There seems to be some kind of contagion going on with some of the older cars in my neighborhood; they’re up on three wheels. It might not be so obvious from this angle, but let’s go see the other side.
The jack holding up the other front wheel is making itself apparent here. How many Tempos are left in your neighborhood?
The spiders have been hard at work, which is typical for late summer here. This car hasn’t been out here all thta long, as I used to walk by here all the time until summer set in, when we changed our routes.
How much longer will it wait to get its wheel back?
Perhaps your city is in the midst of a wheel-theft crime wave. Just one wheel per car, though. Somewhere a criminal mastermind is gloating: “First the Chevette, now the Tempo! Tomorrow…a Gremlin! Muwahaha!”
Or perhaps there is an epidemic of Flat Spare Tire disease in the area.
This reminds me of Detroit where, supposedly, something as minor as not having a spare when someone has a flat is not a deterrent to keeping in motion. Apparently, they just continue on driving until, well, you know…
Gah, it’s a poly-cast wheel at that. Maybe somebody stole it for the wheel hall of shame museum.
There are zero Tempos in my neighborhood now. Not a bad thing, really 🙂
Are these the poly-cast wheels that wouldn’t hold knock on wheel weights? I remember spongy wheels that wouldn’t accept the weights correctly. Many a bloody finger trying to hammer them on. My neighbor across the street once bought a brand new manual four door Topaz that was 2 model years old from a Mercury dealership.
I can’t say for sure when I last saw a Tempo. However, back in the early 90s I rented a Tempo that is/was a twin to this car. Same blue over blue 4 door. I was thinking about that car just a few days ago. Anyway, these were reasonable cars, though I think a Corsica was a slightly (very slightly) better driver. Interior proportions were bordering on odd due to it’s being an Escort with a slightly longer wheelbase but no added width.
To me, these cars all but shout adequate and uninspired.
Odd, in my neck of the woods folks don’t bother to jack up a car unless they expect to come right back.
The Tempaz twins were wider than the Escort, both the actual body and the track width. Driver side half shaft is shared between both the the passenger side axle is slightly longer on the Tempaz to account for that extra width.
Corsica might be a slightly better driver, but add the Spirit/Acclaim to the mix and I’ll take Mopar. The other two might have the aero look, but AA was the better way to fly back then.
Among domestic cars in the late 80s and early 90s, the Tempo/Topaz were considered direct competitors to the Cavalier/Sunfire, and the Shadow/Sundance.
There haven’t been Tempos in my neighbourhood for 20 years. Oddly enough, still a few K-Cars though.
As a lifelong resident of a salt-laden winter roads state, I still can’t believe the good condition of the “beaters” in your area.
Interesting how Tempo styling evolved to eventually look like a 7/8 scale Taurus.
My stepmom bought one of these. I think because my father liked his first Taurus so well. It was the shortest ownership of any car I can ever remember her having.
How long will it be like this? It depends on how long it takes for “Damn, the Tempo is out of service today” to be overtaken by “How nice, I don’t have to drive that miserable Tempo today.”
[Wisconsin Salt Belt] Just when I say to myself “haven’t seen one of those in ages,” I see a roadworthy one soldiering on. Hate to generalize, but I’ll suppose that they were old-lady purchases even then, and never piled up the mileage too quickly. I owned my mother’s ’87 for several years, and I remember it only as dependable and unremarkable–though a nice step-up from my early-1980s Lynx.
[[two minutes on local Craigslist]]
Yep, here we go–you could do worse for an around-town car or winter beater in these parts:
Still a few Tempos around here mostly of the second generation style. They sold a ton in Canada. My father bought one in 1988 when the two door coupe was one of the few cars left under $10k new.
I remember them being advertised as the biggest selling car in Canada. Not many left now.
Both sets of my grandparents, and some aunts and uncles, had a Tempo or a Topaz. They were everywhere.
The last Tempo I saw here was a Topaz. They are certainly rare on the ground compared to similar vintage Camries or even older GM A Bodies.
Maybe it’s being parted out, the hood is partly open as well. Probably not much demand for Tempo parts these days, though. May have sold the wheel for what u pull would pay, maybe the spare was sold as well.
Might no longer be a common sight in NA, and never was in Europe despite my grandparents somehow owning a Topaz here, but south of the Rio Grande they’re still seen very often. Easily the most common American car of the era still around in Mexico, not counting any trucks.
I actually saw a white Chevette driving under its own power this past weekend. First one in many a moon.
Good question about the “Tempaz“ twins. They used to be quite thick in Central Ohio, but I don’t remember seeing one in many years. It’s possible whatever ones that remain are hiding in plain sight, since I don’t have any emotional attachment to them, good or bad.
They should have taken the entire car, as well as any other Tempo.Topaz in the area. These were awful, and I don’t care how much a Ford fan one may be, no excuse for these – ever!
Admittedly, the refreshed version as shown above was decidedly “European” in style, much better than the first generation, but no sale just the same!
Is there a wave of derelict cars going on in Eugene? Back in the late 1960s, the city of St. Louis had that problem. For kids driving old wrecks, all one had to do was get a couple gallons of gas and cruise around – eventually you’d find a derelict car like the one you’re driving, and it became free pickings for all the parts you could take!
For my first two cars, I made good use of this service!
I have not seen a Tempo in Tualatin or anywhere nearby recently now that I think about it. Interesting place these folks chose to work on their Tempo. Nice find Paul.
I did see a Mercury Topaz in a Fred Meyer parking lot earlier today and the car appeared to be in good shape, they’re definitely the kind of car you don’t see too many of anymore
None in my neighborhood, but I did see a rough looking Topaz for sale last week, and there is a remarkably clean Tempo that I often see going the other way on my morning commute. I’ve been seeing it for at least 3 or 4 years including winters, so I don’t know how it is in such good shape.
I owned two Tempos in the 90s. Bought them from a fleet car reseller. I didn’t drive much then so they worked just fine. I drive a new Miata today.
“Up On Three Wheels” just gave me a flashback. In 1989 I stayed with my sister for a few weeks. As she and her husband had three cars, I had to park my ‘83 Isuzu P’up on the street, curbside. One morning, I had left it parked facing traffic, so I walked out to it and got in, without having to walk around it. It started fine, but as I let out the clutch in 1st gear, it wouldn’t move. I was like, “WTF?” I tried reverse; still nothing, yet I kept hearing a faint scraping sound. “Oh no, something’s wrong”, I thought. I continue this for several moments until I get out, pop the hood, and check the clutch cable which had been having issues, but was perfectly fine upon inspection. I continued to look the truck over for a few more minutes, and again started it and tried to engage the clutch. Nothing. Meanwhile, the old lady working in her yard across the street is watching me with bemused interest. Now, after several minutes of agitation and despair on my part, I had not yet walked around to the street side of the truck. When I finally did, I was relieved, if somewhat angered when I discovered the cause of my mechanical trouble. Someone had stolen my right rear wheel and tire; the faint scraping noise I was hearing was the brake drum just barely rubbing against the cinder block propped under the axle. The old lady said she was wondering just what was wrong with me and what I was trying to accomplish. When I embarrassingly explained I was unaware my tire had been stolen, we had a good laugh, then I put my spare on. I was poorer one tire and rim, but did have a new cinder block.
Hertz gave me one once, instead of the Taurus I wanted. POS. My favorite feature was the downshift on full acceleration at highway speeds. Twice as much noise, no more MPH.
The last brand-new car I ever bought was an ’85 Ford Tempo. My first wife and I traded in an ’83 Escort that we both detested.
I made 2 compromises – I bought a white car (we both insisted on a 5-speed manual transmission, and the only one they had was white), and we had the Ford dealer put A/C in it. The latter was the worst error.
I don’t know when my first wife got rid of it, but the thing ran and ran and ran.