The Ford Contour, and its sister, the Mercury Mystique, were compact cars that were derived from the first-generation, globally marketed Ford Mondeo.

Both the Contour and Mystique were praised for its handling and ride quality, and were even dubbed " A fun four-door sedan that offered European moves at American prices " in an Edmunds review .< ref >< font color ="# 777777 "></ font ></ ref >

Development of the European Mondeo and its derivatives, the Contour and Mystique, was a major project for Ford Motor Company.

In 1998, Ford restyled the Contour and Mystique.

* First model year for the Contour and Mystique

* New value-priced base models introduced in late 1997 for both Contour and Mystique.

Production ended for the Mystique on December 23, 1999 but Contour production continued into late fall of 2000 to support rental fleets.

The Contour and Mystique were on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1995, 1996 and 1997.

When the first Mondeos were sold abroad, Ford New Zealand offered a Telstar Contour and a Telstar Mystique ( named after the U. S. Ford and Mercury versions of the Mondeo respectively ).

As in New Zealand, a Telstar Contour and Telstar Mystique were offered.

The initial generation of the Mondeo was developed as a " world car ", along with North American models marketed as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique until 2000, and as the Ford Fusion from model year 2013 and on.

Intended as a world car, it replaced the Ford Sierra in Europe, the Ford Telstar in a large portion of Asia and other markets, while the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique replaced the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz in North America.

' Because of this, the Contour and Mystique proved unpopular with American buyers.

While the Contour sold at an average rate, the Mystique fizzled.

There is however another theory advanced by some motoring journalists: because the Contour and Mystique were not created in the United States, they suffered from a lack of enthusiasm from inside Ford's North American operations.

Those same theorists point to the fact that the BMW 3 Series — arguably a " world car ", in the sense one version is sold globally, does quite well in the United States and it is the same size as the Contour and Mystique.

Rear disc brakes eventually became available in North America on certain Contour and Mystique models, although some customers bemoaned the reduced level of feel over the original sport drums.

Among the cars that have synchromesh in reverse are the 1995-2000 Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, ' 00 -' 05 Chevrolet Cavalier, Mercedes 190 2. 3-16, the V6 equipped Alfa Romeo GTV / Spider ( 916 ), certain Chrysler, Jeep, and GM products which use the New Venture NV3500 and NV3550 units, the European Ford Sierra and Granada / Scorpio equipped with the MT75 gearbox, the Volvo 850, and almost all Lamborghinis and BMWs.

At introduction, the MPV used the same 170 hp DOHC 2. 5 L Ford Duratec V6 unit that powered the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique and Cougar.

The CDW27 platform was used in the 1993 Ford Mondeo, Ford Contour, Mercury Mystique, and Mercury Cougar.

The new-for-1995 Ford Windstar was then built at the Ontario plant that formerly built the Tempo, while Kansas City turned over to Ford Contour / Mercury Mystique production ( shared with a plant in Hermosillo, Mexico ).

The transmission was first used on the Zetec-engined Escort Mk V, but its proper intended application was on the Mondeo and its derivatives ( the American Ford Contour, Mercury Mystique and the New Edge Mercury / Ford Cougar ).

The first mass produced one was for the Ford Contour and Mystique in 1994.

Some people considered it a failure, however, as many of the resulting products ( like the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique designs based on the European Ford Mondeo platform ), were not very competitive in the American market in the long term, and the major restructuring was disruptive to the company.

The Mk II saw almost every external panel replaced, becoming in every respect, other than the rear elevation, the same as the American Contour.

and was replaced in 1994 by the " world car platform " Ford Contour.

Ford has also added an SVT version for the Contour, which utilized a specially tuned and modified version of the 2. 5 L V6 that produced ( 1998 MY ) / ( 1999 / 2000 MY ) and was only available with a 5-speed manual transmission.

1998 – 2000 Ford Contour SVTAlso included with the SVT Contour was new bodywork, seats and trim, white-faced gauges, larger wheels with ultra high performance tires, upgraded brakes and a retuned suspension.

The Contour SVT was available primarily by special order by specially designated Ford dealerships.

In mid-production for the 1998 model, ( manufactured after Feb 98 ) Ford decided to make several more changes to the SVT Contour.

* The last Ford Contour rolled off the assembly line on October 19, 2000

Although Car and Driver staff wrote an article in 2009 apologizing for the inclusion of the Ford Contour on the " Ten Best " list, it was the only car the staff did not outright recant from the list, but did cite that, in hindsight, the car should have been considered too small for its price range to properly meet criteria, and that this is the likely reason for the car's failure to achieve widespread appeal.

This engine, first unveiled in the Mondeo's North American cousin, the Ford Contour, is characterized by its smooth operation, chain-driven camshafts and an ability to operate using only half its 24 valves at low engine speeds.

The Mondeo was sold in North America as the Ford Contour

The North American counterpart to this model was known as the Ford Contour SVT.

* Ford Contour, a motor car

Of the three names that had constituted Ford's personal luxury lineup, Mark, Thunderbird, and Cougar, the Cougar returned first and was based on the Ford Contour sedan.

In the early 1990s, Ford chose to develop a new platform for the aforementioned Contour rather than redesign the Tempo in the mid 1990s to meet new safety standards ( dual airbags, etc .).

It came with a jump in price: the most expensive 1994 Tempo ( a loaded LX sedan with a V6 ) was about US $ 12, 900 ($ 16, 500 in 2005 dollars ), while a base model 1995 Contour ( GL with four-cylinder engine and manual transmission ) was $ 13, 990.

The 2. 0L Zetec Inline-4 used in the 1998-2003 Ford Escort ZX2, Ford Contour, and 99-02 Mercury Cougar used VCT on the exhaust camshaft.

Intended for use as the base engine in the larger European Ford Mondeo and its American cousins, the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, the Zetec gave the ZX2 more-than-respectable performance, running 0 – 60 in 7. 4 seconds.