Vintage Video Of Comets And Fairlanes Drag Racing

The Mustang often gets a lion’s share of the credit when it comes to Ford’s performance credentials – and not undeserving. But Ford made plenty of other powerful cars even before the Mustang came along. The Falcon, the Fairlane, and the Mercury Comet were among the cars that paved the way for the Mustang to dominate the marketplace the way it does today.

Bangshift came across some awesome vintage footage of these compact and mid-sized cars tearing up the drag strip. It is amazing to imagine what these racers were able to accomplish without the amazing aftermarket we enjoy today.

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The stars of this video are no doubt the Mercury Comets and Fairlanes. The Comet was a compact car that shared a unibody platform with the Falcon. Its performance model, the Cyclone, featured a high-output 289 engine, and could even be had with the 427 or 428 engines. The Fairlane was a more mid-size car, and eventually came to be the definition of “muscle car” when equipped with one of Ford’s available big block motors. The Thunderbolt version of the Fairlane was essentially a stripped-out drag car, removing even the smallest unnecessary items like headrests.

Lot’s of big names raced Comets and Fairlanes before they raced Mustangs or other cars. “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Bill Lawton, and Ronnie Sox are just a few of the big names featured in the videos. The best part of these vintage videos is in the details…like the fellow who hauled his car to the strip in a woody wagon. Take notice how absolutely packed the bandstands are too. These were the glory days of muscle cars, no doubt about it, and the Comet and Fairlane were in the thick of it.