In 1983 the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz were born. Designed as front-wheel-drive replacements for the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr, all of the Tempo/Topaz cars built in 1983 were sold as 1984 model year cars. The Tempo/Topaz body was built on a stretched and modified Ford Escort/Mercury Lynx platform, and has standard MacPherson struts as standard until 1994. Standard features on both were rack-and-pinion steering, AM/FM radio with cassette being an option, power brakes and a four-speed or five-speed standard transmission. Options included air conditioning, a three speed automatic transmission and power steering. 220,000 cars were sold the first year alone.
The powerplant came from a new, specially developed 2.3 Liter 88 horsepower four-cylinder motor. The H.S.C., or High Swirl Combustion engine was a new innovation for Ford and included a 1 barrell carburetor that was standard. The High Swirl Combustion came from a design in the cylinder head that compressed the air/fuel mixture into a rapid swirl and directed it right to the spark plugs. This design allowed for the engine to receive more kick out of each droplet of fuel. The 2.3L engine was used as a standard powerplant until the end of the Tempo/Topaz's production run in late 1994.
Falls Church (home), Charlottesville (college), Virginia, USA
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Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz
When it was introduced in 1983, the Tempo/Topaz was actually a rather advanced design. More than 450 hours were spent in the wind tunnel during development, resulting in drag coefficients of .36 for the coupe and .37 for the sedan. This helped the Tempo/Topaz to achieve impressive fuel economy numbers, a new concern for buyers following the oil embargoes of the 1970's.
Standard engine was the 2.3-liter HSC inline-4 described above. Also available beginning in 1985 was the 2.3-liter HSO ("High Specific Output") inline-4 that produced 100 horsepower, and came standard on certain trim levels, and on AWD models from 1986 until 1991. In 1992, the Tempo/Topaz received its first V-6, a 3.0-liter engine producing 130 horsepower. Possibly the rarest Tempo/Topaz engine is the 2.0-liter Mazda diesel inline-4, producing 52 horsepower and only available from 1984 to 1986.
The Tempo/Topaz twins lasted two generations. The first generation was produced from 1984 until 1987, with a facelift in 1986; while the second ran from 1988 to 1994, with a facelift in 1992. They were replaced in 1995 by the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, models based on the European Ford Mondeo.
I photographed this faded 1984 or 1985 Ford Tempo behind the main parking garage on Grounds. It caught my attention because it’s a pre-facelift first generation model, which are getting to be rather rare.
For more information about the Tempo/Topaz and the people who love them, go to www.tempotopaz.com
UCP's biggest (only?) fan of the '74-'76 Mercury Cougar.
UCP's proudest owner of a '74 Cougar
Falls Church (home), Charlottesville (college), Virginia, USA
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It should come as no surprise that the Ford Tempo was accompanied by a near-identical Mercury twin. Offered from 1984 to 1994, the Mercury Topaz had little to distinguish it from the Tempo, and most differences were cosmetic. The most prominent difference was the Topaz's non-illuminating "lightbar" across the front, which first appeared on the model in 1986, was removed in 1988, and reappeared in 1992.
I photographed this 1992-1994 Mercury Topaz GS near my dormitory on April 17th. Normally I would be inclined to ignore it, but I liked the angle at which it was parked and the lighting.
UCP's biggest (only?) fan of the '74-'76 Mercury Cougar.
UCP's proudest owner of a '74 Cougar
The Tempo was voted by Consumer Reports to be one of the top ten worst cars EVER MADE. I would tend to agree. Unbelievably, a girl I know has a Tempo with a manual transmission. This by itself is nothing, really. However, her family has three more identical cars in the driveway. These Tempos weren't exactly flying off the lot at the time and her family bought four Tempos (Tempi?) at the same time. There has to be a Darwin award in there somewhere...