Someone should make a Tempo one...
Surprisingly in my five years in Alaska I only ever saw one AMC Eagle. In theory, you'd think they'd have been more popular up in the Last Frontier. They certainly seem more rugged then the more civilized Tempo.
Portland, despite all its shortcomings, does seem to have a more diverse culture. Corvallis is a college town through and through, so the amount of late 90s Hondas and Toyotas can get overwhelming. On the plus side, the Tempo was welcomed as a hero. I get a surprising amount of comments on it. Just last weekend I was parked at a Burger King lot, and when I came back the guys from the Oil Can Henry's across the street had gathered around it and were admiring my suspension work. I never get tired of telling people about the Tempo's virtues...
Well, trucks are in a category of their own. But in terms of passenger cars... Depends on the location. Here in Corvallis, Oregon I never see anything from the 1980s or older. In Nikiski, Alaska that title undeniably went to Tempo/Topaz. Due almost exclusively to:
a) All Wheel Drive
b) Unlike Subarus, Tempos are American, and that still matters to some people damn it.
Of course after Ford killed off the Tempo (and their only AWD sedan), that let the floodgate open for Subaru to capture that market in the 1990s.
My Tempo has just one badge. The one that says 'Tempo' on the decklid. Well, three if you include the Blue Ovals.
The answer, as always.
I live in Corvallis, Oregon and have been witnessing some pretty shitty driving in the wake of the snowpocalypse and subsequent flooding. I wish I had been there in Seattle to cruise by those two supposedly super cars in my AWD Tempo.
Who would be laughing then! Ha! Tempo always gets the last laugh....
I recently acquired my first not-a-Ford vehicle. A Jeep just made sense to bridge the gap between my Tempos and my F-150 in Alaska. While not quite as cool or quirky as any Jeep offered in 1983, a 1998 Grand Cherokee Laredo can still bomb through the snow and look good doing it.
As always, I turn to Tempo for insight into this topic. I have owned my 1989 AWD for six years, and its check engine light came one once. Once in six years. For failing MAF, O2, and PIP sensors.. Not sure which one specifically triggered it..
That's not to say it hasn't had its share of engine problems. Just, they never trigger the check engine light.
I appreciate that there's another Forward Look fan here. Kudos, Tom.
No joke, that is my actual Tempo. My '89 AWD. I took at that picture about 5 years ago now.
That's pretty much the case, save for about two dozen or so True Loyalists. Such people include one man who has four 1984s, a married couple with two GLS '92s and a '94, the man who built a 350WHP Turbo 2.3, and other such colorful people. www.tempotopaz.com
The Tempo forums are dominated almost exclusively by "Tempo won't start" or "Tempo turns over but doesn't fire" or "Tempo starts but doesn't move" topics. With the occasional "Took my Tempo to the track today" topic.
Or indeed anything with a beefy brushguard. Think of all the real bad asses in TV. Jason Voorhees, that dude from Mad Max. They all got some sort of face gear. Not just for protection; but to intimidate the enemy.
I submit again, just because there hasn't been many plane crashes in the past decade doesn't mean its not shitty when they do. Most plane crashes leave no survivors. I imagine the last time a train killed everyone on board was a century ago or more.
As for saying "every time a plane crashes lessons are learned", THAT is just ignorant. Go look up Alaska Airlines 261. No design changes were made to the MD-83, despite the obvious safety flaws. Indeed, other than maybe a few less forged maintenance logs, nothing was done.
FYI. Just because the FAA mandates something, doesn't mean it gets done.
Are these all the same car, or what?
It is the safest way to travel. Much safer than driving, biking, or taking the bus. I've done extensive research on train vs. plane safety, and my conclusion has been that they're practically neck and neck, but trains are getting safer while planes, not so much. Depending on the survey and source, trains are often credited as the safest method of travel.
Oh and here's some food for thought. If you were gonna crash, would you rather fall out of the sky or would you rather roll off a rail bed? When a train wrecks, there is a very likely chance you'll live. Gone are the days of wooden coaches and high speed collisions due to archaic signal systems. Today, its almost impossible for a train to hit another here in America. But when a plane crashes, you're fucked. No chance. Not even Jesus and a miracle can save you when a Boeing jetliner smacks into the ground at speed or falls into the ocean.
Planes have been virtually frozen since the 1970s and 1980s. No major technological advances have been made, and due to a poor economy and high fuel costs, airlines are pushing back on maintenance check ups and putting their planes (and pilots) in the sky for longer periods of times with less frequent breaks. Watch Air Crash Investigations. Its a show that'll put things in perspective.
Let the trolling commence in 3...2...1...
Planes suck balls. Don't get me wrong. Fighter jets and leisure Cesnas are fantastic things. But commercial airliners are real shitty things. There's literally nothing good about them except that they bring you to your destination faster than anything else. That's it. Quality service, comfortable seats, spaciousness, fine food and drink, a variety of entertainment outlets, safety and peace of mind, reliability, time proven stability, are just some of the many things that airliners cannot boast of, while railroads can.
/trolling.
Because American airliner sounds like a bigger defeat than Canadian airliner.
When I saw this comment I kept thinking Dash 8 as in the popular General Electric diesel locomotive. Which is pretty slow. But quite the mountain mover.
I always click on these kinds of lists. Just to make sure no blind or ignorant editor has decided to throw in the Tempo in there just to get to me.
Glad to see both of Ford Tempo's main competitors made it in there. Tempo, at least, had a certain flair to it. Perhaps its unique, aerodynamic design is what drew the crowd in (and kept them there, unlike Chevy's numbers, which started high and dropped).
