1969 Mercury Cyclone CJ

When the 1968-1969 Mercury Cyclone GT came along, the folks at Mercury followed the lead of Ford, and turned their sinking Cyclone into a Torino clone. Sales just about doubled. Unfortunately, the 1967 total had sunk so low that even twice that figure wasn't likely to cause any celebrations.

Most of the attention went to the rakish, long-profiled fastback 1968 Mercury Cyclone GT with its vast rear quarter reaching back in a straight line from the roof. Body side striping stretched from headlight to tail, kicking up at the quarter window to accent the illusion of endless length on the GT edition. Another stripe flowed between GT wheel openings, helping to spotlight its contours.

In 1969,  other changes came to the 1969 Mercury Cyclone GT. The GT was demoted from an official Cyclone model to a mere appearance option group, while the dramatic fastback came in base and CJ trim.

A close relative to Ford's performance-packed Cobra, the CJ measured two inches longer. CJs wore a black-out version of the revised Cyclone grille, with protruding center segment and a slim silvertone center bar.

But the "good stuff " lay beyond the grille, like a standard 428-cid V-8, with 335 horses to blast a CJ off easily. Ordering Ram-Air induction for $138.60 added a hood scoop to gulp in the fresh, cold air demanded by the four-barrel carburetor, and a set of hood lock pins. A four-speed was standard, and  Select-Shift automatic was optional. Both a tachometer and bucket seats cost extra.

The CJ's needed only 5.5 seconds to hit 60 mph, and just 13.9 seconds to slam through the quarter-mile. Even in 1969, that was traveling.

Cyclones performed well not only at the drag strips, but around NASCAR ovals as well, where the 1968 Daytona 500, was won by Cale Yarborough at an average 143.25 mph. No matter how hard Mercury tried, though, customers weren't exactly beating down the doors for a chance at a Cyclone. Production would rise in 1970, but sink to an even drearier mark in 1971, the final season for these quick but overlooked remnants of American muscle.

Rarest of all is the Cyclone Spoiler II . Only 519 were built for NASCAR homologation, wearing flat front ends like the Talladegas that did similar duty for Ford.