Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II

Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II
Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II
Overview
Manufacturer	Mercury(Ford)
Also called	Ford Torino Talladega
Production	1969
Model years	1969
Designer	Larry Shinoda
Body and chassis
Class	Race car/Muscle Car
Body style	2-door hardtopfastback
Layout	FR layout

TheMercury Cyclone Spoiler IIis amuscle carthat was produced byMercuryin early 1969. The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II was a special, more aerodynamic version of theMercury Cyclone.It was produced specifically to compete against theDodge Charger DaytonaandPlymouth Superbirdproduced by Chrysler, and the nearly identicalFord Torino Talladega,inNASCARstock car racing, and was sold to the public only becausehomologationrules required a minimum number of cars (500 in 1969) be produced and made available for sale to the public.^[2]^[3]All production examples were constructed during the first few weeks of 1969.

Production

The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II was built in only two trim packages: The Cale Yarborough Special - a white car with red interior and exterior trim, and the Dan Gurney Special - a white car with blue interior and trim.^[4]^[5]A largely equivalent vehicle was also produced byFordas theTorino Talladega.

The 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II was based on the Mercury Cyclone "Sportsroof" (Ford's trade name for afastback) 2-door hardtop. To make the car more aerodynamic at high speeds, a sleeker front section was added. Regular production Mercury Cyclones had a then-fashionable inset grille and headlights, which fared poorly in the wind tunnel. The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II had this nose replaced with one that extended the car's length by about six inches, with a flush-mounted grille identical to that used on theFord Torino Talladegagiving it a much more aerodynamic front end. In a well kept, secret design move,^{[citation needed]}the rocker panels were reshaped and rolled to allow Mercury teams to run their racing cars about an inch closer to the ground while staying within NASCAR rules; this also greatly enhanced the top speed of the car by lowering its center of gravity, and further reducing its wind resistance. All production (homologation) models of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II were equipped with a 351 Windsor engine, automatic on the column, and front bench seat.

Racing

Racing versions of the car were initially fitted with the Ford FE 427 side oiler engine that had been Ford's main racing engine since 1963. Later in the season, theBoss 429engine was used by many of the teams, after it had finally been declared "officially homologated" by NASCAR president, Bill France. The Boss 429 engine was homologated in the 1969Ford Mustang Boss 429.In a very unusual move, Ford homologated the engine separately from the car in which it was to race. Many experts think this may have been done in order to get the bodywork of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II officially homologated at the beginning of the 1969 race season, as the Boss 429 was not yet in production in sufficient numbers to homologate it.

A prototype of the Cyclone Spoiler II had exposed headlights where the front nose resembled the one based on theDatsun 240Z.

The Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II was very successful on the racing circuit: winning 8 Grand National races during the 1969 and 1970 NASCAR seasons - matching the total number of wins recorded by the 1970Plymouth Superbird.

One important footnote: 1969 was Ford's last year of factory involvement, and/or support, in racing of any kind for several years. Following Congressional hearings in which they were questioned about the R&D costs of racing vs. improving fuel economy and safety, Ford completely abandoned all of their racing programs, starting with the 1970 season. Subsequently, most of the NASCAR and ARCA race teams, running Mercurys, continued to run their 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler IIs in 1970 without any factory support, when it became apparent that their Spoiler IIs were aerodynamically superior to the 1970 Mercurys that Ford intended to be their replacement. After the 1970 season, NASCAR effectively banned the"aero cars",by restricting all five of the limited aero "production" cars to having to compete with engines no larger than 305 cubic inches of displacement (vs. the 426, 427, & 429 inches that the other cars could run), and the competitive history of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II (and its aerowarrior rivals) was essentially over.

Collectibility

Today, a Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II is a very collectible car. It was a special purpose built vehicle (some have even called it a "showroom race car" ) with a very strong racing history, that achieved great success during theAero Wars.Those examples that still exist today, do so in very limited numbers. For some reason, their values have not risen nearly as high as theMopar"aero cars", in spite of their rarity and their great track successes during the pinnacle of stock car racing (the aero wars years). Some experts have assumed that this was due to the sheer outrageousness of theDodge Charger Daytonaand thePlymouth Superbird,with their huge rear wings; as the MOPAR winged cars' prices have eclipsed the far more subtle bodywork of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. Regardless, most experts consider the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler IIs (and the Ford Torino Talladegas) to be very undervalued by comparison; but, in 1969 (and over the two years of the Aero Wars) Mercury's Cyclone Spoiler IIs and Ford's Talladegas owned the high banks of NASCAR andARCA.

References

^Annis, Casey (19 October 2021)."Aero Warrior — 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona".Sports Car Digest.Retrieved28 July2023.
^Heasley, Jerry (April 12, 2013)."1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II - Telling It Like It Was".Motor Trend.RetrievedSeptember 10,2021.
^Woodard, Collin (December 14, 2015)."A Look Back at the Best of America's Race-Bred Classic Cars".Road & Track.RetrievedSeptember 10,2021.
^Newhardt, David; Harholdt, Peter (2009).Art of the Muscle Car.Motorbooks pg. 98-102.ISBN 978-0-7603-3591-8.
^Martin, Murilee (April 28, 2014)."Project Car Hell, Genuine Muscle Cars Edition: AMC Rebel Machine or Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II?".Autoweek.RetrievedSeptember 10,2021.

External links

Talladega page at fordfairlane.com
Aero Warriorssite about the "aero cars"; concentrates on the Mopar cars, but includes much about the racing history of all the cars.
FordFastback.comThis site is dedicated to Ford fastbacks centering on Talladegas and Galaxies with comparative anatomy.
What Really Happened During the Aerowars?This site is dedicated to the Aero Wars and what occurred during that time.
Talladega and Spoiler RegistryThis site is dedicated to information about Talladegas and Spoilers

[1] Annis, Casey (19 October 2021)."Aero Warrior — 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona".Sports Car Digest.Retrieved28 July2023.

[telling-2] Heasley, Jerry (April 12, 2013)."1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II - Telling It Like It Was".Motor Trend.RetrievedSeptember 10,2021.

[classic-3] Woodard, Collin (December 14, 2015)."A Look Back at the Best of America's Race-Bred Classic Cars".Road & Track.RetrievedSeptember 10,2021.

[Newhardt_&_Harholdt-4] Newhardt, David; Harholdt, Peter (2009).Art of the Muscle Car.Motorbooks pg. 98-102.ISBN 978-0-7603-3591-8.

[muscle-5] Martin, Murilee (April 28, 2014)."Project Car Hell, Genuine Muscle Cars Edition: AMC Rebel Machine or Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II?".Autoweek.RetrievedSeptember 10,2021.

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