Gonna buy me a Mercury.

When I was 20 (1984) I bought a 73 Comet 302 auto, factory hood scoop, buckets, floor shift with only 51,000 miles from the estate auction of the original owner. Got it for $300, can you believe it! It was yellow and in great shape although I never liked the brown color of the interior. As for performance I thought when I was buying it I'd be getting something with at least a little guts but that wasn't the case. It ran smooth as silk and took off real good but had no top end at all. Put a tach on it and it'd barely pull to 4200 rpm. I never did much to it (I was a kid with no money, LOL) but always suspected the heads were probably Briggs and Stratton valved peanut ports by how it acted. Small block Fords can be made to run real good now with all the aftermarket stuff they have. Best wishes to your wife and her new wheels.

p.s. love that Stevie "guitar" Miller music