Story
1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II
Mercury built the Cyclone Spoiler II to put a cleaner intermediate body into NASCAR. The street car was a narrowly defined homologation model: a two-door SportsRoof with a hand-finished long nose, 351 Windsor, FMX automatic, bench-seat cabin, heavy-duty chassis, and either Cale Yarborough red or Dan Gurney blue trim. The standard-nose Cyclone Spoiler looked similar from the doors back but offered a much broader equipment range. It is not the same model.
The long D-nose
Workers cut the regular Cyclone fenders ahead of the front wheels and added approximately 19.5 inches of sheet metal. A 35-degree sloped nose, flush grille, close-fitting bumper, forward side markers, and rolled rocker lips supported the aerodynamic package. The original fender seam is useful physical evidence. A standard W-nose Spoiler, a Ford Talladega nose, or a later fiberglass conversion should not be described as original Spoiler II construction.
One street engine and transmission
Every regular-production street car used Mercury's M-code 351 Windsor four-barrel, rated at 290 gross horsepower and 385 lb-ft. An FMX SelectShift three-speed automatic with a column selector was the only regular transmission. A 428 Cobra Jet, Boss 429, 427, 351 Cleveland, or four-speed belongs to a race car, another Cyclone configuration, or a modified car unless exceptional serial-specific evidence establishes a different history.
Chassis and rear axle
The fixed configuration included power steering, power front disc brakes, rear drums, and Cross Country Ride heavy-duty suspension. Unequal-length front control arms and coil springs worked with a leaf-sprung live rear axle. Door data-plate axle code 9 identifies the 3.25 Ford 9-inch application, while code X identifies the FMX. Current gears, differential, brakes, springs, shocks, and steering parts still require inspection.
Two versions
Dan Gurney Specials paired Wimbledon White with Presidential Blue paint, blue stripes and identification, and blue vinyl trim code 4B. Cale Yarborough Specials used Wimbledon White with red paint and graphics and dark red vinyl trim code 4D. Both had bench seats and column shift. The registry reports one heater-delete exception in each version. AM radio installation and the dealer-installed rear spoiler remain car-specific.
Regular Spoiler IIs did not have a hood scoop or hood pins. Those parts appear on many standard-nose Spoilers, race cars, and restorations, including the licensed display photograph on this page. The image documents the long-nose body but is labeled so its modifications are not mistaken for factory detail.
Production requires a scope
Ford-derived Marti records and the specialist registry report 503 manufactured cars: 285 Cale Yarborough and 218 Dan Gurney versions. A persistent account says only 351 cars received the true extended D-nose and that 152 standard W-nose cars were included in the homologation count. The reviewed public record does not reconcile every serial to physical construction, so the 503 figure is presented as reported and the 351 claim remains an explicit research gap.
Identifying a real Spoiler II
Start with a 9H15M VIN and a mutually consistent door data plate: body 63A, paint MX with trim 4B or paint MT with trim 4D, a six-digit DSO ending 7024, axle 9, and transmission X. Then inspect the long-nose seams and mounts, grille, bumper, marker placement, rocker lips, protected paint and stripe layers, 351 and FMX dates, axle, chassis, brakes, cabin, Marti report, build sheet or invoice, and ownership history. Paint, badges, a rear spoiler, or an aerodynamic nose cannot establish identity alone.
Price and market context
One documented window sticker lists a $2,771 Cyclone base line, a $393.90 Spoiler II package, other equipment and transport, and a $3,840.50 total. Those are car-specific records rather than a universal delivered price. Dated auction observations span project, restored, modified, and poorly documented cars. They provide historical market context, not a current appraisal or evidence for another car.