Junkyard Find: 1983 Mercury Lynx L Wagon
October 21st, 2019 8:56 PM
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Before the North American Ford Escort became a Mazda 323/Protegé sibling, the folks in Dearborn masterminded a Mercurized version known as the Lynx. Escort wagons are rare now (though I have shot a couple during my junkyard wanderings), so I did a double-take when I saw this optioned-up ’83 Lynx wagon in a Phoenix self-service yard last winter.
It has just about every option you could get on a Lynx that year, including automatic transmission, rear window washer/wiper, and air conditioning. The strange thing about the heavy option load is that the L trim level was the cheapest one.
Yes, there were Lynx mudflaps. This thing must have been King of the Lynxes back in 1983.
Power came from this 1.6-liter four-cylinder, all 70 horses of it. There was a “High Output” version rated at 80 horsepower, as well.
The Catchit surfwear company was pretty hip when this car was new, then sold out to The Man with a move to The Valley in 1989.
Without the options, the MSRP on a new 1983 Lynx L wagon was $6,166, or about 16 grand in 2018 dollars. A new 1983 Honda Civic wagon went for $6,349, so the Lynx came with a competitive price tag.
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Lynx. Now more than ever, the world belongs to Lincoln-Mercury.
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I had the next gen wagon. A 1989 Mercury Tracer, I know it was a totally different car (Mazda) but still it was light-years ahead of this one. Mine was a maroon wagon, with tinted windows, and custom wheels. It was a great little wagon that was fun to drive and problem free outside of regular maintenance.
There was never a greater gap in design and build quality among small cars than during this era. My only-5-years-old VW Rabbit was dying an expensive death, so I test drove everything front-drive in its class. I was accustomed to VW dynamics at that point, which is to say, pretty much state of the art. Toyota had yet to commit to FWD with its economy cars, and Chrysler was absymal then with its Omni/Horizon twins. It came down to an Escort/Lynx like this, a Nissan Sentra, and a Honda Civic. The new 1984 Civic was my first choice, but the ADM and scarcity put it out of budget. The Lynx drove more like my old Mustang II than the Civic. I settled on the Nissan, which was really not a bad choice at all and served me well, reliably and cheaply. But I replaced it down the road with a series of Hondas and Acuras.