1978 Ford 200 ci engine in a 1972 Mercury Comet

Big difference when you're 6,000 feet above sea level. The 250 is a gutless boat-anchor. And that was with a manual trans. Automatic would have been horrendous...

 

In '69 when 250 was introduced Ford said to 50 mph, it would accelerate evenly with a 302.

 

Yeah, that

Yeah, that was marketing hype.
Although; in '69 & '70 they were offering lower gear ratios in some of the 6-cylinder cars, so that could be a contributing factor in zero-to-sixty times.
When you consider the torque that the V8 produced versus the 6 (300 ft-lbs @ 2600 RPM versus 240 ft.-lbs @1600 RPM), there's no way off-the-line acceleration could be equal with all else being the same...

 

... '60's Mustang / Comet was 'race on Sunday sell on Monday' Ford moco marketing hype.
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... 70's Ford Maverick marketing hype was mostly like :
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have fun
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