Minneapolis Street Sighting: Mercury Topaz GS

Continuing the parade of Ford's foray into the 1990s, we'll take a look at a vehicle that was much-less of a stellar-seller; the Mercury Topaz. Introduced in 1983 as a 1984 model-year vehicle, the Topaz shared most of its contents with the Ford Tempo. While the Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx duo and the Ford LTD/Crown Victoria and Mercury Marquis/Grand Marquis duo were merely rebadges, the Tempo and Topaz were more than simple fascia-swaps. In fact, the only body panels the two shared were the doors, and front fenders (on the later cars), as well as wheel choices.

When it debuted, the Tempo and Topaz duo was fairly competitive, offering a measley 2.3L  four churning out 100 fire-breathing horses. Okay, so it was actually 98 horsepower. Which was, well, shall we say "enough"; enough to propel the Topaz to 60 from a standstill in less than 11 seconds, and through thr quarter-mile in 18 seconds flat. No performance car  the Topaz was.  There was also the venerable 3.0L Vulcan V6, which was optional on these cars and produced a "staggering" 140 horsepower. This engine brought the 0-60 time down to a more reasonable 9.8 seconds and the quarter mile time was reduced to 16.6 seconds at 83 MPH versus 18 seconds at 72 MPH.  Despite being a fairly midsize vehicle, gas mileage at the time was not all that great; Motor Trend got a mind-numbing 19.4 MPG, with an original EPA sticker of 21 city, 26 highway; under the new figures, this translates to 18 city, 24 highway. Not awful, but not what I would consider "class-leading."

When I was a kid, these cars were fairly common; I knew several people with Tempos, and four or five families  with the upscale Mercury Topaz; as the years rolled on, like most Ford products, rust ate most of these alive at an alarming rate.  On the surface, though, this 1992 example looked pretty clean, aside from the road grime caking this thing.

Paint wasn't shiny (duh!) but no real damage aside from slightly crimped bumpers front and rear, and no evidence of any surface rust (yet!) tell me this Topaz was likely cared for until recently. Young kid inherited from grandma, perhaps? I've always liked the Ford/Mercury wheels of the 1990s, and for some reason, these wheels are no exception. Used on the Sable and Topaz, these are one of the more formal-looking wheels in the Ford lineup, and they still look good today.

While the Topaz is by far not the most exciting car, it still marks a time in Ford's history where they were still playing catch-up. But then again, in the 1990s, which domestic automaker wasn't playing catch-up?

I had fun shooting this little thing, and despite all of my hatred for these things as a kid, I am now starting to like them. If only a slight bit.