1998 Ford Contour SVT
We liked the Contour SVT. This car comes in at around $25,000.
Our Producer, Dougie Berman, likened the Contour SVT to a poor man's 3-series BMW. We think that might be going a little far, but we can appreciate his sentiments.
There's no doubt--it was fun to drive. It has a smooth-shifting, five-speed manual transmission, and it holds the road and handles well. The engine was a treat. On the curvy, hilly roads of northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, it seemed to pull smoothly and strongly in any gear, at any time. Just touch the gas in fifth gear while going up a hill, and VRRROOOOM.
While all this is true, for another $5,000 you could actually buy a real BMW 3-series.
The "SVT" part of this Contour includes a tweaked engine, a special handling package, a different suspension, and other accouterments. It's made by a small division (actually a subcontractor, we believe) of Ford that's focusing on projects like this one. In other words, this is not your everyday Ford Contour. The very fact that we're talking about it in the same breath as BMW is proof enough. This car is very European in look and feel.
What about this car didn't we like? Well, for one...it's still a Contour! You're not getting a BMW or a Porsche, but rather something from the same company that brought you the Pinto and the Fiesta. The switches and knobs and stuff were more plasticky than you'd see on a 3-series. And the Contour has only been out a few years, so it also might be too early to tell about its long-term reliability.
The Contour SVT is a very nice car, but our question is this: Who's going to spend this much money on car that, well, is still a Contour? Let's face it--lots of people would rather splurge, borrow a few extra thousand bucks and go for the BMW, right? So, we're unsure who's actually going to go out and put down $25,000 for this car. But, then again, that's Ford's problem, not ours. And, of course, 5,000 bucks is a lot of money to most people, so maybe they've got something here?
Then there's also the crowd that doesn't want to be seen in a BMW. There are people who like the anonymity of driving a Ford Contour that's secretly a performance car under the skin. And, more importantly, they won't have everyone automatically assuming they're a yuppie scumball stockbroker. We'll have to see.
But, one thing we can say for certain: the Contour SVT is an exciting car to drive.
View cars.com model report on this vehicle.
