Rare 1969 Mercury Cyclone 'Cale Yarborough Special' Was Built To Honor Daytona 500 Winner

The Cyclone started off life as an option for the Mercury Comet in the mid 60s, before ditching the Comet moniker and grabbing the bull by the horns, so to speak. They really came into their own for the 1968 model year, which is when the third-generation car was introduced.

Mercury came out with the Cyclone Spoiler the following year, which had a 390 ci V8 with a 735cfm Holley carburetor and 325 horsepower. The Spoiler II was even more impressive, especially the racing version with its 429 Boss engine – same one used in the 1969 Mustang Boss 429.

Then there’s the 428 Cobra Jet engine, which was added to the lineup that very same year. It had 335 horsepower, and it even came with a few visual enhancements over the regular Cyclone and Cyclone GT specs.

Now, if you’re looking for a Cyclone that’ll really stand out from the rest, look no further than this 1969 ‘Cale Yarborough Special’ model, built in celebration of Cale Yarborough’s 1968 Daytona 500 win. This thing will be up for grabs to the highest bidder in Harrisburg, next month (July 26).

Just how special of an American classic is this? Well, there were a total of 617 Cale Yarborough Specials built, yes, but only 20 of them were Super Cobra Jet cars. Also, this is one of only three produced with the 428 SCJ V8, the Drag Pack, and the 4-speed manual gearbox.

Overall, it’s a 1 of 1 car, if you factor in the overall specification – like the Cyclone spoiler package, previously-mentioned Drag Pack, Tachometer, power front disc brakes, power steering, hood pins, color-keyed racing mirrors, belted raised white-letter tires, dark red vinyl interior, Hurst shifter, AM radio, and the dual-tone white and dark red exterior.

According to the ad, this car was kept in a climate-controlled storage unit, and judging by the state it’s in, I can believe it. It most certainly won’t come cheap, let’s just say that. I mean, it might go triple digits, it might not. I guess we’ll find out in July.

Seen any nicer Cyclones?

Depends on what you’re looking for. I can certainly say that this numbers-matching 1970 Cyclone GT with the 429 SCJ V8 stuck with me since last year when it failed to sell at auction. Its owner said no to a top bid of $80,000, which was interesting to say the least.