Comet (marque)

Overview
1960 Comet 2-Door Sedan
Overview
Also called	Mercury Comet Edsel Comet
Production	1960-1961.[1]
Body and chassis
Class	Compact
Body style	2-door sedan 4-door sedan 4-door station wagon 2-door station wagon
Related	Ford Falcon Frontenac Mercury Comet
Powertrain
Engine	144 cu in (2.4 L) Thriftpower Six 170 cu in (2.8 L) Thriftpower Six
Transmission	3-speed manual 2-speed Comet Drive automatic[2]
Dimensions
Wheelbase	114 in (2,896 mm) (sedan) 109.5 in (2,781 mm)[3] (wagon)
Length	194.5 in (4,940 mm)[4]
Width	70.4 in (1,788 mm)[5]
Height	54.5 in (1,384 mm)

Comet is a defunct American automobile brand of compact cars marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company from 1960 to 1961.^[6] Comet vehicles were promoted as "the First Compact Car with Fine Car Styling" and were offered in 4 body styles:^[7]

• 2-Door Sedan
• 2-Door Station Wagon
• 4-Door Sedan
• 4-Door Station Wagon

Comet cars were originally meant to be introduced under the Edsel brand as the 1960 Edsel Comet^[8] before Edsel was shut down in November of 1959.^[9] Comet was subsequently released on March 17th, 1960 in the United States^[10] and was sold through Lincoln-Mercury-Comet and Mercury-Comet dealerships.^[11] Comet was introduced to the Canadian market for 1961^[12] as a replacement for the one-year-only 1960 Frontenac.^[13] Lincoln-Mercury announced the consolidation of the Comet and Mercury lines on September 20, 1961 for both markets. For the 1962 model year onward, all Comet cars were sold under the Mercury brand as the Mercury Comet and distributed through Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.^[14][15]

Although never marketed as Mercury Comets when new, 1960 - 1961 Comet models are often historically and incorrectly referred to as Mercury Comets.^[16][17]