Fourteen Thousand Dollar Question: Olds 442, Mercury Cyclone, or Buick Skylark

You are a recently divorced industrial fastener salesman based out of some podunk central California farming town and you've got a few grand...well, more than a few grand to throw away on a muscle car.  With a budget of fifteen large, you head to the SF Bay Area car shows and start to imagine burning rubber and a chunk of your life savings on a car...what do you get, this Olds 442, Mercury Cyclone, or Buick Skylark?

Axle Twister: 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT 429

The Mercury Cyclone started life as a performance version of the compact Falcon based Mercury Comet, but by 1970 it was its own model built on the mid-sized Fairlane platform.  It was a huge hunk of 2-door metal available with a giant 429 cubic inch V8 and today is surprisingly cheap for what you get.  Find this 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT 429 offered for $12,500 in LA area, CA via craigslist.

10k: What A Face: 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT

Mercury's Cyclone badge started life as a performance 2-door option on the original Comet, back when the Comet was a compact Falcon-based sedan.  As the Comet grew in size, so did the Cyclone, and by 1968 the Cyclone was its own thing -- based on the Ford Fairlane.  In 1970, when the Torino name superseded the Fairlane, the Cyclone was a sporty two-door version of Mercury's Montego, which was based on the intermediated size Torino, but used most of its own sheet metal.  Confused...don't be...just take a look at that front grill and embrace the madness. Find this 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT currently bidding for$11,500 reserve-not-met with 3 days to go, located in Neptune, NJ via eBay.

10k: Vintage Twister: 1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone

The Mercury Comet was a slightly up market version of Ford's popular Falcon compact sedan and rode on a slightly longer wheelbase and had a nicer interior.  In 1964 with the introduction of a new square styled version, Mercury introduced a performance option called the Cyclone.  The Cyclone added a 4-bbl 289 cubic inch V8, bucket seats and a few other things for the performance crowd.  Find this 1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone for sale in Walla Walla, WA currently bidding for $9,200 with a few hours to go.