North America’s Ford Contour

The Ford Mondeo sedan was for the European market. Travel to the lands of the United States and North American and you would find the Ford Contour. The Ford Contour would be the Ford Mondeo’s American counterpart. This sedan was actually sold by the Ford Motor Company starting from 1995 up until 2000. Fact is, this vehicle actually was the basis for building a version of this under the Mercury brand. And the result came to be the Mercury Mystique and later on became the Mercury Cougar. The Ford Contour was found in the Ford Motor Company’s line up filling the niche between the Ford Escort and the Ford Taurus.

The Ford Contour has a DOHC V6 engine with 24 valves. It has an aluminum block and aluminum heads. This has a displacement of 155 cubic inches. It can produce some 170 units of bhp at 6250 rpm, and 165 pound feet at 4250 rpm. It has also been equipped with a five speed manual transmission system. The wheelbase of the Ford Contour measures 106.5 inches, 183.9 inches in length and has a curb weight of 2910 pounds.

From 1995 to 1996, the Ford Contour came to be body colored. The front seats were recessed to the back so as to improve rear seat leg room. This is compared to the first wave of Ford Contours that entered the American automobile market. After a year, changes were still done. Traction control no longer was given as an option. The remote fuel door release feature was deleted and the fuel door that this batch held had a flanged opening. Made available were an interior trunk light, a tilt steering wheel, and a power antenna. In 1997 to 1998, the Ford Contours that entered the streets sported front and rear end designs that were new. There were new alloy wheel designs. The sail panels on the rear door windows were now smooth and held the word “Contour” emblazoned on it.

As per the last years of the Ford Contour, it still continually received changes. In 1998 to 1999, the Ford Contour deleted one of its trim levels. There was a clock in radio available. There were also some color revisions. The rear window and the brake light designs had changed. For Canada, this was the last year of the Ford Contour. In the United States, 2000 was the last year for the vehicle.