I played the piano from between the ages of 9 and 21, with a years-long break in between. All up, for about about eight cumulative years, one could find me on a wooden bench in front of the eighty-eights, practicing diligently. I’ve always had music in me, as evidenced by many of my essays with some musical link or reference. I had shown some apparent skill during the keyboard class of the two-week summer camp at Summerfield School after third grade, so upon my family’s return from a year spent in Liberia, I was signed up for piano lessons the fall of my fifth grade year.
At the piano, late 1970s.
Though I have always loved music and genuinely enjoyed playing the piano, I’ve never been intuitive on the keyboard. I played very well and would sometimes be complimented after recitals by audience members, but my improvisational skills were nonexistent. Classical music (Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart were a few of my favorite composers), and not jazz or anything highly syncopated, was my forte. I’m highly structured and want to do things the right way, as best I can. I came to understand that while I wasn’t necessarily a piano virtuoso, I had the gift of mastery, which translated into all kinds of endeavors I would later pursue.
I’m good at a lot of things, even if not always at the head of the pack. I’m well-rounded, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m a better writer than I ever was a musician, but it’s also true that I’ve been writing over a longer, continuous stretch of time. I quit the piano at the start of my senior year of high school when I got a co-op job at GM in place of a sixth period, after which I then resumed lessons during the year I had taken off from college in my early 20s. I was most proud of learning and perfecting the first and second movements of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”. That was almost thirty years ago.
Today, I couldn’t do even a C-major scale, though as a teenager, I would practice for an hour every day after school and also on Saturdays, also running through finger strength exercises, arpeggios, and usually three or four assigned musical pieces. There was also time spent with pencil and paper with learning music theory, with ensuing homework assignments that would be graded. My piano lessons were for an hour after school on one day of the week, with one Mrs. Patek being the most influential, exacting, and formative music teacher of my youth. My involvement with piano added stress to the anxiety of a somewhat insecure childhood, with not only weekly lessons and occasional participation in recitals, but also during annual testing as a member of the Junior St. Cecelia Society, and later Student Musicale association as I entered high school. This lengthy, introductory tie-in to my subject car lies solely in its model name: Tempo.
With Mrs. Patek after a recital, mid-1980s. Wearing corduroys.
I think I’m a better-than-average mover on the dance floor, with an adequate amount of rhythm. By no means have I ever been the guy that people have watched in awe as I did my thing. All this is to say that I might have been slightly challenged in the rhythm department at one point or another. I would be running through some stage of learning one of my latest pieces during a lesson, when Mrs. Patek would have to implement… the metronome. In her thick, Afrikaans accent (she was originally from South Africa), she would advise me to watch my tempo, and clap along with the tick-tick-tick of the time-keeping device as I nervously tried to concentrate on the keys. Call it a little bit of PTSD, but I can’t even sleep in a room with a ticking clock. I absolutely loved Mrs. Patek (may she rest in peace), but that metronome… It sounded like judgement in perfect 4/4 time, and I was getting plenty of that at home.
My mom would drive me to my piano lessons in (you guessed it) the family Ford Tempo. It was an ’84 GL sedan with a red interior to match its exterior, and my folks had purchased it new from Al Bennett Ford on Clio Road on the north end of Flint. Actually, the red one was Tempo No. 2 for the Dennises. The first one we had picked up, in a stately slate gray, had been totaled by my mom just two days after we had taken it home. The red sedan was one of two ’84s left on the lot at the end of that year, with the other one being periwinkle blue (which is why we went with the red one) . The tempo of that Tempo was adagio, at best, on a good day, and going downhill. It was so slow. It would keep pace with expressway traffic with no major issues, and it didn’t have air conditioning to bog things down, but it was loud, coarse, and thrashy under hard acceleration. I’ll never, ever know how my brother managed to get that thing up to over 80 mph on I-75 and get a ticket as the rest of the family watched in slow, silent agony.
It was a shock to come across this one-year-only ’92 GLS model at the beginning of this June while winding my way through a neighborhood-wide garage sale. Our own MagnumSRT8 Brian had written an excellent firsthand profile and review back in 2016 of the ’92 GLS V6 he had owned, so I’ll recommend his essay for some factual data on this model. In a nutshell, the ’92 GLS was like a baby Taurus, using the same 3.0 liter Vulcan V6 that made 135 horses in the Tempo (140 in the Taurus), with a standard five-speed manual transmission. (Of course, the DOHC version of three-liter V6 in the Taurus SHO was a much more powerful mill, with 220 horses on tap.) According to a review by Canadian automotive TV journal Motoring, their five-speed, two-door example was able to do the equivalent of 0-60 mph (0-100 kph) in just over nine seconds. ABS wasn’t even an option, though braking was determined to be adequate, with handling reported to be one of the GLS’s strong suits.
This example doesn’t have the blacked out rear roof pillars that was one of the exterior identifiers of the GLS, though it’s also sporting aftermarket wheels. While my license plate search results were inconclusive, I’m inclined to believe that this one is an actual ’92 GLS. It has been years since I’ve seen any Ford Tempo in such fine nick, and with no offense to anyone who loves these cars, I don’t suspect there’s any kind of huge fanbase with members who would go to the trouble of sourcing GLS badges, body cladding, and other such accoutrement to affix to a lesser example. Let’s face it… It’s still a Ford Tempo, and no Tempo has ever given its driver any significant amount of game, or at least any extra appeal that said driver didn’t already possess.
One of my final piano recital performances, if not the very last one. Mid-’90s.
When I had first seen the back of this car from the sidewalk, I had thought to myself, Wow, what a nice Taurus! And then I recognized its Tempo-ness. I’ve made reference here before to some of the tricky dynamics associated with siblings, similarities, sharing, and all of that, so I strongly suspect that if this Tempo could talk, it would be delivering those famous words delivered by the fictional Jan Brady in reference to its larger Ford sibling: “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” I’m sure it was hard to be a Tempo in a Taurus world.
The ace in my hand was that neither of my two brothers played an instrument, so in a way, playing the piano and doing it well was just one skill I had mastered to set myself apart from them. Those guys had to sit through every single one of my recitals up to a certain point until my older brother had escaped the Dennis family unit to go to college. The piano gave me power, confidence in my own abilities, and self-discipline. I may have grown to dislike our ’84 Tempo, especially after I inherited it by the time it was not only slow, but also unreliable, but I’ve got nothing but respect for this white Tempo GLS V6, a model that had finally introduced V6 power to this model line. Practice makes perfect, and even if the GLS or V6 models weren’t top-of-class in any area, the Ford Tempo had finally demonstrated mastery of a few skills.
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Saturday, June 3, 2023.
The 1992 Ford Tempo V6 print ad was sourced from the internet.
I had a v6 manual 2 door GLS. 15.9 bone stock in the 1/4 mile.
That sounds decently quick, for the day, slightly quicker than a ’92 Cavalier Z24, from on set of figures I just found.
I recall a news-short headline in a car mag. Something like, “Grandpa gets a transplant”
Sounds right to me.
Starting with the clarinet in middle school gave me a chance to be like my hero Benny Goodman. Goodman was great (*); I was not.
My younger brother was smarter; he started with the saxophone but after high school he switched to the banjo and moved to California (a smart combination in the 1960s). He is very talented and popular among his cohort.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
As a Manhattan resident I did not own a car so I rented when “I had to leave” my beloved island. I say “had to leave” because walking, taking the subway, or the bus, were all far less stressful to me than driving a car into the wider world.
When Avis went to Tempos and Topaz’s, driving rentals became even more stressful with these bulbous and slothful replacements for my much preferred, taut and quick, 5.0 Fairmonts.
You got to the point of recitals; you had to be quite good for that. Even if you stopped playing, reaching that level is quite an accomplishment and a very big notch on the belt of life.
It is a good thing for us at CC that you did not give up on writing.
(*)
There is no such thing as too much Benny Goodman!
+1 !
+2
Thank you so much. I just returned from a 9-day trek through Michigan where I had to rent a car (I do not own one), and it’s not even the Chicago city traffic that causes me stress, but my residential neighborhood with myriad one-way streets, bikes, and pedestrians. But, yay for the Benny Goodman!
Wow, that would be peak Tempo, a V6 and a 5-speed. I haven’t seen a Tempo on the road in years, like the original K cars there were seemingly none saved for posterity.
My siblings took piano, and had a stern teacher, a Russian old lady who would whack their knuckles with a ruler if they made a mistake. I refused to go, which is just as well since I would have wilted under the pressure of recitals. I took up guitar later in life, and am the only one of my family to still play music.
Thankfully I have not seen a Tempo or Taurus (even last generation) for a long time. But with SUVS and crossovers everywhere, it’s often difficult to find my Town Car ! 🤔
I never got the knuckle whacking (!!), but ultimately, I appreciate that Mrs. Patek cared enough to be hard on me when I needed it. 🙂
My main memory of the Tempo was that it had a more or less flat floor, and I couldn’t rest my gas-pedal foot on the hump like I was used to.
I’ve read here on CC any number of times about how thrashy and underpowered the standard Tempo was, but my memory is that this car was about par for the course for its era.
My Tempo would eat a set of front brake pads every 8000 miles. Underpowered AND underbraked was a deadly combination here in mountain country…
I’m now trying to remember the ergonomics of the pedal placement in our old ’84. This would have been before I was used to any kind of “dead pedal” or what other cars generally felt like. I would think a flat-ish floor might not be a bad thing, though in middle age, I care much more about comfort.
Oh, Joseph, those cords are priceless. You’ve written about them in the past, but it is quite another thing to see them in the flesh. FWIW, I owned several similar pairs at around the same time.
Haha – thanks ,Tom! Honestly, I like cords in 2023 and have since my “alternative” years in college, but disliked them as a kid.
Have had numerous FMC vehicles beginning with 72 LTD convert, 78 Town Coupe, 89 Crown Victoria LX, 89 Town Car Signature Series, and current 2007 Town Car Signature Limited. But when Taurus was introduced and a friend (long time Cadillac owner) bought a Taurus, I thought she had lost her mind. Never liked the aero look. Love my current Town Car (last gasp of traditional American Luxury sedans) but even it seems to have been influenced by aero styling. Taurus and Tempo are definitely not playing 🎵 in🎶MY 🎵Key!
Just like there are different kinds of music for different folks, there are different automotive styles. I thought the one thing the ’84 Tempo really nailed was its styling. It reminded me of a notchback version of the European Ford Sierra.
As one of the (seemingly) few career musicians here at CC, I enjoyed reading both your personal story and the Tempo stuff, too.
I’ve always wanted to drive one of the V6 Tempi, but I suppose I never will. My memory of ownership and passenger-ship was a happy one, these cars being notably advanced compared with to my earlier Granada/Pinto/Escort steeds. A friend with the 4wd option loved his, and he was seemingly unstoppable in Idaho winters.
I strongly believe in the brain-training and discipline of piano lessons (at any age), and even if you’re not an active player today, your mind has benefited. I still play daily, and I’m counting on it to retard my brain’s aging—we’ll see!
George, thank you, and I agree with your theory that the brain-training and required self-discipline had widely applicable benefits to my life in general. I have keyboards I could dust off and play around with, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to be reminded that I can’t do certain things anymore. Maybe when I’m older, I’ll try again. My late father had wanted to help me buy a piano.
And I thought I was the only one who suffers from metronome-induced PTSD! Even though I’m completely lacking in musical talents, my mom compelled me to take piano lessons for years. Though I didn’t enjoy playing, I liked my teacher, and especially her husband, who would gamily talk about cars and baseball with me every week while I sat in their family room waiting for my sister to get through her own lesson.
Despite being musically talentless, I enjoy music, including classical music, with the exception of piano pieces, which again trigger that PTSD.
And as fate would have it, my wife is an amateur musician. She can’t understand how someone like me simply can’t keep a beat.
I like these later-model, V-6 Tempos… and I could see myself having bought one if I’d been in the market for a car back then. Not terribly refined, but it was quite a bargain. And you’re right that the side profile of this example looks awfully Taurus-like.
Eric, I like that you found things to like about your piano lessons even if they weren’t your favorite. Your approach probably kept you from feeling large and lasting amounts of dread about going, even if you still don’t like the sound of metronomes. 🙂
AAAWW! I like the pictures of you much more than the Tempo. Be well!
Thank you!
After struggling to play the trumpet in band well (and never achieving mastery, let alone virtuosity) during my junior high and high school years, I have long wished that I had taken up the piano instead. I am rhythmically challenged and would have greatly benefited from a metronome to keep time. So I admire your dedication and achievement as a pianist, Joseph, and like the way you used your skills to differentiate yourself from your siblings and gain self-confidence by successfully performing in recitals.
As for the Ford Tempo, I can’t muster any enthusiasm, as my experience has been limited to a few thrashy, slow, bare-bones rental cars that were challenged to keep up with traffic, much like I struggled to play the trumpet while marching. In other words, the Tempo, like my marching band experiences, was an unpleasant memory that is best left suppressed over time.
Thank you, William. As I have reread this essay a few times over the course of today, it has dawned on me that differentiation from my brothers through playing the piano was actually more of a byproduct than a goal in itself. I just knew I had wanted to do a good job. It was satisfying to perform well, and the external validation and positive reinforcement from others didn’t hurt, either. I’m not going to lie.
I’d also venture to guess that this is a real-deal 92 GLS. All of the body kit is there. I’d also venture to guess that it has had a repaint, because in addition to the D-pillar being body color and not black, the B- and C- pillars are also body color and those were always black from the factory on all Tempo 4-doors.
I’ve never seen one in white in person, and if I could get one again that’s the color I would want to get.
The wheels are off of a Ford Fiesta ST. The Fiesta still has the same odd bolt pattern of 4x108mm, which is shared with the Tempo/Topaz, Contour/Mystique/Mondeo/Cougar, some years of the Focus and the Fiesta.
Brian, I was hoping you’d chime in, so thank you. I did notice the Ford emblems on the wheels and couldn’t field a guess as to their source. I’m glad to know they’re from the Fiesta ST.
I think that if there is any post about a Tempo or a Topaz (among others), I’m always gonna comment.
Thanks for the shoutout regarding my previous write up on my own 92 Tempo GLS 4-door.
I struggled through two years of piano lessons. I was always weak in music sight reading, so any success came from a kind of island warfare where I would conquer one measure at a time, essentially memorizing the piece but using the sheet music as a kind of memory cue. This is not, apparently, a way to long term success as a musician.
We got a piano when our kids were young and a couple of them took some lessons. I dusted off my old piano books and kind of got back to where I had been at age 12, or maybe a bit better. But that was about it. I decided that my talents lay more in writing than in making my own music. Better to buy the store-bought music made by others.
The Tempo? I got nuthin’. Except that I was always amazed that Ford didn’t put a V6 in them sooner.
JP, I’m afraid that in my case, getting to my age-12 level of piano skill would be stretching it. I give you kudos for having gotten there after all those years had passed, and when your kids were young. The last time I remember playing anything halfway decent and decently would have been around summer 2004, at which point it had been about 9 years since I had last played. It was like motor memory. I shocked even myself at the time at how much I had remembered, and how my hands and fingers just seemed to know what to do. All gone now.
Even Chevrolet was putting V6s in Cavaliers *years* before Ford did the same with the Tempo (even if the straight line would be drawn between Tempo and Citation / Corsica, and not to Cavalier).
Two thoughts: Firstly, I’m not loving the pillars painted white- that was an odd choice, but it is somewhat thematic, as monochromatic white was definitely a “thing” in the late 80’s/early 90’s. And, judging by the very clean white overspray on the exhaust tips, this thing hasn’t gone terribly far since someone dumped some cash into (at least) the paint work.
Whoda thunk back in ’96 or so that anyone would be cherishing and restoring Tempos 30 years later?
Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall monochromatic white being popular around the timeframes you described. I’m even thinking about the all-white Taurus SHO as I type this.
Way back when, my brother had a couple of the Tempo/topaz twins. They were quite used. On one of them, every bolt in the timing cover worked its way loose, making the engine leak oil prodigiously. He let me take it for a week or two to fix. After removing the oil pan and timing cover and installing new gaskets and a crankshaft damper seal, the leaks were gone and I had some quality time to drive the car.
The HSC in-line four was no barn burner, but gave reasonable performance. My main memory is aggravation with the motorized shoulder belts that were paired with manual inertia reel lap belts. Certainly one of Ford’s better ideas. 😉
The HSC gave adequate performance, if backed by the 5-speed manual. Th3 3-spd auto really sucked any performance out. When i 5-speed swapped my HSC, it provided quite a bit more pep to the engine.
oh those motorized shoulder belts…. definitely one of those moment in time things.
Ah, the front passenger “mouse belts”. I never owned a car that had them, but I was always a little fascinated by them when I would ride in a car that had them. And then airbags were the norm and the mouse belts went away. Huh.
When the regulations for “passive safety” were introduced, the regulations didn’t dictate how to do it. Some manufacturers went with the door mounted belts that were already buckled in (ala GM), and others went with the mouse-belts. This was just stop gaps until airbags could be designed in. Chrysler was the first manufacturer to have a standard driver’s side airbag in all of their cars, in 1990 I believe.
Fun fact about the passive safety system in the Tempo and the Topaz. The Tempo was the first Ford vehicle with an optional airbag. Earliest known was a late year 85 that had it. With the 1988 refresh, the Tempo and Topaz got the automated shoulder belts. The airbag was optional. The airbag was only available on 4-doors with the 2.3L 4cyl and 3-spd automatic; and you were unable to option cruise control. If your sedan was equipped with an airbag, the driver got manual 3-point seat belts while the passenger still got the automated shoulder belt and manual lap belt.
This is of course true of the regulations as they went into effect, but it’s worth noting that that flexibility was a reflection of almost 15 years of tooth-and-nail battles between what’s now the NHTSA and the OEMs, who bitterly opposed airbags, mostly for cost reasons, and demanded to be allowed cheaper alternatives.
Ironically, it turned out that the original idea of airbags as passive restraints was fatally flawed, though not for the reason the OEMs were actually concerned about: The early passive restraint bags had to be powerful enough and inflate quickly enough to catch an unbelted passenger, which meant they were also powerful enough to seriously injure or kill a belted passenger who was seated too close to the airbag when its charge detonated.
My understanding is that the airbag option on the Tempo/Topaz was in large part a reflection of its fleet-queen status: Government buyers and other fleet customers wanted more cars with airbags (I think there was a GSA recommendation along those lines, although I forget the exact details), and since Ford sold so many Tempos and Topazes to fleets, they had incentive to offer that feature.
Remember how disappointed we were when Chrysler replaced their Valiant/Darts with the Volare/Aspen? Ford did a version of this when they went from the Fox bodies to the Tempo. While the Tempo didn’t have the soul-sucking drama of the Volare/Aspen, it was not an improvement over the Fox body cars, which were still in production when the Tempo was unleashed upon us as Fairmont replacements. Tempo oversold what Ford was offering in a new aerodynamic body that was modern and cutting edge – placed over a FWD platform that was overworked, with handling that was awful. Dependable, yes, but it was not an improvement over the Fox body cars.
Worse, Tempos remained on dealer lots at least six years too long when they were replaced by the well-made, but target-missing Contour/Mystique, which was a flop.
So to me, muscially, Tempos are irritating pop songs, quick gold records that within six months, begs to be thrown away. “We Built This City” by Starship quickly comes to mind. as one of those songs during the Tempo’s run of production that earns profits and years later forces members of the band to publicly apologize for ever producing.
Tempo was no class act. Even with FWD, which was at one time, an option. Even with the V6. You can dress that car up and still want to leap from it while it throbbed and rolled around corners. That gear shift said it all. Shimmy, shaky, and waiting to break off.
Before I had read your comment, I hadn’t really thought of the Tempo as the replacement for the Fairmont / “small” LTD. I had drawn a straight line between those Fox cars and the Taurus, as their slick, modern, FWD replacement. But, I suppose you’re right… What came before the Tempo? What was Ford’s modern compact? Wasn’t the “small” LTD a midsize car? Was the Escort simply doing double-duty as both the compact and subcompact Ford?
I had a downstairs neighbor named Helen at one point who had a Contour, and I still wish I had ridden in it to see if it was really as small as people say it was.
The late 70s/early 80s was such a confusing time in the order of compact, mid-size, full-size cars. Even with cars based on the same platform, like the Fox cars.
The Fairmont was considered the compact car when it came out, replacing the Maverick. The second generation Granada was considered the mid-size, even though it was Fox based and shared doors with the Fairmont.
The Granada was replaced by the mid-size Fox-based LTD in 1983. The Tempo replaced the Fairmont as the large compact in 1984. The Taurus replaced the Fox LTD in 1986. Both were sold in 1986 for fear that the Taurus might alienate traditional buyers.
Then bring in the Escort, which was also considered a compact. During this time, most domestics marketed a compact and a large compact, which I’ve seen referred to many times as “tweeners”… the in-between compact and midsize. Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz. Contour/Mystique. Chevrolet Corsica/Beretta.
I was encouraged to take violin lessons after my father inherited a fine old Italian violin that his stepmother’s first husband used to play in the Vienna Philharmonic. I did not do it justice. I just didn’t have the self discipline to practice at home.
In Iowa City there was a good music program in the public grade schools, including a city-wide orchestra. My teacher would come to Lincoln School once a week for lessons, driving a baby blue Porsche 356 she had bought in Europe and shipped back.
She and her “housemate”, another woman, ran the whole program. It was my first introduction to lesbians, having learned the term from my older brother. Everyone “knew” it, but nobody said anything; that’s how it was back then.
I managed to fake my way through the program for a couple of years, including recitals for which I was not adequately prepared. i still have dreams about having to play a recital and having zero idea of how to do it.
I dropped it like a hot potato after we moved to Towson since there was no decent program there; I was very relieved.
I sold the violin for a pretty handsome amount ($20k) some years back to a local violin maker/dealer, who sold it to a Korean violinist. I’m 100% sure it got a lot more dedicated use than I ever gave it.
” i still have dreams about having to play a recital and having zero idea of how to do it. ”
Change the circumstances around and that is a very common dream for probably more than just us two. The need to do something (play music, go to a class, read something important) and not being able to make out the notes, read the class schedule, or see the instructions.
I always wake up relieved and wonder what this recurring dream means.
How cool for you to have had that experience with that rare / expensive violin that had been played in the Vienna Philharmonic, even if it wasn’t your thing. Even better that it found a new home with an appreciative buyer.
And good for those ladies that came to the Lincoln School. I try not to take anything for granted here in 2023.
Unfortunately there was never any attempt at cultivating musical talent in my family while I was growing up. My Wife played clarinet in high school and is very talented artistically. My oldest Daughter played clarinet for many years in grammar and high school bands. My youngest Daughter is even more artistically talented than her Mom.
My Son seems to have inherited my talent at intuitive mechanics. I peck out comments on websites!
The featured Tempo displays one of my favorite exhaust set ups, an offset twin outlet muffler. This always struck as very European and cool. My ’90 Honda Civic SI couple had a similar set up.
Joseph, I know that you had two brothers. Were you the youngest or the middle? I am the middle of three brothers, and that sibling positioning played a major part in forming my personality. In the end this was a positive.
I might try my hand at a musical instrument someday in the future, after all I’m retired and have some extra time. My goal would be achieving “workman like” capabilities.
I also like the offset twin outlet muffler look. I remember seeing pictures of (I believe) and ’82 Mustang GT with the “Siamesed” twin exhausts, and inspired by that, I had a twin-tip purchased from Western Auto welded onto the single tailpipe of my ’88 Mustang. It looked cool, but had a thin whistle to the sound when I accelerated, which I didn’t love.
I’m the middle brother of three, and I solidly believe being in that position pushed me harder to be and do better in certain ways and at certain things. Never the straight-A student, and with no career that any family member would mention in a book they’d write and/or publish, I feel like I’ve aced my share of proverbial serves in my almost fifty years on this planet.
Joseph you and i have several things in common first of all we are the same age and i am also a pianist and organist i began playing piano at the age of 12 but i never had lessons i mostly learned by watching and listening to the lady who played at the church i grew up in in charlotte nc her name was louneil and she was the best southern gospel pianist i have ever heard i decided i wanted to play just like her so i basically taught myself i played in church for a few years but churches have all gone to this modern crap that they call music so no one wants my old fashioned style of music any more now i am happy just playing at home for my own enjoyment if you want to hear the style i play look up jo ann castle on the old lawrence welk show she was my other idol heres the other coincidence louneil also owned a 92 tempo and she really liked it her previous one was an 87 tempo but she had the 92 for 9 years and never had any trouble with it she traded it for an 01 taurus which she drove until her death in 2006. By the way you are my favorite writer here at c.c. I am glad to know that you are also a fellow pianist. Just one more thing we have in common.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Mitchel. And don’t worry about the punctuation. 🙂 Jo Ann Castle was one of my favorites on LW, and was always a treat to watch. Not just her animation and constant smiling at the camera, but the way her piano (ragtime!) would be decorated as part of the set and performance. How wonderful that you paid tribute to Louneil and her influence on you and your musical tastes. I wouldn’t say I’m a pianist anymore, but I certainly was one, and proudly so.
Always thoroughly enjoy your childhood stories Joseph, thank you. Another great read. The piano was always my favourite instrument. I grew up on late 70s and early 80s top 40 AM radio. And the piano intro in Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat was always a great memory for me.
The owner has done a nice job styling their Tempo. The monochromatic paint treatment, and aftermarket wheels work great here.
“Year Of The Cat”, from start to finish, is such a great song, and I also love the intro. I also agree about the owner’s aesthetic choices with this car. Lots of pride of ownership is on display with this Tempo. It even had custom plates.
I apologize for the lack of punctuation in my previous comment. This is a new phone and i haven’t quite learned all of it’s features yet.
I started out playing the clarinet in band, probably about 3rd grade. Moved to the bass clarinet in 7th grade. 10th grade added marching band to the mix and carried a drum, bass clarinet was for recitals, competitions and band concerts. 11th grade started carrying a bass drum for marching band. Anyone that knows what a square corner is in marching band terms? Lets say carrying the bass drum thru a square corner without hitting someone is an accomplishment. Middle of 11th grade and I was done, cars, sports, a job and girls left little room for band. I never had the talent for the piano or guitar or a drum kit. My talents laid with the mechanical, if it had an engine I was on it.
Tempo’s, owned one, 88 2dr 4cyl auto. Purchased as a demo unit. While it was fairly reliable it had its issues, coolant leak right from the start, head gasket, bad throttle position sensor, worn out inner tire rod ends, stuck closed thermostat, HVAC controls that disappeared into the dash one day when I pushed a button, body rot in less then 5 years. The big tall aluminum valve cover to fool someone that maybe its an overhead cam engine. Didn’t miss this car went I sent it packing. Gave it to my brother, he worked his entire career at Ford/Mercury/Lincoln dealers. It had one last flaw to drop on him. EGR exhaust pressure sensor hose split, allowing exhaust leak that melted the exhaust pressure sensor causing a short in the sensor which got so hot it fused the copper strands of the wire together. Now the current draw is so high the ECM shuts down to protect itself. Cars totally dead, turn key on and nothing lights up on the dash. New sensor, new hose and some wiring repair and the pile of crud is back on the road again.
I have such respect for members of marching band. Not only do you have to on key and on time, but you also have to *march*. Of course I realize it takes practice, but I’m pretty sure I’d have failed at bass drum or any other instrument in marching band.
I took piano lessons from age 6 to 17. My adopted father’s father was a musical director of a film company in wartime Germany, so my parents forced me to take lessons and practice an hour a day. I plateaued around age 15. I could play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Debussy’s Arabesque, Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C Sharp minor, Chopin’s Polonaise in A Major, and Liszt’s Liebestraum competently, but nothing above that level. I also had no ability to memorize music or improvise and play by ear. I also struggled with anything other than the classics – nothing modern, even Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. My parents were disappointed I was no virtuoso, but at least I had some competence with the piano, unlike sports and athletic activities, where I was an imbecile.
Tempo was a first generation Escort with a long wheelbase and an aerodynamic body, so I am impressed Ford could stuff the 3.0L V6 in it. The Ford dealer gave me a Tempo as a loaner once when installing cruise control in my 1989 Crown Victoria (purchased after my 1985 1/2 Escort left me stranded because of a timing belt), and it seemed as rough and unrefined as my Escort had been.
Troy, it sounds like you were fairly accomplished by the pieces you’ve mentioned. My hat is off to you. Reading music didn’t come easily to me, and I always had to fight simply playing by memory or how things were supposed to sound. My dad had been a good soccer player and ended up with three sons, none of which were big sports jocks. Dad didn’t care, though, because we all got good-to-great grades.
My mom, who never met a musical instrument that she could not play well – piano, organ, violin, viola, french horn, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, saxophone, sousaphone (and those are only the ones that we had in the house…I’ve been told that there were many more) – was pretty insistent that I WOULD be talented in playing some musical instrument.
The idea that I might not be was simply inconceivable to her. Hence, the violin was my instrument, and I struggled through violin lessons from about 3rd grade until somewhere near 10th grade. That was about the time where simply going to Orchestra class stopped being qualification for playing an instrument, and actual talent took precedence.
At that point, I moved to what I’d always wanted – journalism and writing – and left orchestra behind. Much to my Mom’s dismay for the rest of her life.
Still though, I have dreams where I am playing the violin…even though I don’t think I’d be able to make any pleasant sounds come out of a violin in real (waking) life. I still wish that I’d learned how to fiddle (a term that my Mom hated and refused to let me consider…she was all about classical/concert performance). I think that I would have very much enjoyed being able to pick up bluegrass fiddling. Or even the mandolin (heaven forbid! 😉 ). My mom was from people, and a part of the country, that was in fact the natural home of bluegrass…and hence she rejected all of that and considered the music of HER roots to be something that needed to be surmounted and left behind by her and her progeny.
People are weird.
As for the Tempo…total, total, rental car material. I have absolutely no pleasant memories of those.
(Thank you Joe for another thought/memory provoking post)
(I still like corduroy pants)
Man, Jeff, any instrument with frets would have killed me. I can’t even imagine playing the violin. There are the frets, the vibrato you have to do with the bow, managing the bow, placement, etc. Piano has always seemed to me to be the most straightforward kind of instrument where you just have to press the key, and everything is spatially related whether a high note (right side) or low note (left side).
I also tried guitar lessons for a hot second when I was around 16, and that was a bust after just a year (maybe a semester and a half, IIRC).
I’m glad that both you and I (and other writers here) found an enjoyable creative outlet here at CC. And like I mentioned to Tom H. above, I’ve got nothing against cords in 2023.
My Tempo would eat a set of front brake pads every 8000 miles. Underpowered AND underbraked was a deadly combination here in mountain country…
I can only imagine. Underpowered, so it struggles up hills, and under-braked, so it’s tricky to stop. Sounds like a nightmare.
Weren’t the brakes straight off the first generation (U.S.) Escort? Sounds like this was Ford’s Jetstar 88…
Wow, Joseph, did this piece ever bring up memories. I took piano lessons and played in recitals and music contests from ages 8 to 14. I never had much talent but my two piano teachers needed the lesson money and noted that I had great hands for the instrument. The first, Mrs. Ruhl used to slap my hands with a “ruler” when I made mistakes. I had an “Electronome,” I think sold to my parents by the husband of the second piano teacher; he was a real hustler. I see the vintage models are for sale on eBay.
My worst moment was playing a solo piece (March of the Dominos by Marie Seuel Holst) at the annual contest of the Northern Indiana School Band, Orchestra, and Vocal Association (NISBOVA) in Fort Wayne. I was master of this piece until my mind went blank for a few seconds in the middle of it – I recovered enough to win a second place silver medal which I still have. Although by this point I really did not want to play any more I was determined to get a gold medal at the next contest and I did (what I played is not in my memory bank). That ended my brief career as a pianist. We won’t even talk about playing clarinet (badly) in the marching band. It is a credit to our parents that they encouraged and supported our cultural endeavors. It sounds as if yours had a better result than mine!
I don’t believe the Tempo was very popular here in SoCal as I cannot recall a single friend or colleague who had one nor do I have any memory of riding in one. The Japanese had pretty much cornered that market here and Ford dealers were going out of business left and right at the time.
Thanks for the memories!
I’ll return the thanks to you for triggering more memories! One of the hardest things when I had blanked or made some error was to just keep going, as my natural tendency would be to try to hit the right note, even if it threw off the rhythm of the entire piece. I had gotten this down, to just keep playing, at some point, but I had to fight against trying to go back and play the correct notes.
I had to look up pictures of the Electronome. I don’t think I ever had experience with one of those, but I like it as a piece of kitsch, even if I wouldn’t necessarily buy one off of eBay to put in my house.
I actually feel like dusting off my Yamaha keyboards and seeing what I actually do remember…
Like me, Australia never got a Tempo, nor, in my case alone, any musical ability whatever. I couldn’t get a tune out of a humazoo.
Love music, though, and regard with wonderment those who can make it happen, like yourself.
I did love singing when I was a kid though, until I found amongst the very variable delights of puberty that the voice-break took the singing part with it. Left me with the range I still have, which is super-narrow: if it goes too high, I have to change down gears – register? key? – like a Tempo up a steep incline, and if it goes below it, I stand there making noises to the words like Ralph the Muppet with a sore throat.
My family, who do have musical talent, were always glad when I finished my shower as a teen. As are the neighbors here, to this day.
I love the metaphor of the downshifting Tempo on an incline being the same as shifting into singing in a higher register. It fits so well!
With the regular 2.3 liter HSC, my memory tells me that the Tempo is All Agro.
I only recall driving one Tempo, which was one of our three Driver’s Ed cars. The others were a Pontiac Sunbird and a Mazda 323. Not sure why we had three different flavors of basic compact sedan, but that’s how it was. All of the cars were fairly new circa 1993, but I, coming from a family that had a heavy GM bias, immediately and emphatically selected the Sunbird on the first day we were placed behind the wheel. Most others didn’t seem to give too many cares, but I much preferred the J-car. As we racked up experience, I did eventually drive the Tempo and the Mazda, and liked neither. The Tempo felt weak and thrashy, starting off warning you that it’d rather not pick up the tempo by grumbling and detonating a little as you pressed the accelerator further, then howling angrily once it had to downshift and go quicker. The Mazda was probably okay, feeling much like a small economy car saddled with four passengers and an automatic transmission as were the others; I think the engine was a little smoother than the others, a wee bit less powerful, though it was disqualified by being a Mazda… I mean, Mazda supplied the Courier to Ford, so they were guilty by association.
At the end of the day, was the Pontiac really the better car? Naw. It was just what I felt familiar with. It might have had a little more pep with a little less thrash than the Ford, but they’re both still fairly coarse cars. I still have a fair deal of respect for GM J-cars while many others can’t burn ’em with fire fast enough. An acquaintance ended up buying the Driver’s Ed Mazda when it was retired, and drove it for quite a few years. I have driven a 5 speed, 3.1 V6’d Cavalier… If the Vulcanized Tempo was anything like that, and I’m sure it was, it gets a thumbs up. Joseph’s pictured GLS is looking much less dowdy than the typical, old lady spec’d Tempaz twins. I’d probably do a double take if it were in my neighborhood, too.
Pontiac was *the deal* back in the day… the sporty GM division (“We Build Excitement!”), so like you, and also coming from a GM bias / town, I probably would also have picked the Pontiac over the Ford or Mazda, even if iny heart of hearts I knew the Mazda was the dynamically superior car. And “all agro” made me chuckle. 😄
I found the recitals the most nerve racking experience in my three years of piano lessons while a teen. My teacher was an old twin sister who’s other sister taught my sister. They were both unmarried and drove a 1961 Rambler American two door.
I just wasn’t into it as a kid even though I was told that I had a knack for it. My real interest was…..you guessed it…cars!
As for the Tempo, at the time I just couldn’t get into the look. Reminded me of a little space ship. For that matter I never cared for the look of the Taurus either.
Did you and your sister ever compare “notes” when it came to your respective experiences with each of the piano-teaching sisters? I mean, was one stricter than the other? Twins fascinate me, especially with respect to “nature vs. nurture”. My dad was an identical twin (I’m named after my uncle) and though I never met my uncle Joe, I often wonder how different from my dad he was and would have been toward me.
Dennis ;
Your ability to weave life and persona into an article about motor vehicles is very good and always makes for compelling reading .
I stopped wearing corduroys in 1969 or so when my waist was still 29″ .
Jo Ann Castle ! I didn’t think anyone else ever liked her, I still have some records bought decades ago .
Piano remains my favorite instrument, always has been since child hood .
I love music but can’t carry a tune in a bucket .
Rhythm I’ve got but…..
I can’t remember ever driving a Tempo, I might have liked the V6 5 speed version .
They looked stodgy to me .
-Nate
Thanks, Nate! I think the restyled ’88 looked stodgy, and the looks of all coupes didn’t quite jell, but the original 1984 and ’85 sedans looked terrific. I still think their styling holds up well. With each subsequent restyle / redesign, the Tempo’s aesthetics slid further and further down the scale.
To me they were always odd looking, Tempos and their siblings .
FWIW , the way for the average Blue Collar person to have multiple old vehicles is to buy them after they’re old and have multiple defects / things gone wrong but still have passable paint then up fix them as you go along .
The upside is : you get to own and enjoy various interesting vehicles .
The down side is : once I’m all done sorting them out I get bored and find another project and sell whatever I’d fixed up often at a dead loss .
-Nate
I had thought that “Tempo” was more of a model name reminding one of “Time” but not so much the musical connotation which it is typically attributed, but almost that Ford was reminding itself that it was on a mission back in the early/mid 80’s to convert at least its smaller cars from RWD to FWD. The Tempo might have been an odd size, as a bigger Escort, but I think Ford was kind of making it apparent they thought FWD was the future, no more RWD Fairmonts or variations which probably started with the Falcon (though I understand at least the 4 cyl Tempo engine was derrived from the Falcon 6…but of course the rest of the drivetrain was different).
My Mother had a ’88 Tempo bought new, it wasn’t much of a car, I borrowed it on occasion mostly when my car was down for repairs (which could be a long time) so I could go to work and make parts runs) after she retired (30 years ago, 1993) and didn’t need the car regularly. I kind of paid her back a few years later before my sister moved to our town to move in with my parents….she was to share the Tempo with my Mom, so I did some small fix-up work on it…power locks didn’t work on one door, fuel release door didn’t work, some alternator work, headlights, etc. Got it in reasonable shape, but around 2009 the A/C compressor went…A/C is kind of essential in central Texas, but the car was 21 years old, didn’t really want to replace it. That was the year for “cash for clunkers” but the Tempo got such good fuel economy it didn’t qualify…but Texas had it’s own version of cash for clunkers more focused on emissions…even though the Tempo didn’t have problems with emissions it was a 21 year old car and assumed to be potentially bad, so we got something for it in trade for a 2009 Focus (which my Nephew drives now as a hand-me-down).
Even drove the Contour as a rental car while my Mom still had the Tempo…the Contour was nicer than the Tempo, but a bit small.
I’ve got respect for individuals like you who can make essential repairs to cars, however small, and save money. And your mention of the Fairmont makes me want to research performance and economy figures of a four cylinder-equipped Fairmont and Tempo to see what kind of factual improvements were made with the newer car.
I kinda liked the Tempo when it originally came out because it looked so different and rather spacey with it’s aerodynamic slat “grille” and rounded shape, so different than GM. After a couple years less so and the later versions were just boring, befitting the car itself.
Paul there were some really superb teachers/lessons available in Towson at Goucher run by Peabody iirc but one might have had to audition, as they were pretty high level. My own Mom was a piano teacher, we even had a beautiful baby grand in the LR, but she wisely got someone else to give me my lessons. I was a decent mechanical player but didn’t really have the “gift” and really hated practicing, much preferring to be out riding my bike, so was allowed to give up by age 12. Best for all concerned.
I owned a 1994 Tempo with the v-6 and auto 3 speed transmission. I drove it until 2008. It was a solid Michigan car with little rust too. I replaced the brake pads every 65000 miles and had 238000 on the odometer when the transmission failed in 2008 when it overheated in Phoenix.