower. There were only 12260 Cyclones built that year. Included in that number are the GT models, but Ford never kept track of how many. Options in my car include: Bucket Seats, Console, C-6 Cruise-O-Matic Transmission, Interval wipers (yes, and they work too!), Power brakes and Steering, Clock in the dash. The engine has the optional Chrome package with a chrome air cleaner, valve covers and dipstick. This car had 95500 miles when I towed the car home since the previous owner couldn't get it started. Since getting it running, I have put around one hundred miles on it just by taking it for a "boot" once in a while. It leaked oil badly and burned it as well. It just sat for so long without being started (15 years). I started to restore this machine earlier this year and hope to have it running again by next spring.
Recently I bumped into a guy at Pick-Your-Part who borrowed some tools from me and I noticed he was taking parts from a 58 Fairlane. I asked him if he owned one of these old cars and he said that he has a 58 Mercury.
"Oh?", I said. "I have a 68 Mercury"
He looked surprised and he turned to me and asked, "You have a what?"
"I have a 68 Mercury Cyclone GT", I told him.
He looked even more surprised and seemed a little nervous. I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. I know this is a rare car and all, but why is he so excited?
"Is it a Fastback?" He asked me.
"It’s a Fastback with the 390 GT engine. The car is red in color," I proudly responded.
He was starting to get shaky. This worried me because he was an older guy, and I didn't know if he had health problems or not. But what he was about to tell me made me shake too!
"You're not going to believe this!" He said. "Honestly, I can't believe this is happening myself! Back in 1970, I bought a written off 68 Cyclone GT Fastback. Red. 390 GT engine with a four speed. I stripped it of everything I could take off. I still have most of these parts in my Garage. The car was rolled, so the body was destroyed, but it only had 19000 miles on it!! I have kept these parts for 29 years waiting for someone who needed them!"
He was right. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was thinking how unbelievable this was. How could I possibly have run into a situation like this? Out of all the people in this city and on the Internet that I talk to, to try and find parts and info on this car, and I run into this?
We spoke at length there in the junkyard and he told me he was keeping the engine, tranny, and the seats and console for his 58 Merc. He was willing to get rid of the rest of the stuff though. He said he had the complete dash including the instrument cluster with the ORIGINAL FACTORY TACHOMETER!!! This just about made me jump up and down! I only dreamed of getting a factory tach for this car!
Lets see. 12000 cyclones made. Maybe half of them are GT's. Only the four speeds had the Tach as standard equipment. So lets say that two to three thousand were sold with Tach's. By this time, maybe only a couple hundred exist!!?? I have one??!! WOW! What are the odds? I think somebody "upstairs" is watching out for me!
His name was Bob and we agreed to meet in the next week or so to look at the parts. Here is a list of what I brought home the night I went to look:
He sold all of this stuff to me for $350.00. Pretty good deal I thought. I was a little strapped for cash at the time, but it was worth it! Just think, 29 years this stuff has been waiting for me!
