Ford Should Bring back the light-bar and Tempo

[Explorer4X4]

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.

 

 

Are you so stupid as to be comparing a performance car to a compact economy sedan? Do you compare the modern GT-500 Mustang to the Civic Coupe? Falcon, didn't sell as much as Tempo. Neither did Contour, Fairmont, Pinto or Focus (in America)

[wescoent]

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.

 

Insanity. Another reason the Tempo sold well was because Americans were basically forced into compact sedans by high fuel prices, not because they actually liked the cars.

 

And yes, in my day, my family did own Tempos, and they were efficient and cheap... and thats just about their only redeeming factors. They were horrendous in virtually every other way, and if it weren't for them being company cars, we would have never driven them.

Edited August 23, 2007 by wescoent

[atomcat68]

here is another opinion on bringing back the Tempo or the lightbar, or Tempos with lightbars:

 

http://darthno.ytmnd.com/

[silvrsvt]

Are you so stupid as to be comparing a performance car to a compact economy sedan? (in America)

 

The Mustang is a sporty car when it first launched...it was known as a "secretaires car" when it first launched and didn't get its performance creed till later in the in the 1960's...

 

Same difference...

[silvrsvt]

here is another opinion on bringing back the Tempo or the lightbar, or Tempos with lightbars:

 

http://darthno.ytmnd.com/

 

 

:hysterical: :hysterical:

[silvrsvt]

Futhermore, just because you love your first car doesn't mean its the best thing evar...hell I had an 86 Escort GT that was pretty nice, but it also had some nasty habits and was unrefined to other cars I've owned. That doesn't mean I go around telling everyone that they should rename the Focus the Escort just because...

[68Cougar]

The lightbar was ok back in the 80's, but looks tacky in retrospect. The Topaz never had a working lightbar.

 

Ford should bring back the Fairmount!! Dust off all the tooling and bring it back! Seriously, Ford needs to have a platform like the Fairmount, which spun off several different cars.

[Explorer4X4]

Insanity. Another reason the Tempo sold well was because Americans were basically forced into compact sedans by high fuel prices, not because they actually liked the cars.

 

And yes, in my dad, my family did own Tempos, and they were efficient and cheap... and thats just about their only redeeming factors. They were horrendous in virtually every other way, and if it weren't for them being company cars, we would have never driven them.

 

I do not think you understand how much an improvement Tempo was. This, below, is Ford's 1983 compact car. The Fairmont. Available in station wagon and four door sedan body styles, this boxy thing had a 351in³ Cleveland V8, just what the average compact car driver needed driving around in an over-crowded suburb. Don't think that V8 made it fast or powerful, because the Tempo would have beaten it at any form of race, including the drag strip and rally course. The Fairmont had a three-speed automatic transmission, coupled to that V8. Tempo also had a three speed, but to a four cylinder engine. The C4 three speed transmission in the American Fairmont was first introduced in 1964. The three-speed FLC automatic in Tempo was introduced in 1984, designed specifically for Tempo/Topaz. The 1984 and 1985 Tempo GL Coupe with the 2.0L Mazda RF Diesel I4 engine and the five-speed manual transmission was capable of exceeding 40MPG. In 1985, Ford advertised the highway fuel economy as 43MPG. This is double what Fairmont's with four speed manuals and four cylinder engines were advertised as. Fairmont was also rear-wheel-drive, and weighed easily one thousand pounds more then the Tempo Sedan.

 

Tempo had four engine choices, two body styles and covered every segment from performance to luxury. Front wheel drive or all wheel drive, making interior space far bigger then the V8, RWD Fairmont. Fully independent rear suspension, power accessories (windows, locks, driver's seat), very aerodynamic styling for its time, the Tempo was the pinnacle of modern car design. Sales reflected its revolutionary design.

 

Tempo was fuel efficient (40MPG+ with GL Diesel), fast (for its time; 1992 GLS did 0-60 in 7.8 seconds and went over 125MPH) and cheap.

 

1983 Ford Fairmont Sedan:

 

1984 Ford Tempo LX Sedan:

 

1992 Ford Tempo GLS

[silvrsvt]

Ford should bring back the Fairmount!! Dust off all the tooling and bring it back! Seriously, Ford needs to have a platform like the Fairmount, which spun off several different cars.

 

Complete with its flexible flyer backbone!

 

God I loved trying to open doors up on my 98 Mustang when I had it on a jack...couldn't do it!

[Explorer4X4]

The lightbar was ok back in the 80's, but looks tacky in retrospect. The Topaz never had a working lightbar.

 

Ford should bring back the Fairmount!! Dust off all the tooling and bring it back! Seriously, Ford needs to have a platform like the Fairmount, which spun off several different cars.

 

Fairmont was on the Fox platform. Enough said.

 

Not bring back the exact light-bar, have it renewed and look more modern. Its better then the current water-fall grill's on Mercury's.

[NickF1011]

Hey, the Model T was the best-selling car of its era too. Maybe Ford should bring that back too??

[Explorer4X4]

Hey, the Model T was the best-selling car of its era too. Maybe Ford should bring that back too??

 

Theres a difference between Model T and Tempo, Escort, Taurus. I really do hope you can figure out for yourself that difference.

[NickF1011]

Theres a difference between Model T and Tempo, Escort, Taurus. I really do hope you can figure out for yourself that difference.

 

The Model T is still remembered fondly?

[suv_guy_19]

The Model T is still remembered fondly?

 

 

Good one lol....

[hbalek]

You're wrong about that silver 84 Tempo. I had that EXACT same car with charcoal interior and 110hp engine with a 5-speed manual. That is the 1985 Tempo Sport GL. It only lasted about 60,000 miles and everything including the head gasket started leaking. I traded it in and only got about 600 bucks for it in 1995. My new car was a Mercury Mystique, which was a much better car in every way. I had the LS with leather, V6 and 5-speed. I loved that car! It lasted about 90,000 before I started having to sink money into it.

 

I do not think you understand how much an improvement Tempo was. This, below, is Ford's 1983 compact car. The Fairmont. Available in station wagon and four door sedan body styles, this boxy thing had a 351in³ Cleveland V8, just what the average compact car driver needed driving around in an over-crowded suburb. Don't think that V8 made it fast or powerful, because the Tempo would have beaten it at any form of race, including the drag strip and rally course. The Fairmont had a three-speed automatic transmission, coupled to that V8. Tempo also had a three speed, but to a four cylinder engine. The C4 three speed transmission in the American Fairmont was first introduced in 1964. The three-speed FLC automatic in Tempo was introduced in 1984, designed specifically for Tempo/Topaz. The 1984 and 1985 Tempo GL Coupe with the 2.0L Mazda RF Diesel I4 engine and the five-speed manual transmission was capable of exceeding 40MPG. In 1985, Ford advertised the highway fuel economy as 43MPG. This is double what Fairmont's with four speed manuals and four cylinder engines were advertised as. Fairmont was also rear-wheel-drive, and weighed easily one thousand pounds more then the Tempo Sedan.

 

Tempo had four engine choices, two body styles and covered every segment from performance to luxury. Front wheel drive or all wheel drive, making interior space far bigger then the V8, RWD Fairmont. Fully independent rear suspension, power accessories (windows, locks, driver's seat), very aerodynamic styling for its time, the Tempo was the pinnacle of modern car design. Sales reflected its revolutionary design.

 

Tempo was fuel efficient (40MPG+ with GL Diesel), fast (for its time; 1992 GLS did 0-60 in 7.8 seconds and went over 125MPH) and cheap.

 

1983 Ford Fairmont Sedan:

 

1984 Ford Tempo LX Sedan:

 

1992 Ford Tempo GLS

[SVT_MAN]

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?

 

Yeah, you're right. The Sable's light bar did light up. It's nice at night because it really does improve visibility. However, with improved lighting technology like HIDs, etc it's probably not relevant in today's market. I believe the Villager had a light bar that lit up also, but I could be wrong. I always thought the 92-95 Sables and the Villager were odd looking. The original Sables were much better looking than the 92-95s. I think my 95 Sable looks stodgier than the originals. The originals has a slab-sided, almost Germanic look to them. My car (95) just looks like a blob.

 

 

 

I do agree that the Tempo was a huge step up from the Fairmont. But, that's only because the Fairmont is one of the worst cars I've ever been in. My dad owned a 1978 Fairmont with a 4 cylinder / 4 speed. It was ridiculously slow, even with a manual. My dad purchased it new, but in about 1992 we bought a 1987 Sable to replace it. Riding in a Sable versus that car was like jumping into another atmosphere. You can't describe how bad a Fairmont is until you've been in one.

 

Tempo was a pretty decent car for the time. If it hadn't been for the terrible motors that had leaky head gaskets, people would probably remember them more fondly. Personally, what I think the bottom line is:

 

Ford should stop renaming their cars when something is seling well. That's exactly what Mulally has proposed. But, Ford should NOT bring back the Tempo name. It's been retired for far too long. There is no point in bringing back a name that has been retired for a really long time if few people remember it. Do you remember the reason the Taurus name was resurrected? It's because 80% of people out there recognize the name. I highly doubt that many people remember the Tempo name, and if they do, they probably don't remember it for fond reasons like you do. The Tempo had worse reliability, by far, than the Taurus.

Edited August 24, 2007 by SVT_MAN

[J-150]

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.

 

 

and the Model T sold better than all of those put tegether.

 

SHould we re-hash that model again?

[J-150]

Theres a difference between Model T and Tempo, Escort, Taurus. I really do hope you can figure out for yourself that difference.

 

 

please tell us what the difference is.

[Nick986]

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?

http://www.taurusclub.com/encyclopedia/G3/glowlogo.jpg

 

They also deleted that after 96.

[goingincirclez]

You can't describe how bad a Fairmont is until you've been in one.

 

Amen to that! Here's another thing about the Fairmont:

 

It looked like it was made of Legos. Unfortunately, Legos would been more reliable.

 

Friend had an '81 2-door. We called it The Borg Ship because it was just as boxy and ugly, and assimilated every damn mechanical problem you could think of. (But to its credit, the moniker became more fitting - after a while he refused to spend much more money on it, so it started to "fix itself"! Lost reverse in the transmission one day, had it like that for a couple weeks. Then he egged him on about it, so he just gunned it in R one day and with a gradual creak and groan, POOF it finally shot back into reverse!)

 

For a parts bin car it ran well enough, but my god what a POS. They were among the best-selling cars back in the day, yet you RARELY ever see them. Gee, what could be the reason?

 

 

There's another lesson from the Fairmont. My friend's was so-optioned to be a "Futura". I still have that badge that FELL OFF in a toolbox somewhere. Ford or course wanted to name the Fusion, "Futura" before they realized they let the trademark lapse. And that trademark snafu just might be the best Ford Fuckup in history, because it actually saved their ass. If they had come out with a new "Futura", myself and the 40 or so other people who knew this guy's car would have run away screaming.

 

A reborn "Tempo" would be the same thing. Don't take it personally. I myself am weird enough to love the old Granada, but I well know that's another name that should forever rest.

[matthewq4b]

The Fairmont was basically the best mid sized car on the market at the time. The japs had yet to enter that field to any degree. From GMC you got the X body POS's and Chry co The Aspen and company that had a tendency to rot out even befor getting off the dealers lot. You still see the occasion one of the road. But i have not seen and X body GMC or Aspen ECT in i do not know how many years.

 

The Fairmont was by far the best small mid size on the market in the era.

 

The Tempo's were basically a decent car. What they did suffer from was Hit and Miss quality control.

Some were great and some were POS's it was a crap shoot as to what you would get when you bought one. For whatever reason the Canadian built Cars seemed to have have a better reliabilty record.

 

The Tempo Topaz were far better than any thing being offered by either GMC or Chry Co and even some of the Jap stuff. They by far are the most numerous cars still on the road here from that Era. The later units were decent cars if not really good vehicles, & With the 3.0 V6 in them they were actually really good cars. Fords biggest mistake was dumping them in favour of the Contour & Mystique. The Tempo Topaz should have been updated and improved this was the first major blunder (of many) Ford made since their comeback in the 80's.

And 4X4 is right they were cut right at the time Toyota and company were getting really aggressive with marketing and advertising. Most of the potential buyers moved to the Imports when they were gone. Due to the much higher pricing of thier replacements.

 

What made the Tempo Topaz so successfull was price point and available-standard options.

A formula that still works today. Hell the Tempo and Topaz had SEFI engines standard when the Japs and even most of the domestics were still using carbs.

 

It is easy to rag on either the Fairmont or the Tempo now, but in their day they were class leading Autos. How quickly some people forget.

 

 

 

Matthew

[armadamaster]

Amen to that! Here's another thing about the Fairmont:

 

It looked like it was made of Legos. Unfortunately, Legos would been more reliable.

 

Friend had an '81 2-door. We called it The Borg Ship because it was just as boxy and ugly, and assimilated every damn mechanical problem you could think of. (But to its credit, the moniker became more fitting - after a while he refused to spend much more money on it, so it started to "fix itself"! Lost reverse in the transmission one day, had it like that for a couple weeks. Then he egged him on about it, so he just gunned it in R one day and with a gradual creak and groan, POOF it finally shot back into reverse!)

 

For a parts bin car it ran well enough, but my god what a POS. They were among the best-selling cars back in the day, yet you RARELY ever see them. Gee, what could be the reason?

 

LOL, good stuff. Just saw a Fairmont on the road yesterday, hadn't seen one in ages so I had to do a double take. Looked like it was fogging for mosquitoes, lol.

 

It is easy to rag on either the Fairmont or the Tempo now, but in their day they were class leading Autos. How quickly some people forget.

 

Ugh...I'd have opted for a Gm G-body back then.

 

As far as all this Tempo love is concerned, here is the Tempo reincarnate with chrome:

 

Edited August 25, 2007 by Armada Master

[2005Explorer]

Ok...bringing back the Tempo and the lightbar would be a mistake. Face it those are 80's things and time has passed on. At the time the Tempo/Topaz was a decent compact car. Remember what else was being offered at the time. K-cars, X-bodies, J-cars, and Japanese cars that were still unrefined. It sold well because it was a good car in it's class, at the time. Now fast forward 20 years and things are much different. The competition is better and there are not many "bad" cars out there anymore. Face it, most new 2007 cars are pretty darn good cars no matter who builds them. It was a heck of a lot easier to be the best back then when the competition was so poor. This is the reason why cars like the Escort, Tempo and Taurus were so damn successful back in the 1980's. They really were the best choices at the time even if they were far from perfect.

 

I owned a 1993 4-door Tempo GL. It was a good little car. I bought it as a program car in 1994 with 15,000 miles on it for $8995. It took me through college and never missed a beat except for a couple issues. The power locks on the back doors froze up and I had to have them replaced, the rear main seal had to be replaced, but it was under warranty at the time, and last the fuel pump died when it had about 75,000 miles on it. That's it. Not bad for a cheap little car. The engine and automatic transmission were solid and it never failed to start and take me somewhere.

 

Now with that said, Explorer 4x4, you must realize that I too am a fan of the Tempo/Topaz. I think they were good cars of their time, however time has passed on. They were what I like to call point A to point B cars. No excitement what so ever...well until you had 3 of your college buddies with you and tried to pass a semi on a highway! Then you had to make sure you had plenty of room! The power was fine for 1 or 2 people, but when the car was loaded down it needed more. I think the V6 Tempo would have flew compared to the 2.3 models.

 

Ford can learn lessons from cars that were successful like the Tempo, however bringing back the Tempo is not the solution. They need to look deep into success stories like the Tempo was and figure out why it worked. I can tell you it worked because at the time it looked stylish and was a good value. It was also better built then most of it's competition.

 

Ford's issue with sales today do not have as much to do with the quality of their products as they do with the quality of the competitions products. They don't have a lead on the competition like they did with products such as the Escort, Tempo, Taurus and Explorer. It is a much more difficult market. The chassis they are using are fine, if not class leading, what they are lacking is the small details. Styling was what brought them back in the 1980's. The Taurus and Fusion of today are very handsome cars and will offend nobody, however, nothing really sets them apart. The first car that Ford has built in years that is a love it or hate it car is the new Focus. I will be interested to see how it sells.

[Explorer4X4]

ugh, too much to respond to. Well firstly, no, that silver Tempo is a 1985 Tempo GL. There were no 110HP Tempo's, there were only the 98HP, 100HP and 130HP Tempo's (excluding Diesel). I have the 1985 Tempo brochure, where that picture was taken from, and there is a rear view of the car with a GL badge clearly visible.

 

SVT_MAN is completely right. At this point in time, Ford should not bring back Tempo. It was a huge mistake to name the Fusion what it is. It should have been Taurus. Think about it this way, a lot more people know the name 'Taurus' then 'Fusion', and most of them remember the car fondly. Particularly the people around in 1986 when the first generation was introduced. Tempo should never have been discontinued. Today very few people like Tempo/Topaz, but in 1995, people did like Tempo. If Contour had been called Tempo, they'd have sold more.

 

The difference between Model T and Tempo (I am so disappointed in you all for not figuring it out) was that Model T is over seventy years old, and came from a time when cars were little more then motorized carriages. Tempo was around in the 1990's, and it had everything a modern car had.

 

Most of you (the ones saying Tempo sucks) are judging them by today's standards, which will obviously make them look bad. But back in 1987, when Tempo came standard with AWD, what other compact four door sedan came standard with not only AWD, but an automatic (remember, automatics were usually optional back then), could you get? GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, none of them had All Wheel Drive in their Tempo competitors. In 1992, Tempo GLS, Topaz XR5 and Topaz LTS all had standard 3.0L V6 engines. What compact economy car in 1992 had standard V6 engines? Tempo had loads of options, standard features and it was all priced perfectly. Hell, Tempo had options you don't see in modern day cars! Power driver's seat, standard amplifier, standard power windows/locks, and back in 1984/1988 their styling was very modern. The only thing to come close was the Honda Accord.

 

Ok, Ford should not, could not bring back the Tempo name. Its been too long. However, Ford never should have dropped the Tempo name in the first place. Very bad move on Ford's part. Contour should have been Tempo, and Contour should have been cheaper. Topaz maybe could be brought back on the Mercury line because it still sounds modern even today, and it is more sharp then 'Sable', 'Milan' and 'Mariner'.

[hbalek]

I owned one of those. It's a 1985 Sport GL. It had special alloy wheels, sport bucket seats, unique upholstery, charcoal exterior trim and that blue stripe, manual transmission, and a slightly higher output engine.

 

ugh, too much to respond to. Well firstly, no, that silver Tempo is a 1985 Tempo GL. There were no 110HP Tempo's, there were only the 98HP, 100HP and 130HP Tempo's (excluding Diesel). I have the 1985 Tempo brochure, where that picture was taken from, and there is a rear view of the car with a GL badge clearly visible.

 

SVT_MAN is completely right. At this point in time, Ford should not bring back Tempo. It was a huge mistake to name the Fusion what it is. It should have been Taurus. Think about it this way, a lot more people know the name 'Taurus' then 'Fusion', and most of them remember the car fondly. Particularly the people around in 1986 when the first generation was introduced. Tempo should never have been discontinued. Today very few people like Tempo/Topaz, but in 1995, people did like Tempo. If Contour had been called Tempo, they'd have sold more.

 

The difference between Model T and Tempo (I am so disappointed in you all for not figuring it out) was that Model T is over seventy years old, and came from a time when cars were little more then motorized carriages. Tempo was around in the 1990's, and it had everything a modern car had.

 

Most of you (the ones saying Tempo sucks) are judging them by today's standards, which will obviously make them look bad. But back in 1987, when Tempo came standard with AWD, what other compact four door sedan came standard with not only AWD, but an automatic (remember, automatics were usually optional back then), could you get? GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, none of them had All Wheel Drive in their Tempo competitors. In 1992, Tempo GLS, Topaz XR5 and Topaz LTS all had standard 3.0L V6 engines. What compact economy car in 1992 had standard V6 engines? Tempo had loads of options, standard features and it was all priced perfectly. Hell, Tempo had options you don't see in modern day cars! Power driver's seat, standard amplifier, standard power windows/locks, and back in 1984/1988 their styling was very modern. The only thing to come close was the Honda Accord.

 

Ok, Ford should not, could not bring back the Tempo name. Its been too long. However, Ford never should have dropped the Tempo name in the first place. Very bad move on Ford's part. Contour should have been Tempo, and Contour should have been cheaper. Topaz maybe could be brought back on the Mercury line because it still sounds modern even today, and it is more sharp then 'Sable', 'Milan' and 'Mariner'.