Classic car commercial: 1984 Ford Tempo

We picked on Chevrolet for its super-1980's vintage Astro TV commercial on Wednesday. So in the spirit of fair play, we'll turn our attention toward Dearborn today.

What could our friends at Ford offer that Chevy didn't deliver with its space oddity? How about the 1984 Ford Tempo, complete with a clear view of the instrument cluster!

Now that's forward thinking, but we can understand the challenge engineers faced with trying to display both the speedometer (with its federally mandated 85-mph top figure) and the fuel gauge.

The rest of the spot is your standard product-comparison fare--including a Mercedes-Benz claim, no less--but the car looping through the Tempo “O” at the end? Advertising magic.

By Andrew Stoy