I know, right? I can just see him with a car with all the gaugues he ever dreamed of alone together in the woods as he admits his true feelings for it. 🙃
Wow. Quick little car for the era. I was always fond of this generation tracer/escort. I never see one on the road anymore, but what a cool little car.
Had a '94 Mercury Tracer in 2013-2014. I called it my "glorified go-kart", and wow did it live up to that name! It didn't have a ton of power but it certainly was zippy and maneuverable. The front seatbelts were a great conversation starter. Poor thing's fuel pump rusted out, so my family sold it. Still miss that thing, if I had a chance to buy another one for relatively cheap and fix it up for a beater and/or for my future kids, I definitely would!
I bought one of these new, and drove it until it rusted out at 200k miles. Loved it! The DOHC 4v engine was so much better than the Ford. 4 wheel disk brakes were unusual in a car of this class at the time.
Back when cup holders were considered a novelty and not the norm. Anyone else remember the cup holder you would buy at Walmart that attached to the door window sill? Then when you close the door your drink would go all over the interior.
They sold a ton of these in Australia as the Ford Laser. I had one of these back in the day and it was basically the same car as this, branded as the Laser S and with the SOHC version of that engine. We had a lot of trim levels and some styling differences, but you could see they were the same car as the Mercury. The booted version was sold as the Ford Meteor for a few years, before taking on the Laser name as well. Most Lasers were made in Australia while the sporty versions which were two door and came in turbo form and for a while AWD as well were made and imported direct from Mazda in Japan with the Ford badges already on them as the XR-3 and XR-3 Turbo. We also had the Mazda 626 of that era as the Ford Telstar. Ford Australia loved the Mazda based cars as they sold really well for them and for a while the Laser was the best selling small car in Australia.
I had a laser with a 1.8 litre Mazda v6 from the mx3 or eunous , whatever it was called , had the disc brakes and gearbox from it aswell, brought it from a mechanic who worked at a mazda rotomotion
The Laser was also built in Japan (by Mazda, of course, which sold it through a special dealer channel called Autorama, specializing in Ford cars) and Taiwan. First-generation cars sold by Ford of Canada as the Mercury Tracer were built in Taiwan.
I’ve known about and seen many Escort GTs from this generation, and heard of the LTS as an uplevel version of the Tracer, but I did not realize this was the sporty version of the car. This is quite an interesting find.
That's because these cars didn't sell well nor were they advertised well. For 13k, there were better cars in it's class. Car and Driver did a comparison with this car and it placed last. Go figure
I had no idea the Mazda Protégé and the Mercury Tracer were the same car! My sister's first car was a Mazda Protégé -- my parents bought it for her back when she went to college. That thing lasted her a good 10 years and 200K miles -- and she never even had to replace the clutch, even though it was the car she learned to drive a stick-shift in. Well-built machines.
This is a good review for this lil car. It was not well known what it was during the day but essentially it was a 4 door Escort GT. I bet this version was fun to zip around in.
0-60 8.5 , I think some respect is due... when i was a kid i thought the auto seatbelts were so cool.... as an adult They look cool, but aggravating as hell and I'm pretty sure..
Good friend purchased new in 1993, drove until 2003. Never broke down and no mechanical mishaps. Brakes tune ups and fluid changes only great car. Replaced with 03 BMW 3 series...still has it too also great car.
Mazda didn't make the 1991-99 Mercury Tracer. Ford used Mazda's platform. And, in the case of the 1.8L DOHC, also Mazda's engine and trans. The 91-99 Escort/Tracers were pretty solidly built vehicles, especially for Ford at that time.
@@Beefy01 I owned an '88 Tracer built in a Mazda factory and I now own a 2005 Pontiac Vibe which was built in a Toyota-run factory alongside the Corolla and Tacoma.
Its actually a Ford Laser, that's its actual place in the world. Same chassis but different body to the BP Mazda Familia/ 323 in its home markets. It was all a bit higgilty piggilty in North America what these cars were rebadged
@@Flying_GC Right. My mom used to have a 1995 Ford Escort LX 3door manual with the sport appearance group in December 1995 though I was a 1-year old at the time. It had decent rear seat legroom and great cargo room but the 1995 model year had a revised dash design plus dual airbags along with the atrocious automatic safety belts.
They are so much lighter with better sound from the engine and road feel. Although there are tradeoffs. Today's cars are better in every way but not as fun imo.
The 91-96 Escort/Tracer were good cars. Well built. Dependable. Especially with the 1.8L Mazda engine. Back in the day I test drove an Escort GT with the 5-spd manual against an Escort LX sedan with the 1.9L and 4-spd automatic. Totally different personalities. The LX was very smooth, but lazy feeling. The GT was rougher and louder, but had much better performance.
Apart from safety this thing is right up there with some cars on offer today. Infact when you factor in price after inflation it's way ahead of a lot of cars of today.
Until only recently you could still see quite a few of these still on the road down here in Miami Which says a lot about It's build quality considering considering these were inexpensive inexpensive little knock around cars found cars that that usually usually had the shit beat out of them.
I'd love to stick a modern 2.3l Ecoboost engine in one of these if i could ever find one clean enough to be worth it. I think these cars are stunning when they're mint, add power and you have a sweet retro daily driver.
Could you post the '88 Tracer 5-door you tested either next or in the near future? That is a very special car to me. In the summer of 1987, my grandmother sold her red 1980 Mercury Zephyr Boxtop 2-door sedan & bought a dark blue 1988 Mercury Tracer 3-door hatchback from James Lincoln/Mercury in Wakefield, MA. I had many rides in this car from 1987-1994 & loved every one of them. Plus, I would spend Sundays at her house either sitting in it or reading the owners manual while everyone else was watching MTV or VH-1. The only options that it had were power steering (optional on her 3-door, standard on the 5-door & wagon), A/C, automatic, & an AM/FM stereo, but to me, that was more than enough. 5 years ago, my grandmother passed away at the age of 90, but I will always think of her every time I look at this modest little car........& one day, I hope to have one exactly like it for myself.
I had an Antique Gold, 3 door 88 Tracer. Sadly, mine was not loaded with luxury features like the one you describe. Mine had a 4 Speed manual as the 5 speed manual would have been an upgrade. It had no power steering or brakes but those Tracer hatches did have independent rear suspension which has vanished from subcompact economy cars for the last 2 decades.
I traded in my 1979 Corolla for a new 1990 Tracer/ Mazda Protege manual and it turned out to be a pretty good car. I paid $8900 for it, man how we need affordable cars to come back.
$8900 in 1990 is equivalent to $17,723 in 2020. I think you can get a base Mazda 3 sedan for around that much. Or at the very least you can definitely get a Hyundai or Kia compact with some nice equipment.
@@CrossingRover Right...'cheap' cars do exist today, turns out only a few people buy them. Most buyers like to pack on the options these days. However, to put it another way, adjusted for inflation, today's cheapest cars are less than this Tracer was in 1990, and obviously come with so much more for the equivalent money. Thirty years has given us better performance, economy, safety and tech than any econobox from back then could ever have dreamed of! (Not so much in terms of gauges though, even the oil temp is an idiot light on many new cars....I think John has given up on the fight.)
@@RoadCone411 Exactly, I didn't want to seem like I was arguing with WR ZL1 but there really is no comparison between this Mercury and even the cheapest 2021 Chevy Spark or Hyundai Accent. Inexpensive modern cars have significantly more horsepower, safety equipment, and standard features compared to some of the enthusiast favorites of the 80s and 90s. I say this as a huge fan of things like the AE86 and EK hatch.
Affordable cars *are* here today, adjusted for inflation, $8,900 in 1990 is worth $17,723.73 today Some modern as John here says econoboxes come with factory air conditioning, 8 airbags, anti-lock brakes, an AM/FM radio with bluetooth, automatic transmission. The list goes on and on. The econoboxes from the early 90's were just dreadful. But your 1979 Corolla was a death box, safety wise. Today you get so much more. You get more bang for the buck now, You had to pay for all of those included now standard features. Hell! Even floor mats on some inexpensive cars from that time were paid for options. They now come standard.
Now that people aren't buying sedans, there are deals to be had. My locale Chevy dealer has leftover new 2020 Malibus for $17,500. Also seeing new Toyota Yaris'(Mazda 2) for $17k.
You gotta understand that oil and temp gauges were v important in all cars before 95, this was pre obd 2 and the only thing between you and knowing that your car is gonna fry was the oil and temp gauges
Good cars. My Mum had the Ford Laser version (basically same car) in New Zealand ('92 model), trading it in only recently. Her's was a lower spec 1.6 carburetor jobby but ultra reliable with about 250,000 km on the clock and still going strong.
Imo and based upon my experience of owning one with the Ford sourced 1.9 with automatic, the Mazda powertrains were much better. Ford's small car program would have been better if they had made better use of Mazda's expertise. Case in point, I received an offer in the mail from Ford for a warranty extension...I think around 500 dollars at the time. Later on my car started to have engine problems and discovered Ford had a bad batch of engines with defective valves.
This is one of those cars that just seems to have disappeared. Also, any chance we could get a second generation GMC Jimmy, Oldsmobile Bravada, or Chevy Blazer? Preferably the 98 refresh.
My first new car was a '93 Tracer, automatic, with crank windows. If I could buy a new one today I'd do it in a heartbeat. They were simple, honest, reliable, easy to work cars
This thing will beat a BMW 318, that's hilarious. I have to admit that I never did like the look of these Tracers. I preferred the Corsica with the v6. This thing did do well for a 1.8 from 91 in acceleration.
@@ericouellette5293 I drove both, and I have to say the exact opposite. According to MotorWeek, the Corsica was a little quicker even with a manual on the Escort GT. I did like the interior on the Escort a little better though.
@@jareknowak8712 Ford sold a lot of Probes in those days that were basically Mazda 6's under the covers. Mazda got the sales volume under the Ford Name they would not have had otherwise. That additional volume allowed Mazda to be much more competitive than they are today. Yes I agree, from a product standpoint, Mazda didn't get much from Ford (Mazda Tribute didn't sell well). Mitsubishi has fared even worse, after Chrysler stopped selling their rebadged vehicles as well. At least Mazda still makes decent products - they just lack the exposure that Ford was able to give them back then.
@@jareknowak8712 massive investment is what. In the southern hemisphere Mazda and Ford are still quite closely linked although the Ford ownership has dwindled to next to nothing. Outside the US they collaborated on most their vehicle's and they were some of the best cars on the market. Around New Zealand 90s Fords and Mazdas are everywhere still.
Free tip: there is life outside the US. And Mazda and Fords relationship was massive, with Ford owning the Majority shareholding. You didn't get the good stuff because the US was always protecting its own manufacturing. To say that's all Mazda got shows you don't actually know anything about their partnership.
@@Flying_GC I also forgot the Mazda B Series pickup trucks rebadged from the Ford Ranger. What else did Mazda get? I know later in the 2000s Mazda got the Tribute based on the Ford Escape.
I miss my '93 Escort LX with it's steering wheel that shook violently at idle standard. I do wonder if the 1.8L cars like this one had that same issue though?
Yep. Had the same vibrating steering wheel/column on my 92 tracer LTS. Identical to the one in this video except mine was bright red. It vibrated so much that it made the keys jingle lol. Very embarrassing if you had a passenger.
Mercury Tracer and Mazda Protege had a 1.8 liter with 4 valves. The Ford Escort GT was a 1.9 liter 2 valve Ford motor. My friend had an Escort GT and my 4 door Protege 5 spd would crush him. I would shift at just over 7,000 rpm.
Did you notice that At no point did they compare the Mercury tracer to it's much more closely related "corporate cousin" the Ford escort ? I guarantee you that that was directed by forward as a way to distinguish it. The escort GT and Later escort LX Sedan shared the same monster 16 valve engine.
I hear you. I owned a quite decent , made in Japan Tracer 2 door hatch and today I drive an excellent 'Pontiac' Vibe manufactured alongside Corollas and Tacomas.Too bad I missed my chance at a 'Chevy' Tracker.
The 1991 Mercury Tracer LTS and the Ford Escort LX-E 4-door sedan performance model was the pinnacle of the Mazda 323 Protege era. To make it even more better in the appearance, they should have put the Ford Escort GT front bumper on both of them to make it stand out in a sport sedan, because of the fog lights. Although, it's the greatest cars for it ever came out but the second gen model Ford Escort a Mercury Tracer 4-door sedan in the 90s.
This is the first time Ive seen the MPG beat what the EPA said- they were almost always off then- always much worse than the EPA or manufacturer's estimates.
HI there, just a little correction: Mazda started using the Protégé name in the mid 90' for the 323 cause the early one's ( I do still see some around) were still called the 323.
Whats the deal with volt gauge? Just change the battery when car barely starts in winter. You want Oil temp and pressure gauge, trans pressure and temp, those are the gauges all cars need.
As soon as they showed the dash, I was waiting. There's no volt and oil pressure... He's not going to be happy!! As soon as the thought entered my head.. there it was! Thw comment on the dash being "sparse" with dials.. hahaha every time!
I wish a 4 (or5) door hatchback version of the Tracer LTS had been offered for those who wanted the versatility of the multi-door hatchback and did not want a 2 (or 3) door Ford Escort GT. The Mercury version had nicer styling, if only it had been offered in a hot hatch design.
