Mercury Tracer

Mercury Tracer (1987-1990)

The Mercury Tracer was a belonging of the U.S., to the Ford company car brand Mercury marketed from 1987 to 1999 model of the lower middle class.

Model history

In the fall of 1987, Mercury introduced the tracer as a successor to the Mercury Lynx. In this model, it was a clone of the already offered in Asia and Australia Ford Laser, which was based on the Mazda 323. The five-door hatchbacks were manufactured at Ford's Hermosillo Mexico, the three-door model in the Mazda 323 factory in Hiroshima. The drive took over at the first tracer, a 83 hp (61 kW) 1.6 - liter four-cylinder.

1990 saw a new tracer, this time on the basis of the contemporary Ford Escort, which was based on the B platform of the Mazda 323. The sporty Tracer LTS ( with a 1.8 -liter DOHC engine from Mazda) was present in 1991 at the annual Ten Best list of U.S. car magazine Car and Driver. The other models were powered by a 1.9 - liter four-cylinder Ford (89 PS/65 kW).

The tracer made ​​with the model change of the U.S. Escort 1997 and received a new body, a redesigned interior and a new engine on a largely unaltered platform. Were offered the base trim levels (in some model years called GS ) and LS, there were also (like its predecessor ) in 1998/99 a trio optics package. The LS presented the comfort-oriented variant and was unusual for the class extras like leather interior, keyless entry, power windows, central locking etc available; Series were Tachometer, Alloy Wheels, and another at the LS. The tracer of the third generation had a 112 hp (82 kW) two-liter four-cylinder from the Ford CVH family. In 1999 he was removed without replacement.

An originally planned for 2011 Badge engineering model based on the third-generation Ford Focus has been canceled due to the discontinuation of the Mercury brand.