How silly our adolescent fantasies can be! I'm not talking here about the ones involving Finnish amazons or world domination; those are still perfectly valid. I'm talking about time misspent lusting for cars that pretended to be something they weren't. Remember the Cosworth Vega? There was a time when people thought the Maverick Grabber was cool. And the Citation X-11. And the Plymouth Duster with Tasmanian Devil decals...

    The solitary joy of adolescence is that (for most of us) it eventually passes. So, too, has the notion that tape stripes and chrome wheels make a performance package.

    This car is proof.

    Ford's SVT Contour is the real deal. Ford's Special Vehicle Team has taken a mainstream car out of its lineup and significantly improved its performance in all the ways that matter to enthusiast drivers.

    Of course, in another fantasy from those fevered and pimply days, you'd be the star driver and some company would show up at an empty racetrack with a bunch of hot cars and ask you which you liked best.

    Ernie Irvan gets to live that one out and more. Irvan's seen fire and he's seen rain and more than his share of press intros. But here he is in Turn 3 at Pocono, alternating sessions in a Taurus SHO and an SVT Contour with a pox of scribes providing ballast. Diving the SVT into the infield road course, four wheels off and back on, soaking in the engine growl and brake smell, there's a grin on his face and the man is working. "This is better," he almost chortles. "That SHO is strong, but this is a bunch of fun."

    "We believe this car will really appeal to three groups," another Ford guy said later. "One is people who want a 3-series BMW, but can't afford or can't justify the price. With the Probe going out of production, it's for Probe GT buyers. And it's for people who like a performance car, but have kids now and want a real back seat."

    Nailed me. As readers of this column will know, Ford's Probe GT is in the Hard Drive Garage as a terrific drive and a car we'd buy with our own money. On the other hand, were price no object, the household's next car would very likely be a BMW M3. Price is an object. So we paid very close attention to the Ford SVT Contour.

    And, yes, it can be compared to a BMW without invoking laughter. That day at Pocono, we got track time only in the company of many other journalists, which proved why the SCCA doesn't require racers to carry three large passengers, each champing for his turn to make like Ernie. Anyhow, we subsequently spent a week driving the SVT Contour, and were very happy people.

    We have always liked the Contour; what it lacked in styling or interior room when compared to its competitors was more than made up in superior driving dynamics. It shows the advantages of having been designed for the demanding European market first. In creating its version, SVT benefitted from improvements made across the Contour line for 1998. Gone is the sourpuss, vaguely nouveau-Edsel front end; in its place, large headlamps and a wider, better-integrated grille signal the car's first freshening. Full-width taillights smooth the rear styling. And sculptured front seat backs join with adjustments to the rear seat rake to allow more room in back for real adults. There aren't the blimp hangar dimensions of the Dodge Stratus/Chrysler Cirrus competition, but a noticeable improvement.
 
    From this foundation, SVT began with the (already class-leading) suspension. They went for the classic European approach: softer springs with harder shocks. When coupled with a smaller front stabilizer bar, the Contour exhibits relaxed static stability - like an F-16, it's designed to make changing direction easy, but then to enhance control once turning. 16-inch wheels with world-class 205/55 Z-rated Goodyear Eagle GS-Cs help keep the SVT planted, and transmit the work of the larger front brake rotors.
 
    The engine starts as the 2.5 liter Duratec six found in the Contour SE, but gains 25 extra horsepower through sundry tricks including extrude honing of the intake runners, a practice not uncommon in NASCAR shops but new to regular production. (The resulting 195 horsepower is the same that GM gets from 3.8 liters in the Grand Prix.) That power is conveyed by a heavy-duty clutch. New cams and a lightened flywheel give quick response to throttle changes. The speedometer goes to 160, and it'll take the dare. (Don't dare it, even in Montana.)
 
    Only four options are available on the SVT Contour, aside from your choice of silver, black, or Toreador Red (burgundy); a CD player, a sunroof, a block heater (for boogie'n down the AlCan) and the smokers pack, which means they put a lighter in the 12 volt socket and a removable ashtray in one of the cupholders. Interiors come only in midnight blue with a grey headliner.
 
    What kind of fantasy would it be without the Splendid Co-Driver? "The deep purple color of the interior looks fine...It doesn't necessarily appear purple or midnight blue or anything else until somebody points out that that's what it is. The seats are leather but I think the door panels are covered in vinyl (they are). That being said, it's reasonably tasteful. This seems much more luxurious than I remember the BMW (318i) to be. It is smoother, and the interior is much better integrated. Great carpeting."
 
    Can't say as I've had many fantasies that featured carpeting. So let's check the view from the action seat. The usual four gauges, with temperature and fuel being small and to the extreme left and right respectively. Black markings on white. Needles on the gauges so bright orange, they almost seemed fluorescent pink; very easy to see, at least during the day. I don't like black on white gauges, even if they are an SVT hallmark. The SC-D does.
 
    At night, the instruments light up from behind. The numbers show green, the needles orange, and there's a halo around the axis on which the needles turn, as we've seen in other cars with black on white gauges. I don't know if that's intentional; it certainly gives a distinctive look. "The cockpit design and panel is well integrated; I like the way it's brought together in sort of a hemispheric sort of orbit" around the driver, she said. "I can't imagine why car manufacturers did not have a portable ash can before. What a smart idea!"
 
    Panel readouts and window switches in the SVT Contour are also green. Climate control is the same unit from other Contours, with the exit path for air marked with words, and three good sized rotary dials to control everything. Our test car had a familiar Ford radio with CD.
 
    It took us only a little hunting to find the power driver's seat controls, seat shaped and on the front left corner. Cupholders? Two, molded in, with mug-handle cutouts.
 
    Her Splendidness reports from the back seat: "The changes to the configuration of the rear seat make it an awful lot more comfortable for passengers. As well as cutting out some of the back of the front seat, for some reason the angle at which you happen to be sitting means there's more room for my knees, which is very nice. The seats seem to have adequate back support; they are not vast, but they seem to be comfortable." The rear seat is an even more noticeable improvement for us larger types, even when seated behind Mr. John Bugsy "Free Lunch" Lawlor of Car Talk, no Lilliputian he. The seat backs fold down 60/40 to allow visits to your luggage.
 
    While the 1998 Contour retains the profile of its forebears, the SVT adds sill extensions for a lower, meaner look. They're not necessary, but the SC-D (unusually) favored them: "The trim package on this particular vehicle is pleasant looking! It gives that kind of impression I guess they wanted to give of a BMW competitor. A splendidly alert catlike design to the eyes and the cant of the headlights. The grille makes it look like somebody thought they wanted to make it look like a luxury car. I like the low level running lights, and the front piece with the nose; nice curves built in all over."

    She also liked the restyled rear; "It has a luxury look to the back end the way the chrome goes across the taillights. So it does have a European back end look. Ooo, European tushies." The SVT differs from its Contour brethren, though; look a little lower and you find dual exhausts set into a black grill panel.
 
    The Ford guys were very proud at having kept a spoiler off the back. They are to be commended for fighting the good fight. Indeed, the SVT is a prototypical Q-car; Contours are fairly common, and the differences between this and a stock Contour are not so stunning as to rivet people's attention. While it has the lower body cladding, aside from small SVT logos on the back and the wheel caps, this car does not scream about what it is. In fact, it's more subtle than the SHO, which adds to its appeal. It would have been easy for Ford to go too far.
 
    "That's a really sharp looking car", says the doorman. "Is that a Taurus?"
 
 
ON THE ROAD
 
    Some cars just exist. Others have a purpose. The SVT's purpose is clear-cut: Windows down, back road, Shawn Colvin's "Tennessee" on the CD. Launch and enjoy.
 
    The SVT carves corners like few other cars. (Note: We found it much more nimble without three other automotive journalists inside.) The SVT folks have quite evidently worked on the engine note; it thrills your spine. This is the best-sounding car we've driven save perhaps the Miata.
 
    The wheel is thick; you get a good handful of it. The Goodyears are thick, too; they get a good handful of the road, and contribute to prodigious confidence. It is reasonable to say that the GS-Cs are road magnets. (Then again, what would you expect from our favorite Showroom Stock tire?) Revised seat bolsters keep you where you want to be.
 
    Joyously well-balanced, the SVT is at its best mid-corner, thanks to the adhesion and excellent damping. Trailing throttle lets you loosen up the back end despite the fact that the SVT is front wheel drive. It's communicative without shouting; the suspension transmits every road imperfection, but without upsetting the car, and without big thumps or shocks. On concrete highways, the seams are audible and you do feel each one of them, but not unpleasantly so. Bigger bumps are absorbed more than little ones; bridge expansion joints register less than tar strips. "I have good road feel, but it handles the bumps well," noted the SC-D.
 
    Out of the corner, the engine gets a chance to shine. The 2.5's real pop begins in the upper rev ranges. Down low, it's by no means slow, but it doesn't really pin you back in your seat. The engine really gets happy at 3000 revs, and 3000 to 5000, there's a nice big sweet spot and you're grabbing gears quickly. "It gives me an nice feeling of lots of power, even at low speeds. It takes a little bit of time to learn how to let in the clutch so you don't have to have the creature jumping out all over you. The car has so much power in third that I don't really notice until an awful lot later than I should that I really have two more gears left, which is quite impressive!"
 
    I'll say it again, and exuberantly. This car makes some really nice sounds under acceleration. Folks, this ain't no Cosworth Vega.
 
    Which is not to say that it isn't economical. Even with most of the driving being local and quite enthusiastic, the SVT returned 23.4 mpg. The SVT requires premium fuel and says so on the gauge which also (of course) indicates that the fuel door is on the passenger side.
 
    The four-wheel discs are quite strong, and come on after only a moment's hesitation.
 
    There is a bit of wind noise at highway speeds, there is also some tire noise, but it is definitely a long trip vehicle. The Splendid One found it sufficiently quiet that "there is some point to having a CD in this vehicle. You can appreciate the music."
 
    If there is a shortcoming to the SVT's dynamics, it's in the shifter. It's not bad by modern standards, with short throws, but it asked for just a bit of patience. Rushing the shift in our test SVT led the mechanism to bind. Enjoying the shift a bit more brought better results. We were also puzzled by an intermittent in one of the driving lights, and the air conditioning compressor made an odd sort of foghorn sound, a high pitched moan, every so often.
 
    Unfortunately, Ford eventually wanted the car back. We closed our eyes and listened to it drive away. Sniff.
 

SUMMING UP
 
    Ford has aimed high with the SVT. It's good, but is it good enough?
 
    Our rapture was dimmed by one general trait of our test SVT. This is a great handling car, this is a car with a lot of stick, this is a powerful car. What it lacks is the razor edge that one expects from the class Ford's targeting. Every response is just a little bit delayed. The engine tip-in for example; it doesn't come in right away, there's a moment's hesitation, and then it goes. On turn-in, the car rolls a little bit and then takes a set. The same with brakes; the four wheel discs are quite powerful, and they're larger than on the regular Contour, or even the SE, but they don't come on right away. You have to get a little bit into the pedal before they start hauling. If you want an M3 competitor, this isn't quite it. That's why we call this review Almost Paradise. But if you want a real car with unreal performance, Ford has hit the mark.

    Look, if Ford's target vehicles are the BMW 3-series and Audi A4, and even if they've missed a little bit (which we're not sure they have), they are still going to kill a lot of Infinitis and Lexuses (Lexi?  Lexitos?) and Nissan Maximas. After all, with standard ABS, leather on the seats, steering wheel, and shifter, power locks, windows, and driver's seat, and air conditioning, the Contour has the resume. Add in the performance and it goes to the head of the class. But consider that it comes in loaded well below 25 kilodollars and you can see this car leading to a lot of sleepless nights among the competition.
 
   In fact, the only consolation for the pricier competition is that Ford SVT will only put out about 5,000 Contours a year. Here's a piece of friendly advice: Get your order in.
 
    We are impressed by this vehicle and by its value; so much so, in fact, that it goes into the Hard Drive Garage, filling the Probe GT's void. I want it, I want it, I want it.
 
    And isn't that what fantasy is all about?
 

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