Ford Should Bring back the light-bar and Tempo

[Explorer4X4]

Firstly, Ford should stick to the good times of its life. Like it has with Mustang. Easily some of the most popular, best-looking Mercury's were from the 1980's and early 1990's. Sable, Tracer, Topaz, the light-bar grill was awesome. It should be brought back, in my opinion. It gives Mercury it's own look. The water-fall grill is used by Buick, and its pretty damn boring. Mercury should also find its place in the market. Who/what does Mercury even compete with? They should be moved down, to compete with Scion, Saturn and Kia-Hyundai offering cheap, fuel efficient, reliable transportation. Why does Ford have the Focus? That should be a Mercury. Its little things like keeping up distinctive features that make you think 'Oh, thats a Mercury!' Mercury really needs its own deal, they need qualities to set them apart. The light bar grill is one of them.

 

 

Another thing Ford should do is murder off the Focus in America. Its just a rental lot king, nothing more. What was the best selling Ford Motor Company compact car in North America? The 1984 to 1994 Ford Tempo (along with the Mercury Topaz). 3,701,946 units were sold in just ten years, and arguably, the Tempo is the reason for the Taurus (introduced three years after Tempo). Ford should bring back the Tempo name, it was a best selling car up to its demise. Focus? What does that name even mean? All these meaningless, dumb names like Flex and Focus shouldn't be here. There was no reason to drop the Tempo name, none at all. Same with Escort. Its one thing dropping names synonymous with negativity like Pinto, its another just changing a name for the hell of it. You have to start all over building up awareness for that car. Toyota has had the Corolla and Camry name for decades, as has Honda with Accord and Civic. Now look where they are! Its the same with the light-bar grille for Mercury. Just keeping up a name is enough to boost some sales.

 

Oh, and trim levels. Chevrolet has had the SuperSport trim line since the early 1960's. Ford just drops trim level names as often as model names. I'm not really talking about GL or SEL, I am talking about SHO for Taurus and the XR trim levels for Mercury. Topaz had a trim level, XR5, which can be traced back to the late 1960's with the Cougar XR7. Whats wrong with keeping up a good sounding name synonymous with performance and muscle cars? Naming means a lot more then you all probably think, and it can make a huge difference in sales when that name is like Tempo, Taurus, Escort, F-150 or Mustang.

[suv_guy_19]

Firstly, Ford should stick to the good times of its life. Like it has with Mustang. Easily some of the most popular, best-looking Mercury's were from the 1980's and early 1990's. Sable, Tracer, Topaz, the light-bar grill was awesome. It should be brought back, in my opinion. It gives Mercury it's own look. The water-fall grill is used by Buick, and its pretty damn boring. Mercury should also find its place in the market. Who/what does Mercury even compete with? They should be moved down, to compete with Scion, Saturn and Kia-Hyundai offering cheap, fuel efficient, reliable transportation. Why does Ford have the Focus? That should be a Mercury. Its little things like keeping up distinctive features that make you think 'Oh, thats a Mercury!' Mercury really needs its own deal, they need qualities to set them apart. The light bar grill is one of them.

Another thing Ford should do is murder off the Focus in America. Its just a rental lot king, nothing more. What was the best selling Ford Motor Company compact car in North America? The 1984 to 1994 Ford Tempo (along with the Mercury Topaz). 3,701,946 units were sold in just ten years, and arguably, the Tempo is the reason for the Taurus (introduced three years after Tempo). Ford should bring back the Tempo name, it was a best selling car up to its demise. Focus? What does that name even mean? All these meaningless, dumb names like Flex and Focus shouldn't be here. There was no reason to drop the Tempo name, none at all. Same with Escort. Its one thing dropping names synonymous with negativity like Pinto, its another just changing a name for the hell of it. You have to start all over building up awareness for that car. Toyota has had the Corolla and Camry name for decades, as has Honda with Accord and Civic. Now look where they are! Its the same with the light-bar grille for Mercury. Just keeping up a name is enough to boost some sales.

 

Oh, and trim levels. Chevrolet has had the SuperSport trim line since the early 1960's. Ford just drops trim level names as often as model names. I'm not really talking about GL or SEL, I am talking about SHO for Taurus and the XR trim levels for Mercury. Topaz had a trim level, XR5, which can be traced back to the late 1960's with the Cougar XR7. Whats wrong with keeping up a good sounding name synonymous with performance and muscle cars? Naming means a lot more then you all probably think, and it can make a huge difference in sales when that name is like Tempo, Taurus, Escort, F-150 or Mustang.

 

 

I would say that tempo would not be a well recieved name. Flex and Focus work well, because they sound new and cool. That is not the case for things like Tempo, Fairlane, or even, shock, Thunderbird.

[wescoent]

Firstly, Ford should stick to the good times of its life. Like it has with Mustang. Easily some of the most popular, best-looking Mercury's were from the 1980's and early 1990's. Sable, Tracer, Topaz, the light-bar grill was awesome. It should be brought back, in my opinion. It gives Mercury it's own look. The water-fall grill is used by Buick, and its pretty damn boring. Mercury should also find its place in the market. Who/what does Mercury even compete with? They should be moved down, to compete with Scion, Saturn and Kia-Hyundai offering cheap, fuel efficient, reliable transportation. Why does Ford have the Focus? That should be a Mercury. Its little things like keeping up distinctive features that make you think 'Oh, thats a Mercury!' Mercury really needs its own deal, they need qualities to set them apart. The light bar grill is one of them.

Another thing Ford should do is murder off the Focus in America. Its just a rental lot king, nothing more. What was the best selling Ford Motor Company compact car in North America? The 1984 to 1994 Ford Tempo (along with the Mercury Topaz). 3,701,946 units were sold in just ten years, and arguably, the Tempo is the reason for the Taurus (introduced three years after Tempo). Ford should bring back the Tempo name, it was a best selling car up to its demise. Focus? What does that name even mean? All these meaningless, dumb names like Flex and Focus shouldn't be here. There was no reason to drop the Tempo name, none at all. Same with Escort. Its one thing dropping names synonymous with negativity like Pinto, its another just changing a name for the hell of it. You have to start all over building up awareness for that car. Toyota has had the Corolla and Camry name for decades, as has Honda with Accord and Civic. Now look where they are! Its the same with the light-bar grille for Mercury. Just keeping up a name is enough to boost some sales.

 

Oh, and trim levels. Chevrolet has had the SuperSport trim line since the early 1960's. Ford just drops trim level names as often as model names. I'm not really talking about GL or SEL, I am talking about SHO for Taurus and the XR trim levels for Mercury. Topaz had a trim level, XR5, which can be traced back to the late 1960's with the Cougar XR7. Whats wrong with keeping up a good sounding name synonymous with performance and muscle cars? Naming means a lot more then you all probably think, and it can make a huge difference in sales when that name is like Tempo, Taurus, Escort, F-150 or Mustang.

 

No thanks. On top of the fact that Tempo is a crappy name, the cars are NOT remembered fondly. They were very much Ford's K-Car... sold well, were a good proposition for the time, but not something we should EVER go back to.

 

An LED or neon lightbar on Mercurys might be an idea...

 

Ford's changover to Focus represented an entirely new design and idea for an American small car. The Focus was on par with or beat the Corolla and Civic in every aspect (and CONTINUES to do so in most areas), where the Escort competed on price and was essentially a throwaway econobox. The SVT Focus's handling was often compared to the Porsche Boxster, and the overall Focus package was much larger and efficient.

 

Now, as for an Escort revival on the Fiesta... hmmmm...

[silvrsvt]

Lets not lose the fact that the Tempo was nothing more then a stretched out Escort platform...

[silvrsvt]

.......that sold more in it's best years than all CD3's combined.

 

So since the Mustang doesn't sell a 500K units a year like it did in the 1960s...its failure?

 

But all thoses sales where to Rental fleets and far less competitive market then there is now...

 

The Tempo was an ok/alright car for its time, but not now

 

Get off your high horse with the CD3 cars already....your axe your grinding is pretty damn dull

Edited August 22, 2007 by silvrsvt

[silvrsvt]

Ok. The Tempo/Topaz sold more in it's best days than the Explorer/Mountaineer, and Mustang of today combined.

 

Happy now? At least in my first response I was comparing similar vehicles. Now, so I am not considered a racist, I have to compare a car to a truck. :rolleyes:

 

 

No I'm not, your basing sales numbers as success for a given product...thats not the only way to judge success of a given product. If Ford can make the profit off the CD3's with smaller numbers then dumping Tempos out the door like did in the past...the car is successful.

[Explorer4X4]

Tempo and Topaz sold more then; Contour, Mystique, Fairmont, Zephyr, Milan, Fusion, and all other Ford compacts. The Tempo name is a good one, far superior to Focus, Fusion and Flex. It has meaning, unlike the ones I listed. At this point, Ford has gone far to down hill to resurrect the Tempo name. Its should never have been dropped in the first place though.

[SVT_MAN]

My family has owned no less than 4 Mercury Sables over the past 15 years. We only have one now (95 LS trim), which I drive as a daily driver on-off with my 99 Mustang GT. I agree that the light-bar was a staple of the Mercury brand at one point. But, I'm not sure that it deserves a renaissance. I personally find my Sable's styling to look extremely stodgy and boring. Granted, I also drive a Mustang so a lot of cars look stodgy compared to that, but seriously, my 95 Sable looks particularly stodgy compared to a lot of cars on the road. It's a great car - drives nicely, handles decently, has enough power to get it around - it just looks very bland and boring. Mercury should find its place in the market, but returning to the light bar would be a mistake in what needs to be an exciting, design-driven renaissance.

 

The Tempo name is a good one, far superior to Focus, Fusion and Flex. It has meaning, unlike the ones I listed. At this point, Ford has gone far to down hill to resurrect the Tempo name. Its should never have been dropped in the first place though.

 

When the Tempo outsold cars, it was during a period of time when domestics dominated the market. Comparing sales from nearly 15-20 years ago is not particularly meaningful.

 

In terms of the name Tempo, I think that Tempo and Topaz reek of cheap car - much like the K-car. I liked the vehicles - and I have fond memories of riding in the backseat of a Tempo. I can recall riding in one as a 4 year old in the very hilly area around Mount Rushmore. I remember coming around the bend and seeing the presidents' faces on the stones. I can't remember if I liked the car or the vacation, but I have fond memories of the car because of it being our rental car on that vacation. But, when I hear the name, a boring economy car comes to mind.

 

Tempo and Topaz - when I hear the names I think of stodginess and blandness. Those are the connotations associated with those names. I'm sure I am not alone in those feelings. I feel these are two names that should never be resurrected. Generally speaking, people do not have fond memories of most cars between 1975 and the early 1990s. The only heritage names that seem to work are those from the 60s or earlier. People get nostalgic about those cars. Do people get nostalgic about a Tempo or Topaz? Maybe a couple of people. No offense, but for me anyway, getting nostalgic about Tempo and Topaz is almost like getting nostalgic about AMC Gremlins ...

Edited August 22, 2007 by SVT_MAN

[ANTAUS]

I dont mind the light bar idea, but because of better lighting technology, other than styling, there's really no need for it. I did like the look though, and it's very futuristic sort of approach. Many concepts of the time had this whole front fascia width lighting design, as if this is where the industry were going. Maybe the new Honda Civic could pull off that sort of design since the frontal fascia carries that look...all it needs is a rim of headlights.

 

It can be carried out by a line of LED's thru the front, but imagine the added costs. I wouldn't be surprised if such a look returns though.

 

In fact, if someone were good with Photoshop, they could take hmmm lets say even a Milan. Take the 2inch rim of the grill opening, tie it to the upper part of the current headlights. Maybe some frosted glass, in white...And imagine that sucker illuminated at night. Or even the grill opening for brands that have a strong grill presence like Audi. Where all you would see is the headlights and this floating LED frosted while Grill opening enhanced with the badge in the middle illuiminated...

 

Just a thought...

Edited August 22, 2007 by ANTAUS

[mercurymichael]

Moving Mercury any farther down market would eliminate what loyal customers remain. If Ford wants a Scion brand (for why I'm not sure) than they need to create a new one entirely. It would be far easier to establish new brand, with no tradition, history or need for re-education of consumers, and would take no less advertising to promote. If Ford wants a Scion brand (for why I'm not sure) than they need to create a new brand entirely.

 

I do think the light bar had it's time and was awesome in it. What Mercury needs is another gimick like the light bar that is distinct and futuristic. As far as the Tempo, I do not know of too many people missing that one. It was a nother model that was produced well past it's time which is probably part of why the Contour was not called Tempo. As I recall they did not have the best reliability either.

[NickF1011]

Light bar = Tacky.

 

Tempo = Trash.

 

That's just how I remember it, being somewhat representative of the core age demographic for such a car.

[JLaudioF150]

Light bar = Tacky.

 

Tempo = Trash.

 

That's just how I remember it, being somewhat representative of the core age demographic for such a car.

 

Amen. How many times have you heard someone say, "Yeah Ford sucks. I used to have a tempo/escort/topaz/probe/contour..."

 

It's this past that HAUNTS Ford to this day! Oh, and about the light bar- I'm all for it as long as they figure out a way to keep them from turning yellow and dull!

[NickF1011]

Oh, and about the light bar- I'm all for it as long as they figure out a way to keep them from turning yellow and dull!

 

 

Or one half burnt out.

[tim kakouris]

amen, nick. my mom owned a topaz. she knew the mercury mechanics by name, and it leaked from every gasket possible from day one. it had no power, and got worse milage than her ford torino.

 

geez, where do you guys come up with this good ol' days crap? those were the bad old days. good riddance.

 

tempo...sounds like a laxative.

[NickF1011]

amen, nick. my mom owned a topaz. she knew the mercury mechanics by name, and it leaked from every gasket possible from day one. it had no power, and got worse milage than her ford torino.

 

geez, where do you guys come up with this good ol' days crap? those were the bad old days. good riddance.

 

tempo...sounds like a laxative.

 

It's as bad as the people hoping Ford will call the Fiesta "Escort" when it arrives here.

[ANTAUS]

Hey hey now...I only mentioned that because it's what Ford most probably will do. When I hear "Escort" I think of Prostitute, and from a company that produced "Probe, Explore, and Tora Sex (Taurus X)" I wouldn't doubt it.

[shibashaba]

I can't say the tempo has a good name going for it, but the escort did build up a good name with a lot of people. They just weren't as cool as civics were for various reasons. I don't think it would be a good name for cars targeting younger people. I do remember seeing these popular mechanics surveys, 90% of escort owners said they would buy another. That was the highest for any car. I don't believe they do those surveys anymore though, I haven't been able to find them.

[hbalek]

For the record, the SABLE from 1986-1995 had the lightbar that actually lit up! The Topaz had a faux light bar that was just a plexiglass-like grill. The 1996 fishy-looking Sable had a backlit Mercury waterfall logo. The logo was so small on the gaping mouth, chrome-ringed grill, that you could barely notice the back-lit logo. I remember a Ford press release touted the evolution of the lightbar into this feature. Anyone else remember this?

[Blueblood]

Tempo???

 

What, do you want people running away from Ford dealerships??

 

Some people around here are stuck in the 70's-80's..

 

Yea, I'm sure al the people who turned to imports have just been waiting for Ford to bring back the Tempo, maybe they can bring back the Pinto too?

[Explorer4X4]

Tempo???

 

What, do you want people running away from Ford dealerships??

 

Some people around here are stuck in the 70's-80's..

 

Yea, I'm sure al the people who turned to imports have just been waiting for Ford to bring back the Tempo, maybe they can bring back the Pinto too?

 

When Ford killed Tempo, thousands of people promptly went to Toyota. You do realize this, do you not? At this point, its too late to go back. Ford's doomed to lower and lower sales, and its too late to resurrect Tempo, Escort, Taurus (huge mistake to bring that name back, but it never should have been dropped), Windstar, Econoline and Thunderbird. While it is too late today, they never should have been dropped in the first place! Ford asked for the poor sales by renaming every car they redisgned! Names mean a lot. My family liked our first 1995 Dodge Caravan, we liked it a lot. We then went back to Dodge and asked if they had the new Caravan. If they had said "Oh no, we do not make Caravan's any more. We have a new car called Flex" we would just walk out the door, and go to the Toyota dealer next door. Toyota, Honda, they both have names that can be traced back decades ago. That does wonders for sales. More people will know of Toyota Camry then Ford Flex or Fusion, because Camry's been around longer.

 

Tempo was very popular, and at its time, very modern and well equipped. Options on it are not even available on today's Focus. All Wheel Drive, luxury and performance models, four different engines including a 3.0L V6 and a 2.0L diesel. In their time, you could not get better. Then they were replaced with the Contour? Contour. Screams rental lot. I suppose that is appropriate, since they all went to Enterprise. They were very expensive (base model Contour was more expensive then fully loaded Tempo LX) and very small.

[wescoent]

When Ford killed Tempo, thousands of people promptly went to Toyota. You do realize this, do you not? At this point, its too late to go back. Ford's doomed to lower and lower sales, and its too late to resurrect Tempo, Escort, Taurus (huge mistake to bring that name back, but it never should have been dropped), Windstar, Econoline and Thunderbird. While it is too late today, they never should have been dropped in the first place! Ford asked for the poor sales by renaming every car they redisgned! Names mean a lot. My family liked our first 1995 Dodge Caravan, we liked it a lot. We then went back to Dodge and asked if they had the new Caravan. If they had said "Oh no, we do not make Caravan's any more. We have a new car called Flex" we would just walk out the door, and go to the Toyota dealer next door. Toyota, Honda, they both have names that can be traced back decades ago. That does wonders for sales. More people will know of Toyota Camry then Ford Flex or Fusion, because Camry's been around longer.

 

Tempo was very popular, and at its time, very modern and well equipped. Options on it are not even available on today's Focus. All Wheel Drive, luxury and performance models, four different engines including a 3.0L V6 and a 2.0L diesel. In their time, you could not get better. Then they were replaced with the Contour? Contour. Screams rental lot. I suppose that is appropriate, since they all went to Enterprise. They were very expensive (base model Contour was more expensive then fully loaded Tempo LX) and very small.

 

You're right about the names, wrong about the Tempo. People went to Toyota because the Tempo was a crappy, unreliable, uninteresting car that got replaced by a top-notch car that was way too expensive. You can't seriously tell me that the Contour had more rental/fleet sales than the Tempo. The Tempo was popular because it was incredibly cheap, was good on gas (with 88hp, I would hope so) and marginally better than the horrendous sedans that GM, Chrysler, and Toyohondissan were building at the time.

[Explorer4X4]

You're right about the names, wrong about the Tempo. People went to Toyota because the Tempo was a crappy, unreliable, uninteresting car that got replaced by a top-notch car that was way too expensive. You can't seriously tell me that the Contour had more rental/fleet sales than the Tempo. The Tempo was popular because it was incredibly cheap, was good on gas (with 88hp, I would hope so) and marginally better than the horrendous sedans that GM, Chrysler, and Toyohondissan were building at the time.

 

You obviously do not know anything about Tempo. No Tempo had 88HP. The 2.0L Mazda RF Diesel (1984 and 1985) had 75HP and like 100lb-ft of torque, 2.3L HSC I4 had 98HP, 2.3L HSO I4 had 100HP and the 3.0L Vulcan V6 had 135HP. Not much by todays standards, but a lot back then. At that time, the Toyota Camry had a 86HP I4, 110HP I4 and 155HP V6.

 

Tempo did not send buyers to the imports. Contour did. Its interior size was far too small, and it was very over-priced. Odd styling as well, and resale value was just as bad as Tempo. I repeat, no other FoMoCo compact car ever sold as much as Tempo did. Obviously, people loved it. It outsold its Asian rivals, and was at the 4th best selling spot on its entire life. It did NOT send buyers to Toyota, Contour did. If Contour had been called Tempo, they would have sold more. Because previous Tempo buyers would have gone back to Tempo (if they had liked it).

[White99GT]

The Tempo name is a good one, far superior to Focus, Fusion and Flex.

 

I never did like the Tempo name, even when there cars were new. I will agree the Focus and Flex are pathetic naming attempts but I like Fusion.

[Explorer4X4]

I never did like the Tempo name, even when there cars were new. I will agree the Focus and Flex are pathetic naming attempts but I like Fusion.

Fusion is ok, so is Edge. Edge is good because the car is new anyway and never replaced anything.

 

Fusion should have been Taurus though.

[silvrsvt]

I repeat, no other FoMoCo compact car ever sold as much as Tempo did.

 

 

um how about the Mustang....or even the Falcon? They where both Compact cars for their times...and the Mustang can be lumped in there since the Tempo did offer a 2 door...

 

No matter what the Tempo doesnt have any cashe or creed in its name...thus no reason to bring it back. it was over shawdowed by the Taurus when it came out.