Let me tell you a story about why I want another Mercury Lynx.
This has long ago expired, but something like this is what I have my eye on for a cheap, fun little Radwood-style ride.
Although rebadges among domestic manufacturers are fairly common, there were variants like the RS-branded Lynx that are desirable today due to being impossible to find. As essentially the higher-end trim of a model already being sold for less money on Ford dealer lots, you can imagine not too...
barnfinds.com
I know what you're thinking. Why?
I won't even try to convince you that the first gen Escort and Lynx was a good car. They were barely decent in their day, they were treated as disposable cars, and now very few survive.
My very first car was a two tone blue 1982 Mercury Lynx L....about as basic as it got. I have always wanted one of the performance versions, but never got around to owning one. I can't point to a solid reason WHY I want one...the closest I come is that it was my first car and I still love the way they look.
So in 1984 and 1985, Ford offered the Escort GT and Lynx RS in N/A and Turbo variants, and the Turbo models were actually quite potent, being a product of SVO. They put down 120 hp, and in these cars, that's a lot. SVO later became SVT, and they were also responsible for some of Ford's best performance cars of the 1980s and 1990s.
Anyway, the 1984 and 85 Turbo models are STUPID rare....they are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the models produced for that year. And I want one. Bad. I'd take any Turbo Escort or Lynx, but I especially want a Lynx RS Turbo...and I doubt more than a handful were produced. In fact, I can't find a pic of one in the wild...only this press photo exists of an actual Lynx RS Turbo:
I have hope though. A friend of mine in the Escort groups just stumbled into this. It is a 1985 Escort GT Turbo in an unobtanium color, with (get this) 19K verified miles. It was bought new, and it blew a headgasket just out of warranty and was parked in a building and forgotten about. Fast forward 30 years and my friend found it and bought it.
I have hope I can get an Escort GT Turbo or Lynx RS Turbo someday.....we will have to see.