I was delighted to see Larry and his son, Hayden, cruise into the GT Auto Lounge parking lot several weeks ago in their sweet little 1963 Mercury Comet convertible. I love their story too, on how they came to be the proud new owners of it.
Sometime back in 2019, the family went on vacation up to Washington state. While up there Hayen was just randomly checking the local ads when he stumbled upon the listing for the Comet on Craigslist. Hayden was insistent upon checking the car out while they were up there. Eventually, Hayen’s dad, Larry, agreed to go for a drive out to look at the car. The story goes like this:
The previous owner had purchased a new home and the car came with it. The man’s wife was sick and tired of looking at the car just sitting in the garage, so the husband finally put it up for sale. Hayden and Larry made arrangements to meet with the man, and once they got there, took the Comet out for a drive. Even though both Larry and Hayden loved it, they ended up not buying it. Once they got home, Larry began negotiating with the Washington owner for about a month, unbeknownst to Hayden. They eventually came to an agreement, and Larry had the Comet shipped down here. To say Hayden was surprised and elated to see the car delivered to their home, would be an understatement.
The car sports the original V-8, 260 Horsepower motor with only 75,000 miles under her belt, a 2 speed automatic transmission. It also has upgraded power steering and power brakes. The repaint was performed back in the 1990’s and still looks fresh, as evidenced in the photos. The interior is original. Thank you, Larry and Hayden for bringing her out. I especially enjoyed seeing a young lad (Hayden – sorry Larry) driving this little beauty into the lot. Red suits him 😏.
Photos and story by Carol Marcopulos
