The 289 Hi-Po Comet shared the same suspension as the standard 289-equipped Cyclone. It consisted of upper and lower control arms, coil springs, shocks, ball joints, and tie-rod ends up front, and semi-elliptic leaf springs with four leaves and diagonally mounted shocks in the rear. It received special “quick answer” steering though, with a ratio of 16.1.
For stopping, the Comet Cyclone 289 Hi-Po came with four-wheel, cast-iron drums, with power assist a $43.00 option. Polished stainless-steel wheel covers with unique chrome lug nuts, shared with the 1965 Shelby GT350 when it was equipped with steel wheels, were mounted to 14-inch wheels, as was 7.35 x 14-inch rubber.
The 289 Hi-Po’s interior was all stock Cyclone parts. There was nothing to indicate this was a special variant. (Photo by Jim Campisano.)
Inside, the Hi-Po was standard 1965 Comet Cyclone through and through: bucket seats and door panels covered in pleated vinyl, a floor console, and the stock padded dash with instrumentation consisting of a speedometer, fuel gauge, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and amperes.
A variety of interior options were available including a tissue dispenser, rubber floor mats, a parking brake warning light, a remote trunk release, and the Rally Pac, which for $40 yielded three, dash mounted pods featuring a Rotunda tach, vacuum gauge, and elapsed time clock. When the A code 289 Hi-Po engine was ordered, no power steering or air conditioning could be fitted.
The Rally Pac which afforded dash mounted pods containing an 6000 rpm tachometer, a vacuum gauge, and a clock was a $40 option. (Photo by Jim Campisano.)
Although no contemporary periodical road tests were performed on the ’65 Comet Cyclone 289 Hi-Po because frankly, most magazines didn’t even know the car existed, owner testimonials suggest that the car was capable of a 15 second flat quarter mile. Fairly quick for the time, though not quite on par with a 389 V8 Tri-Power equipped ’65 Goat, which could do the same in a test drive validated 14.5-seconds at 100 mph.
Today, we can nonetheless say that the 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone 289 Hi-Po was a heck of a first muscle car effort for Mercury, one that led to the production of a more potent, though more common, Comet Cyclone GT model the following year. That car possessed a 390 cubic-inch S code V8 engine good for a rated 335 ponies, which put the GT on similar footing with the 1966 base model GTO, the ’66 Oldsmobile 442, and other muscle cars of note.
The rear of the 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone 289 Hi-Po. It’s an angle many a competing stoplight racer would see. (Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.)
No hard numbers as to 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone 289 Hi-Po production were kept, but knowledgeable enthusiasts and experts place the number somewhere between a minuscule 30 and 90 cars, making it one of the great Rare Rides of the early part of the Golden Era of muscle.
