Junkyard Find: 1988 Mercury Tracer Hatchback

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Junkyard Find: 1988 Mercury Tracer Hatchback

09 - 1988 Mercury Tracer Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin Here's a rare one! We're familiar with the 1990s Mercury Tracer that was a Mercury-badged Ford Escort (which was itself a Ford-badged Mazda), but the 1987-89 Tracer was a rebadged and left-hand-drive Ford Laser, a crypto-snazzy Australian version of the Mazda 323. They sold in very small quantities in the United States, and so it took me a moment to identify this example that I spotted last week in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. As an excellent example of "rare ≠ valuable," it seemed worthy of this series.
19 - 1988 Mercury Tracer Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin Not even 65,000 miles on the clock. Perhaps it sat in a garage for most of its life, barely emerging onto the street.
14 - 1988 Mercury Tracer Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin It was running in 2006, though, because there's a Colorado State Parks pass from that year on the windshield.
04 - 1988 Mercury Tracer Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin Vaguely sporty-looking yet late-80s generic.
16 - 1988 Mercury Tracer Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin The Mazda B engine, used in everything from Kia Rios to Mazda Miatas.

Just the car for a night of wrestling!