Ford Laser TX-3 Turbo AWD - today's tempter

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 21.11.2016

All-wheel-drive Turbo Lasers were a hot car in their day and stack up as a potential classic.

TX3s like this were great fun to drive.

With all the interest in Subaru WRXs and Mitsubishi Evos over recent years, it’s easy to forget that a hot all-wheel-drive turbo hatch is anything but a new idea.

In fact, Ford was pumping out turbo Lasers from the late 1980s. However the one to have is the series shown here, the late KF2 generation (1991-93), which was (along with the later KH) the best developed and had the most rigid chassis.

These days the 117kW power claim might seem a bit tame, but it was enough to punch the car along at serious speeds, something it handled pretty well thanks to the high levels of grip offered by the all-paw drive.

There don’t seem to be many left these days – maybe most of them ended up trees! Certainly a lot were modified and thrashed to within an inch of their lives. They’re nevertheless tough, with a very robust motor, so really what you’re looking for is crash damage and big mods. Race mods in particular should be checked for, such as evidence of roll-cage mount holes.

This 1991 example looks very original and, if it checks out, could do well as a minor collectible over the years.

The seller is asking $5500 and it’s a manual. Did we mention this series is locally-made? That won’t hurt the long term value.

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