chicagotribune.com's view

What do you call a car designed in Japan, built in Mexico and sold in the U.S.?

Ford Motor Co. calls it the `88 Mercury Tracer and goes one better bycalling the vehicle an international car because the workers at its Hermosilloplant that build the new subcompact were trained in Belgium and Spain.

For a car whose sales are targeted at only 40,000 units the first year,80,000 thereafter, Tracer represents a vital cog in the Ford machine.

Whereas historically General Motors Corp.`s strategy has been “If weneed it, build it,“ Ford is saying, “If we need it, buy it,“ a far lesscostly proposition.

So Mazda, Ford`s Japanese partner, which next year will start supplyingit with a new front-wheel-drive Mustang built in Flat Rock, Mich., was called on to come up with a new subcompact for Mercury. What Mazda did was give Ford a version of its subcompact 323 model with slightly different sheet metal, avery inexpensive way to “develop“ a new car.

Because Tracer is a version of the 323, there can be no charges that thecar is a Ford Escort look-alike at a time when cloning of cars among divisionshas led to so many troubles at GM.

Low-cost development aside, marketing 40,000 to 80,000 cars wouldn`t beeconomically feasible if it weren`t for $3-an-hour wages in Mexico.

Oddly, though pennies were pinched to come up with Tracer, Thomas Wagner, Lincoln-Mercury division general manager, said the car is aimed at“upmarket“ buyers.

Upmarket is the new industry term for the “yuppie.“

Wagner and his marketing staff have all the angles figured on the Tracer, though it doesn`t go on sale until March 26. Buyers will be those who wouldconsider a Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra or Chevrolet Nova andwill be 33 years old. Fifty percent of them will be college educated, 50percent will be women and 60 percent will be married.

Wagner and his crew have two things working for them that should makeTracer a success–Ford is held in such high regard by consumers it can do nowrong; and if it can`t sell 40,000 cars in one year it`s in the wrongbusiness.

Tracer is offered in two- and four-door hatchback versions. This spring,a four-door wagon will bow. The two-door starts at $7,926, the four-door$8,364; the wagon isn`t priced.

We test drove the four-door hatchback and it stunk. That`s not to say itwas a rotten car, but perhaps something rotten had been in it. The car reeked of mildew and required two cans of Lysol spray to make it tolerable enough to enter.

Did Tracer literally enter the U.S. from Mexico via the Rio Grande River? It is hoped that it was only this car, but if all Tracer seats and carpetinggive off the same aroma dealers should be warned to park the cars outside and not in the showroom.

Styling also leaves something to be desired.

Though the seats offended the sense of smell, the exterior sheet metalplayed havoc with our se nse of sight.

In trying to avoid a 323 copy, Mazda went with a four-window design along the sides that is too choppy, too busy and not in keeping with the crisp,clean look chief stylist Jack Telnack came up with in Taurus and Sable, forexample. If Taurus and Sable are aero, Tracer is cumbersome.

What bothered us most about the styling is that it makes Tracer look like a subcompact economy car for the young family and its groceries or luggage.When you drive the car, you realize it leans more toward performance than pureeconomy. It`s a fun-to-drive car that deserves some styling flair tocomplement its sporty nature.

Tracer is equipped with a fuel injected 1.6-liter, 4-cylinder engineteamed with a 5-speed transmission as standard, automatic a $415 option. Thefour-door hatchback we drove had the automatic.

The 1.6 really comes alive. Performance is comparable to the 1.9-liter,fuel-injected, 4-cylinder in the Escort GT. Tracer`s ride and handling aremo re in the economy car category and not as nimble as the Escort GT, butthere`s far less body wander or sway and very little road harshness for asubcompact built on only a 94.7-inch wheelbase that`s only 162 inches long.

Interior room is abundant for such a small car. Four adults will becomfortable, especially the two in back, where leg, head and arm room arecomparable to a midsize car. Ford should have Mazda help it make equal room inthe rear seat of Escort.

The hatchback acts like a little wagon because rear seats fold togetheror separately to provide more cargo space. And the seat backs fold down ratherflat, unlike in Escort.

Instrumentation is easy to see and use, except for optional cruisecontrol that`s buried behind and to the right of the steering wheel.

Standard equipment includes AM/FM stereo with four speakers, power frontdisc brakes, digital clock, tinted glass, rear window defroster, dual poweroutside mirrors, steel-belted radials, rack and pinion steering, bodysidemoldings, 5-mile-an-hour bumpers, tachometer, trip odometer, cloth upholstery,remote inside gas tank door and hatchback releases, passenger vanity mirror,maintenance-free battery, urethane/phosphate dip lower bodyside corrosionprotection and a hidden tray under the front passenger seat.

Options include air conditioning, power steering, automatic, cruisecontrol, aluminum wheels and AM/FM stereo with cassette.

As for the radio, a redesign is sorely needed for the whip antenna at asharply sweeped-back angle on the roof.

The antenna tends to snap back at times and strike the roof. It wakes you up real fast and might require a replacement antenna or a paint touch-up forthe roof.