Said to have been owned by a 97-year-old woman and purchased from her estate, this 1994 Mercury Topaz GS two-door sedan is showing just 35,700 miles and looks nice in the photos. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and they’re asking $3,500 or a reasonable offer. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Jack M. for the tip!
We’ve seen two 1994 Mercurys here on Barn Finds, and they were both Capris, not one Topaz in the mix. This is the last year for the Mercury Topaz, or the sister car, Ford’s Tempo. They were made from 1983 for the 1984 model year until 1994, and this second-gen car was made from 1988 through 1994. This car doesn’t exude excitement or driving fun, but it’s a nice GS model with optional aluminum wheels and a two-door body style without any real issues that I can see.
Sioux Falls, SoDak gets its share of snow, of course, but with so few miles and given the age of the former owner – she would have been 66 when she presumably bought this car new – and with so few miles, it sure doesn’t look like a lot of 31-year-old cars in snow country look. I see a few chips in the paint, but that’s about it. Wait, is that a little ding in the left front fender, or maybe even on the corner of the left quarter panel? The seller is pretty short on photos, unfortunately.
The automatic seat belts may keep me from buying a car from this era, sadly. Unless one of you knows how to change those out to something easier to live with? Dual power side mirrors are standard on the GS, something that a lot of us thought was pretty luxurious in 1994. Oxford White paint and a light gray velour interior isn’t the most exciting combination, but it works, and the seats look great.
The engine isn’t shown, sadly, but it’s a Ford 2.3-liter fuel-injected OHV inline-four with 96 horsepower and 126 lb-ft of torque when new. This one is backed by a three-speed automatic sending power to the front wheels, and it’s said to be in overall good condition. How much would you offer for this two-door Topaz?
Scotty, I’m glad you write up now-largely-forgotten cars like this. This is a feature of Barn Finds I appreciate: it doesn’t have to be a muscle car or exotic car or even something particularly valuable to be featured.
Nothing fancy here, but this Grandma-Mobile looks pretty good. If she gave it at least some reasonable level of maintenance, it could have lots of life left. And for a “just a used car” price.
I never had a car with these seatbelts…..
First off. I can just both hear and see those seatbelt motors. Yep, they were definitely annoying. But car manufacturers were trying to get people to “Buckle up”. I agree with Bob, I truly enjoy seeing all kinds of cars that we kind of forgot about. The mileage claim seems very believable to me. Not sure how much Grandma drove to the local Stop and Shop in her later years, it may need a little going over. It looks very solid probably garage kept and doesn’t look like she hit many objects which is a huge plus. That 2.3 4 cyl will run a long time. I just want to add too, that its nice to see a 2 door Topaz as well, you always used to see 4 door models it seems. Great write up on a largely forgotten car Scotty.
A lot of old people don’t drive far. After he retired my dad would put about 2,000 miles on his car per year, everything my parents needed was within a 2 or 3 mile radius of their house. Even driving about 2 miles to and from the senior center to use their gym 5 days a week it didn’t accumulate many miles or the wear and tear normally associated with a lot of driving.
Steve R
It was pretty common for older buyers back in the day to buy 2-door sedans. Kids being grown and gone meant no real need to access the back seat on a continuing basis, and the wider doors on a 2-door meant easier entry and exit for some older folks who were maybe a little less flexible. Also in the era before central locking was standard it was easy to accidentally leave a back door unlocked on a 4 door car and allow thieves in.
One of these was the first car I flipped for a profit. Bought a runner with a cracked head and 5 speed. Junkyard head and cooling fan installed and then sold it. It was a great chassis and this one is a good buy on a good car.
An ex girlfriend had one of these and so did my brother. The old lady is probably selling it because it’s too boring, lol. The quinnessential driver’s education car.
They did offer solid reliable transportation. They were prone to rust though. My brother had to get rid of his after the driver’s seat literally rusted through the floor. So there are not too many around now.
Shes 97. Its probably being sold because she passed away
Definitely dead, as this was stated to be sold as part of the estate. Twenty more years for me to match her date? Probably needs new tires and maybe other things that deteriorate with time and sitting but seems to be a deal.
A word about those automatic seat belts. Before they came out, in the mid 70s some cars wouldn’t start unless you buckled the seat belts. My ’75 Dodge Dart did that. Now that was annoying so I defeated the switch.. My ’91 Escort wagon had automatic belts and I rather liked them..as long as they didn’t hang up.
Don’t forget Saturn SL had those “guillotine” seat belts too. While a hassle, I bet those saved some lives, or faces anyway. I know some people, older folks mostly, that still don’t wear a seatbelt. I probably have millions of miles without one, but after it became law, I always do, and don’t even think about it.
I bought one of these a number of years ago,for a driver,I paid about $1,700 for it. I finally had to sell it, because it wouldn’t break and it was boring as hell.
Well,,,,at least it’s not another Firebird( cough). Not that there’s anything wrong with those, but 3 or 4 in a row, well, I asked for more realistic posts, so here we are. I had the exciting equivalent, the Tempo. Another of the cars my ex-wife cooked. Not entirely her fault, it was a “cheapie” to begin with. After that, I realized she needed something a bit tougher, and I got a 2nd gen Bronco she couldn’t kill. Not a bad car, another in the long list of attempts to thwart the Asian invasion, the Camry and Accord were gaining steam, but had a ways to go. I read, over 400,000 Tempos and 160,000 Topaz were sold new in 1984, compared to “only” 53,000 Camrys. By 1994, imports clearly took hold, as only 125,000 ’93&’94 Topazs were sold, compared to over 315,000 Camrys, so there you have it. It was a nice try, I’ve said many times, there was nothing the imports offered that wasn’t right here, but what do you expect from me.
Nice to see Grans sensibly checked ✔️ the option for luggage rack 👍
This engine was known in “Ford Lingo” as the 2.3 HSC. High Swirl Combustion engine. There were early issues with the fuel injection. (Fuel pumps and fuel pressure regulators) In fact one of my techs asked me over to listen to the engine on one of these. The engine purred like a kitten. I had never heard one of these run so smooth. I asked him what he did to the car. He said I removed the fuel pump relay! And there in his hand was the relay. The pressure regulator was so bad. That it had polluted the engine oil so much. That the engine was running off the gasoline vapors in the crankcase! If you opened up the throttle it would die right away. But it sure idled nice. Even though these are push rod engines. They are the same basic block as the 1.6 “hemi” head Escort had in 1981. Again early in the production run there were a few bad blocks. But Ford realized this and recalled then to replace the short blocks. I scooped up one that was good that Ford didn’t want back and had low mileage. And had United Engine make me up some .040 1.6 “domed” pistons and built a 2.3 engine for a beater Escort wagon that I picked up for $100. Using all the 1.6 “hi-po” parts that Ford never used together and were obsolete. That car was a screamer! Way to easy to fry the front tires and just pulled like a locomotive past 100mph with ease. I sure wish I had that one back.
After 1988 these cars were bullet proof. The only thing to watch for is the early 3.0 V6 cars with a distributor issue. If local, I would buy this car in a heart beat.
I had a 4-door Tempo and my dad’s last car was a 2- door.
i didn’t think that KBB went back 30yrs.if you need a throw away car this could be it, or it will fall apart once it’s driven all the time
These don’t get the credit they deserve, pioneers, I say. Besides the 1983 Thunderbird, this was Ford’s first attempt at the jello mold aero models. If the Tempo/Topaz had bombed in the marketplace because the public rejected their looks, you can bet Ford would have delayed introduction of the Taurus/Sable and done a rapid reskin to those money makers. I bought two new Tempos and thought they were great cars. Despite what Wayne said, I thought the Tempo’s engine blocks were sourced from the old Falcon/Maverick/Fairmont sixes, with two cylinders lopped off?
No relation to the old straight sides. Based on the original 1.6 OHC Escort engine only using an in-block camshaft and pushrods and rocker arms. Maybe the 1.6 OHC engine was based on a euro engine that I don’t know about. Being an old Ford parts guy. You can tell by part numbers if a part was derived from an early version of the same part. I never saw any of that in regards to the 1.6 OHC. The 2.3 HSC was a good reliable engine used in the Tempos, Topaz and Taurus and Sable.
I can’t believe this car is still for sale!