The 1969 Mercury Cyclone is a very low production vehicle. There were only 6,968 Cyclone Fastbacks built! That alone makes the car very rare but when you start talking about the Dan Gurney and Cale Yarborough Spoiler Specials you realize why they are so hard to find.
The total production of Spoilers exceeded the number of Spoiler IIs and Talladegas at 969. However, far fewer have been registered than the lower production Talladega. A total of only 46 Cyclone Spoilers have been registered or confirmed in our Registry. Of those two 2 were confirmed to be destroyed or junked leaving only 44 potential running examples! That is less than one third the number of Talladegas registered!
How many Spoilers were built?
352 of the Spoilers built were Dan Gurney Specials and 617 were Cale Yarborough Specials. From information we have been able to collect:
-41 Cale Yarborough cars were built with 428 Ram Air (includes 20 SCJs).
-22 of the 428 CJs had automatic transmissions and 19 had 4-speeds.
-32 Dan Gurney cars were built with 428 CJ engines of which 16 had Ram Air and 5 of those were SCJs.
How many Spoilers are Registered?
-46 Spoilers are in our Registry as of June 22, 2018. Of these 2 are noted as destroyed and 3 are confirmed but not fully registered.
-41 are registered (19 Dan Gurney and 27 Cale Yarborough)
-27 are 351 powered (1 Cale Yarborough destroyed) (11 Dan Gurney and 16 Cale Yarborough remain)
-9 are 390 powered (1 destroyed) (6 Dan Gurney and 3 Cale Yarborough remain)
-3 are 428 powered (1 Cale Yarborough destroyed) (1 Dan Gurney and 1 Cale Yarborough remain)
-7 are Ram Air 428 powered. (1 Dan Gurney and 6 Cale Yarborough)
What is the condition of the registered cars?
-Dan Gurney: Condition #1 = 0 / #2 = 4 / #3 = 3 / #4 = 1 / #5 = 9 / #6 = 1
-Cale Yarborough: Condition #1 = 0 /#2 = 6 / #3 = 5 / #4 = 6 / #5 = 6 / #6 = 1
If you look at these numbers for any period of time you can see how rare the Spoilers are. Especially the Dan Gurney big blocks! We all know that the bigger the engine the higher the price. The rarer the engine the higher the price. With only 44 running Spoilers in the Registry and only 9 428 CJ or SCJ powered these cars should arguably be bringing prices greater than a similar powered Mustang!
Here is a question for everyone: If you had your choice of a 428 CJ Ford Talladega or a similar condition 428 CJ automatic Spoiler which would you choose? What if the Spoiler was a 428 CJ 4-speed or a 428 SCJ? Leave your comments below.
The Spoiler, no doubt, because of the A/C option. If that big 428 can’t sacrifice .032 horsepower and .07 lbs. of torque(or whatever it takes to drive the compressor) then it’s not worth having.Some guys talk tough but let them cross the southwest @110degrees and see how they feel about that A/C.
I would go with a R code 4 speed San Gurney .
Hell,I’d go for one that ran.LOL.I’m getting closer.