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.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Ford Explorer Sport

Beginning in the 1980s, a new class of vehicle would slowly replace the station wagon (and even the upcoming minivan)as the primary mode of transportation for families with and without children; in 1982 GM came out with "small wagons" based on the S-Series compact pickup; Ford followed suit with the Bronco II, but it wasn't until the arrival of the AMC-Jeep Cherokee that this emerging category quickly became a sales success.

Launched for 1990, the Explorer came in two bodystyles, the two-door and the four-door wagon. Shown here is the Sport model, which after 1991 became the name for all two-doors, and not just a trimline of  the two-door.
This generation lasted from its arrival as a 1990 until the 1995 model year, followed by two successors; unfortunately, the two-door Sport was dropped after 2003, while the "Sport" nomenclature would return for 2013 as a nicer-looking, and (yep, you guessed it) Sporty version of the now-crossover Explorer.

Judging by the wheels and facelift, this example is a 1992-1994 model, though the lack of actual year-specific options make it difficult to pare it down to an exact year. I do know that this truck is fairly well optioned, consisting of cast aluminum wheels versus standard wheels, rooftop luggage rack with crossbars, and a tow package.  From my peek inside, this truck also had a the standard 5 spd Mazda-made manual with lockout hubs, as opposed to the optional 5 spd Ford-built automatic and push-button 4x4.

I've written about these Explorers before; I quite like them, but they're getting thin on the ground here, much less in two-door form.  This particular truck is a resident of my neighborhood, but I've never given it the photoshoot treatment until now. From across the street, the thing looks great. Well, for a first-generation Explorer anyway.

Once its viewed close-up, however, the imperfections began to show themselves; the paint is not at all shiny, even when cleaned, and the rear bumper (like all Ford trucks) has more rust than paint at this point. Fortunately, all the badges are there, which isn't too hard since this thing was pretty much badgeless from the factory.  Unlike most Explorers of this vintage, surprisingly there is nary a hint of rocker-panel rust.

As I mentioned earlier, this truck had the 5 spd, and from what I recall, the interior is pretty clean; no cracked dash, and no rips in the seats, and best of all, it still had the original carpet dash-pad and rearview mirror cover with the Ford logo.

Aside from the rust, this is a well-preserved truck; like most Explorers, I dig this truck, and I am glad I shot this when I did. Since these photos were taken, its acquired some pretty nasty right side damage,, and a missing grille. I *almost* want to shoot again just because of the new damage, but doing so will make me a sad panda.