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Ford Tempo Facts and History

The Ford Tempo was an American-built four door sedan and two door coupe. It was produced by Ford Motor Company from 1984 to 1994 and was the designated successor to the Ford Fairmont. In 1994, the Tempo was replaced by the Ford Contour.

As part of Ford's effort to offer more environmentally friendly, fuel efficient vehicles with more modern styling, the Tempo (and Topaz on the Mercury side) competed with imports of the day. Its innovative aerodynamic styling preceded the Ford Taurus.

First Generation 1984-1987

Life for the Tempo began in the late 1970's with the design and testing. The idea was to build a more ergonomic vehicle with less drag and greater fuel economy. Innovations included aircraft-type door frames, wider rear tracking, and a laid back front grille and rear window. The first generation Tempo featured a new 2.3 L HSC inline four-cylinder gas motor with a single-barrel carburetor. A four-cylinder diesel built by Mazda was an option. For transmission, drivers had a choice between a four or five speed manual or the standard three-speed FLC automatic featuring a floor mounted shift lever.

The 1986 Tempo had several design improvements that mimicked the then-revolutionary Taurus. These included fuel injection, replacing the carburetor version of the car, an optional LX luxury trim package and a sporty GLS model. The GLS was a performance version that featured a HSO performance-tuned version of the 2.3 L/five speed engine/transmission configuration. An all-wheel-drive Tempo was also available.

Second Generation 1988 to 1994

The second generation Tempo made the car look even more similar to the Taurus. This meant more ergonomic driver controls, new taillights, and rectangular flush-mounted headlamps. The AWD Tempo was discontinued in 1991; 1992 saw the GLS sport model bid farewell. A rare option available starting in 1992 was the Premier Edition. This GL model package included power windows and locks, tilt-wheel steering, air conditioning, mud guards, luggage racks, and a cassette player. In 1992, the 3.0L V6 Vulcan engine could be had as an option, and was available with the five speed or automatic transmission.

The End of Production

Officials at Ford Motor Company began talking about discontinuing the Tempo in 1993. Although it was a strong seller for its entire vehicle life, in the 1990's the Topaz and Tempo were considered old and dated. Nineteen ninety-three was also to be the last year for the 2.3 L HSC engine which was conceived especially for the Tempo, and the FLC automatic transmission which was being eclipsed by five and six speed automatic transmissions. Ford finally stopped production in March 1994.