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: Chrysler TC by Maserati

During the 1980s, times for automakers were exceedingly tough--or so I'm told. Compact cars replaced larger vehicles as the nation's top selling cars, minivans were in full swing, and the "off-road family wagon" was started to blossom. What do all three of these categories have in common? Automaker Chrysler had a stake in all of them. What Chrysler didn't have (and really, this wasn't a problem, but you know, Chrysler was trying to invent niches) was a entry-level personal luxury coupe. And by entry-level, I mean gussied up economy car. Like the Cadillac Cimmaron.

Enter the TC by Maserati; wrapped around Chrysler's venerable K-structure, the TC was basically a rebodied LeBaron with more creature comforts (and a price to match). Outside, a more formal front clip, and a better looking rear fascia, and--oh, the Maserati logo. Not to say it was a bad car per-se, but as a marketing endeavor, it failed.  Inside, the treatment was much the same ; same basic structure but quite a bit more formal. Gone were the chintzy plastics, and in their place was a full accoutrement of leather,  and wood trim, topped off with a  rather nice-looking if not a bit uncharacteristic steering wheel.

Getting this interesting cross-breed vehicle down the road (not with very much gusto, though) were a pair of Chrysler turbo 2.2s (one actually built in the UK under Cosworth), and a torque-choked Mitsubishi 3.0 V6.  None of these engines offered very sprightly performance, considering the vehicle was a tad bit chunkier than the LeBaron of the time. Like many vehicles of the time, this little "grand tourer", was indeed available with a manual gearbox, and surprisingly was quite quick with the 2.2 turbo and a stick. Road and Track recorded a quite healthy 0-60 romp of just under seven seconds, and a blast through the quarter mile in a fairly respectable (even for today's standards) 15.5 at 87 MPH. To put that in perspective, those numbers fall in line with a last generation Nissan Sentra SE-R and the minivan-esque Honda Civic Si hatchback.  Not too shabby, I don't think.

 I shot one a few years ago, and this honestly could be the same car, a few years down the road; unlike the first one I blogged, this one does without the Maserati trident on the fenders, and it has lost a piece of taillamp trim. Other than those two niggles, this example is about as "mint" as I would expect to find in the winter. 

The paint is still glossy (Cabernet) all four Fondemental wheels are scuff-free, the hardtop appears to be not only closed fully, but also leak-free (which cannot be said for the last LeBaron hardtop I saw). The biggest surprise about this example (and with any 1980s-era Chrysler product) is the mere fact that it is rust-free, and I suspect that being labelled a Maserati has helped in that regard.

I didn't get a close look inside, as this was spotted in a residential area, and looking into cars would be considered suspicious, but from my memory, the seats had a fair amount of wear (especially the drivers' seat), and the dashpad shows considerable cracking and other wear. All in all, a relatively tidy interior, considering the car's age.

I like these cars (and I think I am in the minority), and it was refreshing to see one still around that hasn't been pampered to the gills; would I want to find one in other than cabaret, of course. Will I ever find one in a shade other than cabaret? Doubtful.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Pontiac Grand Prix

As a child of the 1990s, GM's midsize cars, to me, were best represented by the GM10, or W-Body in enthusiast speak. Running from 1988-2008, this front-wheel-drive sedan served a rather impressive twenty year run before finally being killed off; the sole remaining W-Body car for 2015 is the previous-generation Chevrolet Impala, which is now the "Impala Limited". Smart. Gotta shill em out, somehow, I guess.

 In 1988, when this generation of Grand Prix debuted, it was heralded as being "futuristic" and "this look might, just might look good in ten years". Those predictions were wrong, because even after twenty five years, the original W Grand Prix sedan still looks good. Like the styling, the powertrain, too, stood the test of time. Was the 3.1 V6 and three-speed auto particularly advanced? No. But it worked. Even though these cars had severe rust problems, I still see multiple examples daily. Unfortunately, finding a clean one is hard.

I  know year-by-year differences, right down to the paint color and hubcaps, so I'm going to use my knowledge here; these hubcaps were discontinued in 1995, and the paint color was too. However, this particular car has the earlier split headlight fascia, rather than the lightbar that mimics the Mercury Sable, so I would go out on a limb, and say this car is a 1991 or 1992. Since there are no trim designations, I am calling this one a base car. The teal exterior, color coded interior and base hubcaps seem to imply that this Grand Prix was a bottom-feeder, and it might be owned by the original owner.

As I stated above, I do see example of these daily, but I never see spotless examples; this car was truly a sight to behold; I originally spotted this a couple years ago, and I assumed that it was probably dead by now. Nope! I ran into it recently and it still looks immaculate.

Not a spec of rust, no dings, and not even a faint mark of what might've been a deep gouge in the paint, this Grand Prix is as is close to new as I can expect to find; even he hubcaps show no signs of something as everyday as minute curb rash; I can't recall the last time I saw a complete set of these caps, much less in mint condition. (See what I did there?). My only gripe with this Grand Prix (and that can be said of all Minnesota cars) is the front license plate marring what otherwise is a very nice example of a once everyday family sedan.  almost amazing, really, but then again, since Pontiac is gone, maybe folks are clamoring onto these in hopes of a Barrett Jackson special in thirty years. Who knows?

I had fun shooting this Grand Prix, although the parking quarters limited the amount and quality of pictures, but I do hope to find another one again soon. Maybe I should try for a base coupe next time?

Parking Lot Pimpin: Cadillac Coupe deVille

 

Minneapolis Street Sighting: Suzuki Kizashi

As a kid growing up, I noticed all of the Japanese "orphan" brands, and quickly became a fan of most of them; I loved Mazda (and still do), Nissan had a place in my heart, Honda was awesome but made mostly boring cars where I was growing up, and obviously so did Toyota (aside from enthusiast favorites of course.) But there were two brands that quickly gained my respect, and always left me continually curious. Those two brands were Suzuki and Isuzu. And as I got older, I learned that both would share quite a bit in common.  More on that later.

When I was  a child, Suzuki, sold mostly SUVs, but here and there the company did sell cars; not many, though, as Suzuki was (and is) mostly known for producting cheap runabout, durable vehicles like the Sidekick/Vitara and the Samurai.  The firm also produced cars, too, and unfortunately those are mostly forgotten--and seldom seen.

In the 1990s, the Swift 3 door and 4 door held down the minicompact spot in the lineup (as well as being cloned into the Geo Metro), and the later on, and Esteem was added. That little car was replaced by the Aerio sedan and hatchback. Fast forward to 2007 and the Suzuki car lineup had been dwindled to one--enter the SX4. It came (like the Aerio) as a four-door sedan, and a five-door hatchback/SUV with available AWD for snow climates and wet roads. All the while, Suzuki still gave the US its Vitara SUV as well.

But, dealer networking (and the GM empire) was not kind to Suzuki. Dwindling sales figures and sparse availablity hindered the automakers chances even more; but the struggling Japanese firm wasn't ready to bow out of the United States just yet. They wanted to prove that building a midsize car wasn't completely out of their Forte. (Sorry, Kia).

The Kizashi came out in the fall of 2009 as a 2010 model, and from the start, sales were slow; unfortunately the cause for slow sales is the result of a variety of factors. Due to slow sales projections, Suzuki's dealer network was already compromised as it is, and during the later part of the 2000s, GM was in turmoil. The company treated Suzuki as a has-ran, and as a result, Suzuki didn't have the budget it needed to run successful ad campaigns. This, combined with an ever-shrinking dealer network could only mean one thing.

Add to this mess, the vehicle wasn't quite midsize, and it wasn't quite compact either. That spells success, if the market is indeed a European country. However, Americans wouldn't buy into this new category, much less so at a price that was deemed "too high" from the getgo.  For $18,999 ("NEW MIDSIZE SEDAN STARTING UNDER $19,000" was the headline that was fixed to full-page ads for these), consumers could enter the cabin of a base model, but options pushed the price closer to $28,000. Not exactly the kind of cash consumers were willing to part with for a brand not very many people know about.

Besides having a crap dealer network, and the peculiar sizing of the vehicle, the amenities weren't bad; sure, it lacked a V6, but the Kizashi had something many non-premium sedans lacked: all wheel drive. This means that in wintry climates, the car is the go-to family sedan for families on a budget.  I only see the top-spec models out driving, but I have seen one base model with hubcaps. I wonder if that model had the six-speed stick?

Moot point, because the only base model I saw was given a nice facelift courtesy of a row of plastic newspaper boxes. Sadly, the Kizashi name fits both that particular car, and the whole Kizashi lineup in general; according to Wikipedia, the name "kizashi" translates to either "sign of things to come" or "omen". Truth be told, the Kizashi was a sign of things to come--just not for the US market. The name also fits as "omen" because, due to slow sales, this marked Suzuki's last real endeavor into the US car market.

Parking Lot Pimpin: Jaguar XJ6

yes, it is sandwiched in by a row of Honda Civics, and oddly there was another Civic here.