Custom Combo! 1965 Ford Comechero Pickup
When it comes to custom vehicles, it’s hard to say what’s more important, the vision or the skill set of the person making it, although both of course are vital. We’ve featured a few custom trucks here on Barn Finds recently, including a Mini Peterbilt last week that turned out pretty nicely, and a Bel Camino back in February that didn’t fare quite as well. While many results often seem to be hit or miss, I was kind of in the middle about this Comechero at first glance, but the more I looked the more I liked, and if you’re into the custom scene you might want to check this one out. It’s located in Angels Camp, California, and can be found here on eBay with a buy-it-now price of $22,000.
So, what’s a Comechero? The seller says that this vehicle began life as a Ford Falcon Ranchero and was custom built from the ground up on a rotisserie. The craftsman was an automotive engineer named Thomas Clayton Sheeder, Sr., who spent 10 years on the project and apparently made hundreds of notes and documents about each modification. The other vehicle was a 1965 Mercury Comet, and judging from the photos Mr. Sheeder did a commendable job combining the two.
Approximately 5,000 miles have been traveled in the Comechero since it was built, and the seller says that it is capable of being driven anywhere. The body is said to not have any dents, no rot, and no rust, although there are some minor paint defects present. The fit and gaps in the body seem to line up well overall, but it looks like the rear bumper might be just a bit lower on the left side than the right. However, the objective was not striving for perfection but to make it a daily driver, and it does look like it would be a fun car/truck to put some miles on.
Most of the interior appears to be from the Comet, including the Rally Pack gauges and steering wheel, which has a Mercury center cap. The wiring harness is from the Comet as well. There’s also air conditioning, but the seller says that it is not blowing cold, so the next owner may want to look into having that repaired before the dog days of summer get here.
Under the hood is a roller rocker engine, which the seller says was purchased new from Ford, connected to a 4-Speed Toploader overdrive transmission. With its 3.0 rear end, the tach is said to read 2,000 RPMs at 70, so this really is a nice cruiser. It’s probably also important to note that there’s the option to make an offer, so the asking price may be negotiable. What are your thoughts on this 1965 Ford Comechero custom pickup?
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Comments
Fairly common conversion. ’65 Falcons and Comets are virtually identical so the front sheet metal is simply a bolt on. Comet bumpers and wagon taillights are a little tough to find in decent condition as are the dash components. Price seems to be optimistic, but in this environment who knows?
Really like the looks….
If anyone is curious about the build, you can find it here:
https://cometcentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6241
I’d rock that!
There used to be one like this on Hwy 1 near the Half Moon Bay Airport.
Another car Mercury should have built.
Comet front bumper, Falcon rear bumper.
There are more than a few of these around.
Falcon purists go crazy about this modification.
With a 1965 Falcon Ranchero parked next to the front clip of a Comet this is a straight forward swap. Then paint it.
Also seen this done on a Falcon sedan delivery which is more dramatic because the sedan delivery is so rare. By 1965 the Econolines had taken command of Ford’s “delivery” market.
looks like they used a mustang rally pac , as the comet rally pac is a 3 gauge set that sits on the dash.
wish they left it sedan delivery. Wanna mod that? Do as ford itself did in Oz and rase the top.
Love the stacked hdlghts
The only thing about a contraption like this is that every time someone comes up to you and asks you “what is it”, you’ll be having to explain that time and time again “it’s a Comechero” then go into detail how it was made. When you own a common classic most people know what it is unless it’s an obscure classic. And sometimes there are even older people who don’t know the classics. Once a guy, who looked to be in his 50s, walking by asked me “is that a Ranchero”? I said “nope, it’s an El Camino”.