Offered as both a four-door and two-door sedan, Ford’s Tempo was often thought of as a younger sibling to the Taurus, although the Tempo beat the Taurus to the market by a couple of years. This 1990 Ford Tempo is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in San Diego, California, and the seller is asking $5,750. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mitchell G. for the tip!
Excellent photos in a Facebook Marketplace listing?! Unheard of, yet here we are. A seller who cares enough to find an interesting spot to take photos, and then actually moves the vehicle around rather than just letting it sit in one spot and takes half the photos of a dark vehicle in shadow? This is one of the best presentations I’ve seen in a long time; well done, seller!
The Tempo was made from 1983 for the 1984 model year until the end of 1994 in two generations. This is a second-gen car, and they were made from 1988 through 1994. This looks like a really nice car, condition-wise. Instead of a sloped back two-door, I’ve always wondered what a two-door notchback-type sedan may have looked like… hmmm… Wait, what about a convertible? Back to this car!
The biggest thing here that catches my eye – well, there are three of them – is the automatic transmission. A manual is always welcome for those of us who like to shift for ourselves whenever possible. And, of course, the dash pad and steering wheel cover. I’m assuming they’re both covering nice, crack-free surfaces, but we don’t know. The good thing is that the seats look perfect, both front and rear. This car is pretty much loaded with features, so that’s another good point.
The clean engine compartment houses a 2.3-liter HSC (High Swirl Combustion) OHV inline-four with about 100 horsepower and 124 lb-ft of torque. It rolls through the three-speed automatic to the front wheels, and this one has 81,000 miles. The seller doesn’t say how it runs, but I’d have to assume it runs as great as it looks. Any thoughts on this nice-looking two-door Tempo?
Handsome little 2 door. Don’t see too many in good shape left on the roads. Thanks SG. Nice Ford. Go ahead please Bob 🖊
Lol Stan… We beat Bob to this one!!!
I’ll tell you what…. This has got to be one of the cleanest surviving Tempos out there. I hardly remember the two doors, but there were a lot of 4 doors around. I never gave these much of a thought when they were new. But now all these years later, these two doors look really nice. They had a nice design and shape to them. Normally I’d be concerned about the dash cover and wheel cover, but given the condition of everything else, they may simply be there to protect them, not hide them ( except to hide them from damaging UV rays lol) The only way to find out and sneak a peek underneath. Probably one of the factors in saving this Tempo all these years is that automatic transmission. Hope it finds a good new home.
Thank you Scotty, and Stan, and Driveinstile…. I don’t have much to add. It was a bread-and-butter economy car of its day. I’m sure I drove a few as rent-a-cars, but nothing (good or bad) stuck with me about them. Someone took care of this one, which wasn’t the norm.
Amazing what can result with just a bit of effort to produce quality pictures.
That convertible photoshop actually looks good.
Thanks, Bob, and everyone! I just made a Tempo wagon, as weird as that sounds. What are your thoughts on this? (cringing…)
I think it would have sold quite well honestly. It would have been about the same size as a Chevy Celebrity wagon, ( or the Buick, Pontiac or Olds varient). At least I’m thinking the Tempo is in the same basic size category. I’m with Bob also, love the drop top version too Scotty
👍
Wow, another flashback from Daily Turismo!
The ex-wife and I had a 2dr Mercury Topaz sport model that was white with red stripes and red velour interior…ok car. My parents had a 4 Dr Ford Tempo that was navy blue…the consternation about a 4dr Temp versus 4dr Topaz was yes or no to opera windows on the C pillar.
I had a 1989 Mercury Topaz that I purchased brand new from Landau Lincoln Mercury Sales in Winnipeg. Had that car for 16 years. Excellent daily driver. Never once let me down. Two door 5 speed manual.
I drove the 4 door version of these as a leased car for business during the 1980s and early 1990s. Ours were the 4 door version and we traded them in every month or so. Around town they were peppy enough, but trying to merge on the Interstate was a different story — it always required a Hail Mary or two. The biggest problem, however, were the automatic seat belts connect to the door. I must have shredded a half-dozen sun visors caught in the way of the seat belt retracting (going forward in these cases) as we were in the Southwest and regularly used the visor to block sun from the side window. The motor on seat belt retractor was so powerful that an errant sun visor was quick to get caught. Then it squealed like a pig until the visor would buckle from the pressure. Fortunately, the damaged visor and/or seat belt motor were covered under warranty and after a while the Ford Dealer (Who owned the leasing/rental company) upgraded me to a Taurus at no extra expense. I guess he though it was cheaper than the repairs to/out of service time of the Tempo.
We had a rental fleet in the early 90’s with a few of the sedans mixed in.
Dangerously underpowered then.
Today – might as well put caution stripes on the bumper .
This is a really nicely kept car and cool to
See.
Whomever buys it better be very aware how anemic it is on the roads
When I married into an instant family, we bought a used 1989 Tempo that was AWD. My first car payment and my wife learned to drive in it. It was a good car and great in the snow. We outgrew it in a few years, but it served us well. The rear CV joints were known to fail about 60,000 m as mine did.
I had an ’84 2 door – black with a 3 speed manual, if I am recalling correctly. No options at all. I paid $900 for it and got it as a commuter car / something that could hold more than my ’91 Eclipse. It had a carb, so I could adjust it when it needed it.
It got me back and forth faithfully, after I learned that the gas needle would get to E and then moving back up again, so I ran out of gas a few times.
PRA4SNW I believe in 1984, you had a choice of an automatic 3 speed or a manual 5 speed.
OR, you are correct and fueleconomy.gov is mistaken… either is a possibility. :)
Have a good day!
It could have been a 4 speed manual with 4th being an overdrive, but I really don’t recall it having any more than 4 gears. The overdrive is probably why I thought it was only a 3 speed. That final gear was highway only.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I searched for an ’84 Tempo brochure. Under Tempo L – the base model – it lists that the 4 speed manual with overdrive was the standard transmission. 5 speed manual and 3 speed automatic were optional.
https://xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1984-Ford-Tempo-V1.pdf
Had two of the two door coupes with five speeds, nice little cars. The engines in these were Falcon/Fairmont sixes with two cylinders lopped off, and a new cylinder head. If this had been a five speed I’d be tempted to bid, but I’m already driving a newer version of it already. Focus coupe with a five speed. Little rocket
Sturdy cars. Lots of Escort underneath but the 2.3 HSC 4 was an ancient Ford 200 six with a cylinder lobotomy. That make them tough as nails but not at all sporty. More like a little tractor engine, all out of breath above 3k RPM. We had a few in our lease fleet. It was the upgrade car over the Aries/Reliant or Cavalier.
They seldom looked this good 30 years ago. By the time they became trades they were a lot more used. Typically riding a little low in the rear.
Your convertible rendering is pretty smooth, Scotty.
Very reliable car. I was given a new 1992 Tempo four door as a work car and drove it about 91,000 miles and it was flawless. Not one issue or failure. I got around 64,000 miles out of the first set of tires. The seat/shoulder belt was a pain but after a few “oops” and choked necks, one got used to it. Slow to pass but once at speed, it did well on the freeways and was steady, even in high cross winds. Some of the nicest padded seats, felt like a much more expensive model.
The replacement was a new Taurus and it too, was trouble free. I enjoyed both cars.
This one for sale is very clean. Nice car.
Be nice for about $1500! That $5750 is way up on the optimistic chart!
In later years of Tempo/Topaz shelf life, the 3.0 litre Taurus engine was available.
Listing update: the seller lowered their asking price to $4,250.