FORD SVT Contour - Ford's Forgotten Performance car 

Great review! I gave it a 👍 In May of 2002, I traded in my pretty rare, 1998 Mercury Mystique LS V6 that had the rare 5-speed manual when I was lucky enough to find an SVT Contour that was Silver Frost with Blue leather interior at my local Ford dealership. It was a mildly updated from the factory, 1998.5 version called the SVT Contour (E1). It was in showroom condition inside and out... It still even had a slightly new car smell! It had a low for the year, 38k miles on it. It came with all the service receipts from the dealer he bought it from... The same dealer I bought it used at... It also came with both keys/remotes, and even included the original window sticker and a small plaque with it's build number on it! It had one previous/original owner who was in his 70's based on what the salesman told me after I asked during the delivery... The previous owner ordered a new 2003 Ford Focus SVT. Anyway, my SVT Contour had the only available option, a CD player. What an amazing car when it was basically new like that! Everything was very tight and European feeling... In fact, even my buddy who owned a newer 2002 BMW 330i sedan with the sport pkg said my SVT Contour felt like his car when it came to build quality, the steering, the ride, the braking, handling etc etc... I agree... His 330i was a manual, so it was a little quicker than my SVT... But these advertised 0-60 & 1/4 mile numbers for the SVT Contour are extremely conservative! This car did 0-60 in 6.9 seconds & ran the 1/4 mile in 15.3 @ 92 mph, and tops out at a very impressive 143 mph! Not bad for a 195-200 HP, 3,100 pound family sedan at the time. Oh, and 1999 did see changes... HP was raised from 195 HP to 200 HP. Torque was raised from 165 LB-FT, to 169 LB-FT. Also, the '99 got the lightweight SVT 5-spoke 16" wheels with one size wider, 215/50ZR16 BFG performance tires. 2000 saw no changes, except that most of these cars were optioned with a spoiler that had an LED third brake light. It looked stupid because the 3rd brake light in the rear window wasn't turned off, so they both came on and didn't look good. I personally like the more European look of the SVT Contour without the rear spoiler anyway. I had the black portion of my lower rear bumper painted matching Silver Frost, and it looked 10x better! The black really hid the indents & the pipes of the dual exhaust. I also went with a full Borla exhaust system, among many other mods. The new exhaust had beautiful 4.0", rolled, round exhaust tips. This is getting really long lol... I did a lot of mods to this car. I still regret selling it to this day! It was better looking than new when I sold it. I really needed the money at the time. Huge regrets there!

I didn't even know about this car. I must have been especially drunk that year. And high for '99 and '00. Thanks for this. ☮

I had one and liked it. Plenty pep for back in the day. One major issue was the recall for the wiring harness for the engine. The wrong kind of insulation was used and would crack and break off. This caused all kinds of strange shorts and issues.

Went to highschool with a guy back in the early 2000's who had a silver SVT Contour him and his dad fit one of the newer 5.0 Engines in his car damn thing was a monster, he still owns it to this day.

I didn't know these existed at the time. I would have bought one! Great video, man.

I bought a 99 SVT Contour new. Black with tan interior.

Bought a '98 SVT Contour new. Loved that car. ~200hp may not sound like a lot, but in a 3,000lb car it made for a lot of fun (roughly equivalent power to weight as a modern-day Mustang Ecosport) Ford really did their homework on the suspension, it handled great, again aided by the relatively light weight. I upgraded the OEM wheel and tire package to a 17in lower profile tire package which bumped the handling to another level. I kept the car for 10 years and almost 300K miles (I had a long work commute). The wiring harness someone else mentions finally did the car in. OEM replacements were no longer available, I patched it as much as I could, but random shorts would cause it to stall or not start so I got rid of it. last I heard someone had swapped in a 3.0 V6 from a Taurus. I still miss that car; it would make a great autocross car today.

I almost bought one of these used back in 2001 but opted for a new 01 stang. Forgot all about these cars till now. A blast from the past! Thx Tony!

I remember the Taurus SHO and thought that was the only performance variant or their sedans. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for this vid

Just bought one for 3k and it has the 3.0 swap in it fire 🔥

Always wanted the svt only was able to get a 96/2000 se v6

The wire harness went bad on the early Contour's and cost over a thousand dollars to fix. I know, I had that problem. Ford sent a recall out for this problem, but it was squarely place on the owner to notice the problem. I can remember the wording of the letter. If you notice any fraying of the wires of the wire harness, please notify your dealer to replace the harness. Problem is you can't see the wire harness wires because they are behind the firewall. Once your Contour has over 100,000 miles, Ford would not pay for the replacement and in my case the car would not start once turned off. I loved my Contour and I referred to it being my poor man's BMW. It was a fantastic car, it is just to bad Ford use such cheap parts to build this car, else the Contour would be on its' third generation now.

It has been one of my favorites ever

I remember sitting at a red light one day next to a very ordinary sedan that I wasn't paying any attention to. When the light went green, this car accelerated like an absolute rocket and was gone before my foot had barely moved off the brake. I'd never seen a Contour move like that before and realized in that moment how fun a "sleeper" performance car can be. To me that's what the Contour SVT was, a performance car for people who didn't want to show off that they had a performance car. That's actually a pretty small number anyway, especially when you factor in Ford was already producing the king of sleepers, the Taurus SHO. That vehicle, in my opinion, was this car's true competition, and why would you buy a Contour SVT when the SHO is right next to it?

I had a chance to buy one of these about 10 years ago. I'm still regretting that I didn't.

If I recall John Colletti wanted to go with a twin turbo V-6 for this car…I remember it as a very competent car…always liked them.

I feel back then Mazda inspired 2 of Ford svt cars. Mazda has the klze 200hp 2.5 motor , that came in couple of 4door. these made around the same hp .also the svt focus made 170hp from a 2.0 engine.mazda protege and other models had a 2.0 fsze engine making around the same hp.i don't feel this was a coincidence,imo.

I got one right now and I love it, it is an amazing drivers car just not reliable.

I wanted an SVT Contour but it was too expensive!

Well, it was a good car (speaking of the Mondeo), still seems like US assembly added some issues and gremlins.

As a car guy from this era, for me, cars like this never mattered because for a car like this to get my attention, it either needed a v8 out of a cooler car, or it needed some kind of cool forced induction motor. I appreciate this car now, but back in the day, i just luled at it for having a v6.

I owned a non-SVT Contour V6. The SVT appearance looked great, but the performance bump was negligible. They should have done something like put a 3.0 in there and really turned some heads.

Too small inside vs too big outside. The melting jellybean styling. The new Taurus … I wasn’t a fan so familiarity with that was a minus. I loved the old school Taurus and an SHO (with 5MT) would have been my pick if they still had it on the showroom floor. Also, the dash and controls didn’t do much for me and while the new Taurus with its oval-everything styling was a bit much at least it was consistent (until 2001-2 or thereabouts). The Contour seemed like it wanted that ovalness too rub off but couldn’t pull it off. Did I mention that our family pharmacist drove a standard Contour? Nonetheless I test drove the SVT. Just wasn’t me. Didn’t want any of the three colors. I looked at a Maxima SE but the red one with black interior and 5MT was the daily driver of a salesman who was off that day (the green and beige 5MT SE I test drive was okay). I *almost* made it out the door with a plan to return to confirm that I wanted the red/black one once it was on the lot. BUT the sales manager wanted a quick word and asked what else I was looking at .. a Saab 900SE Turbo .. he disparaged it and I took offense and a quick shouting match erupted. Did I jump on his desk or do I just remember it that way? The poor salesman had this look of “oh $&@#% there goes my all-but-guaranteed sale”. I wound up buying the white on black Saab 900SE Turbo. It was the end of the 97 model year and dealers needed room for 98s. Got several thousand off the Saab. It wasn’t so special or precious like the Ford dealers would have you believe. Or maybe it truly was TO THEM. The car I was replacing was a flooded 1997 VW Passat GLX (that means the 172hp 172lb-ft VR6) with close ratio 5MT .. white on beige. The white on black was sold before I was ready. I’d‘ve considered other colors but many others were automatics (ick!). Saw a red and a blue Passat TDI but those cost a premium due to supply and demand. I can see people looking at numbers and styling and saying the GLX wasn’t as good or performance-looking. But you had to be there. I wasn’t looking for dual exhaust and a special rear bumper. I liked the wheels more. It fit better. The shifter was oh-so-right .. nicer than the Jetta/Golf/GTI. The seatbelts ONLY came in black even if the inside wasn’t black. The rear window switches for the driver were on the dash (an afterthought since they weren’t I thing in Europe I heard). The cup holder was a bolt-on floppy thing by the passenger’s left foot. IT HAD CHARACTER. I loved it. Even if the central locking acted up on Sundays and would behave for the dealership tech on Monday mornings. Wasn’t until the end of MY2004 that I had another fun car (had to sell Saab to fund Master’s degree pursuit). A Lapis Blue on beige Mazda6i 5-door 5MT. I wanted the Blazing Copper Metallic over black Mazda6s 5-door with sunroof but I was budgeting. I miss the Passat (didn’t care for the 1998 Audi-esque model). I miss the Mazda6. The Saab a little. Don’t miss the SVT or regret passing on it. But I regret not having a mid 90s SHO. SHO well. 😢

Maybe the Contour SVT should have been badged a Mercury or a Lincoln for the status hungry crowd wanting a performance sedan.

i would love to put that engine in a 53 ford wagon with a 6 speed auto!!!

I am the original owner of a T-Red 1998 Contour SVT Contour with 82,000 miles. Bought car new in October 1998. Never been "modified" in any way. Has the original radio with cassette player. VERY few left with body color Red and midnight blue interior. For 1999 Ford offered the color Green with Tan interior . To save money this interior color was used with the Red body color. Leave it to Ford to save a penny!!!!

Tony, regarding your closing comments about Ford vehicles never being a status symbol. Do you believe the coming GTD may be an outlier as is the GT40?

I had the opportunity to long term the Mercury Topaz and the Mystique. The Topaz was better than the Dumpster fire J cars from GM. However the Mystique blew it out of the water in all metrics. It really was one of my favorite 90's cars. I think it didn't do well because the Taurus wasn't that much more money for a bigger car and the Explorer had more utility for not much more money. Thus most buyers just paid the difference and enjoyed the upgrade.

hey whats the latest on the e movie car lawsuits i didnt find an update video

It was the outsourced wire harness they used in the contours. Made the entire car junk if you didnt swap it out. The coating on the wires just peeled right off on brand new cars. Ford fixed it in late 99 but the damage was done to the cars rep.

Hmm, anybody need some CD4E parts? I'll sell em cheap, they're brand new. Thats the Mazda automatic OD transaxle they used in them and they had some issues. Ford used it in several models in those years including the earlier model Escapes. Those trans were alright after they were properly rebuilt with a reprogram kit, but its a lot of work. They had the propensity to spike the internal working pressures and break parts. I bought a used 2.5 L LX, leather & everything, with a bad transax, tore it out and apart & bought the parts to fix it but never got er done. I finally had to junk it after it deteriorated to much sitting in my back lot.:(

TONY, I NEED YOUR HELP!! :) I've got a Contour SVT 2000 with 28K miles. It's been sitting under a car cover in my uncle's driveway for 17 years and has the antirust packaging, so the car is clean. It still has the new car smell and not a nick ding or scratch on the car. Here's what I believe the car needs: - Dashboard fix (It's raised and the manufacturer recall is no longer in service I believe - Gas tank dropped out and cleaned - Full fluid change - New Tires - New hoses If anyone can chime in here and let me know if A) there is an SVT specialist in NY I can flatbed the truck to B) What else will need to be done to the car I will be most appreciative. I can send photos on request. Thank you all!!

No matter how much horsepower they had given the escort, Thunderbird and or these SVT Contours they never seem to break anything more than 90 mph in the quarter mile.

Do you know why because it cost more than a Taurus and was smaller.

I remember thinking “nice car - v6 is smooth’ the tempo had more room, could have been improved upon and this contour is more compact - I think leadership at ford was thinking.. European market, leaving American market to someone else (Honda-Toyota-Nissan) also giving a foothold to the Koreans…. Hyundai and Kia. Imagine what could have been

Fox Capri pretty please

It's had a goofy shape, the greenhouse was taller and not sleek enough. If you lowered it looked alot better.

I hardly ever saw any SVT Contours. I feel the biggest reason why the Contour wasn't successful was due to its size like you stated. As for the SVT version, the BMW M3 and other German sports sedans had a much bigger fan base and were more classy than a Ford. My first car was a used 1995 Contour Sport. After that, I had a used 1999 Escort S. I was more impressed with the sportiness, practicality, and interior quality and layout of the Escort than the Contour.

I had a 95 Mystique 98 SVT and while they were lots of fun to drive, they were not particularly well made. The Mystique was in the shop more than on the road some years. A horrendous dealership experience added to the problems (Carmen LM in Delaware). We bought the SVT from Garnet Ford in Southern PA and had a better experience. I think Ford missed the mark here with quality control. Poor electrical systems, miserable fit and finish, engine bay fires, lack of available parts, and the 98 was decontented from the 95. Even though both cars had the highest trim levels, the interiors were ridiculously cheap.

Owned one and loved it but people saw it as a grandma car.

It's still based upon a entry-level vehicle. That wasn't even as good as the tempo. The tempo was a tank. Let's focus on..... I believe that was intended humor Ford focus. But if not I got a laugh out of it

It was small inside and overpriced, unfortunately. Looked good though

I've been a Ford owner exclusively my whole life & I never gave the Contour a thought because it was just unattractive, too European & bland is the word that best describes it for me, and that's with me being a previous, happy 84 Tempo owner with a 2.3 litre, 5 speed, 4 doors, 2 tone paint & very reliable, I was very pleased with it but the Contour that replaced it didn't have a chance with me.

If Ford wanted to compete with BMW M3, then why would they start off with all 4 limbs tied behind their back by starting with a contour????!!!!

Ha ha, the only thing Ford can do consistently is recalls

What crap cars they were! ( Have you seen one lately?)

The name killed it. The name sucks and is terrible. What the hell is a Contour? It is not a thing but an adjective not a noun. Other Ford cars like the Mustang, Thunderbird, Broncos, Escorts, Taurus, and Topaz are all nouns.

The car was too small for its class.

Because they were crap