We are always excited when we find a vintage drag car. Many of these vintage 1320 warriors have become rare sights these days as most were either stripped down, rebuilt into a street rod, or are still tucked away like a treasure waiting to be found. This 1964 Mercury Comet A/FX drag car brought to us by V8TV is a piece of American drag racing history. It raced in one of the most important classes in drag racing history, the A/FX class, back in the 1960s.

Back then, drag racing was America’s second pastime and the Big 3 capitalized on its popularity by building Super Stock drag cars and Factory Experimental drag cars.

FX, or Factory Experimental, cars looked like their Super stock cousins but where heavily modified in terms of both drivetrain and body. Generally FX cars had fiberglass body panels in place of the stock metal panels for weight reduction, and had top of the line factory motors not available to the consumer. There were also a lot of ‘delete’ options available, such as the radio, the heater, etc.

Plus these experimental motors were stuffed with speed parts for ultimate performance. Other differences include a modified wheel base for better weight distribution. The altered wheel bases eventually lead to the A/FX class series to evolve into the Funny Car.

This 64 Mercury Comet A/FX’s entire front end is made of fiberglass, including the front bumper. From the factory the Comet’s top of the line motor was a 289 but this one has a 427 horsepower Super Marauder Mercury 427 engine. It has a few upgrades including a custom air box with hoses that run to the front bumper much like the Ram Air systems found on other musclecars, high rise heads, dual quad intake manifold, RC bell housing and 4-barrel Holley carbs. The engine is bolted to an aluminum case four speed manual transmission with a posi rear.

All of these components worked together to launch this Comet into the 11s like a real shooting star. A few drag racing legends such as Ronnie Sox (pre Mopar days) and Dyno Don Nicholson got behind the wheel of these beauties. The Comets interior is Spartan with simply a basic dash, a Ford Rotunda speedo and a Hurst on the floor. We love finding vintage drag cars like this Mercury Comet A/FX, we enjoy learning the history, the story and heritage behind these race cars as they are a large part of American automotive history.