For years, travelers to Europe have wondered why some of the wonderful cars sold there by American manufacturers weren't available in this country. The European offerings defied the then-conventional wisdom that American carmakers didn't understand handling or quality. But when a transplant did arrive, it was often a lesser model (the Ford Cortina and Opel Kadett built by Isuzu come to mind), rather than the marvelously competent tourers long available from the Big Three on the Continent.

Wonder no more. Begat in Europe, Ford's Contour had its eye on America from the start. Like the Chevy Chevette (and to some extent the Escort) before it, Ford devised Contour as a world car. Ford's added a new spin by building for Europe first, deriving the U.S.-spec Contour and Mercury Mystique from the European Mondeo while staying very close to the Mondeo's styling, handling and ride. The result is a car that handles more like a Taunus than a Taurus. Few aspects of this car are traditionally American, and I say that as a compliment. Compared with its predecessor, the unlamented Tempo, the Contour is a revelation.

That difference begins with the Contour's styling. While the shape of the mildly cab-forward body isn't groundbreaking, it is certainly distinctive. Ovals (perhaps not surprisingly) are the theme; the grille, taillights, and many interior fitments follow that theme.

European touches abound in the interior. Seat back rake adjusts with the sort of big wheel you usually expect to be lumbar support. The fuel filler and trunk releases are a single lever; push it to release the fuel door, pull it to open the trunk. Another carryover from European practice is the use of a dog ring on the stick shift to release the reverse lockout.

Storage in our tested GL model included a center console, a pop-up beverage holder between the front seats, map pockets on both sides, and a little change bin (not flocked). Ashtray and lighter live in the center console, below storage for cassettes. There's a locking glove box, quite large for a car of this class -- especially one with a passenger side airbag. Rear seat passengers get an ashtray in the back of the center console. We noted with approval the height adjustable seatbelt attach points that are very helpful for different size creatures such as the SC-D and myself.

The dash is very pleasant, gently curved with textured plastic. The main instrument panel piece is untextured, charcoal grey plastic, a bit shiny, but styled enough that it doesn't look too cheap. It contains a large headlight switch, and switches for the power mirrors, traction control, and rear window defroster. Ford smoothly integrated the passenger side airbag and you wouldn't know it was there if it didn't say SRS in the panel to distract you.

Air vents are large and very functional. The clock particularly caught our attention, being LCD, very flat and legible. Climate controls are bigger than most, labeled in words to show where the air goes. And the steering wheel is big, thick and grippy.

Faithful readers are accustomed to our noting how silly it is to have tachometers on cars with automatic transmissions. Ford does exactly the opposite here; our test car bore a manual transmission and no tach, just a huge (and somewhat optimistic) 130-mph speedometer, a decent size fuel gauge, and a very large temperature gauge. All other indicators are lights.

Wipers and the headlights are controlled by small paddles sticking out from the control column, not something that most American drivers will be used to, but I like them, and the Splendid Co-Driver didn't have to take her hands of the wheel to operate them. Switchgear feel is Euro-excellent.

The inside door panels are, well, contoured and done in the same velour as the seats, which looks good and feels marvelous.

Given the attention to detail in the Contour's design, we were surprised to find several obvious defects in our test car. A trim piece in the center console was completely detached, exposing the felt used to prevent pieces from buzzing against each other. Passengers received a bonus of some free plastic wrap, nice green cellophane that looked like it should have come off a part before installation, sticking into the car from under the kick panel. And the top of the center console was attached by a very flimsy feeling mechanism (which may in fact have been broken; if not, it was poorly put together), and the entire center console wobbled when touched.

Overhead reading lights in the Contour swivel. They are clear plastic, sort of an eye inside a socket and they're fairly directional, although the socket into which the light is set is itself clear plastic and the glare from that is the only bothersome part to one driving while Someone Else tries to read.

The Splendid Co-Driver's reaction to the Contour's styling was decidedly mixed. While she appreciated the clever engineering used to create an unexpectedly large trunk, she didn't particularly care for the design or the texture of the triangular insert on the rear doors which masks the trunk's extent. Neither of us cared for the grille; she thought it resembled a fish gasping for breath. And, to quote her: "The round inset backup lights make it look like it's got eyes in the back. It's a little bit weird, but hey, I can see again this saves some space and you don't look at the back of the car when you're driving it anyway."

Maybe it was the electric blue color of our test car, but those who looked, STARED. Cranial Rotation Factor: Mild Curiosity.

The secondary hood release on the Contour is thoughtfully bright yellow so that you can find it inside the narrow grill opening. Pop it to reveal the Zetec 4-cylinder and you find lots of room to work on things, with spark plugs right on top and all major fluids and check points quite accessible. You can tell this is a world car because the air filter cover says "air filter" in four languages.

ON THE ROAD

Contour's Engine note is unexpectedly deep for a four cylinder; it sounds like you're driving a real car. Stand on the Zetec and it begs to be wound out, with auditory and seat-of-the-pants rewards. But power is far from its only merit; this may be the smoothest four that doesn't come from BMW. And our test yielded 29 mpg around town and 32 on the highway.

The suspension in this car is very European, with a sense of long, well-damped wheel travel and softish springs. For driving around town it's marvelous, solid and unruffled with very good feedback from the steering. As you get faster, the Contour -- like other progressively damped vehicles -- rolls quickly for the first small portion of the turn and then takes a very firm set.

The SC-D noted the Contour's very smooth ride, which is almost mystical. You see how bad the road is, you're aware of unevennesses in the road through the steering, yet the car remains stable, level, and unruffled as the wheels and suspension take up all of it. Her Splendidness didn't even notice some of the worst stretches of Washington freeway until informed that they were past. The result is just an excellent ride, not wallowy or marshmallowy but how a car should ride.

It's especially noteworthy if you consider the competition. An ordinary handling car of this class, say the Honda Accord, is just at a different level of precision when it comes to chassis dynamics. The Contour has a terrific ride without sacrificing a lot of handling. Granted, it's not a cut-and-thrust canyon runner, preferring to reward a well set up sweeping turn, although much of the responsibility goes to the 185/70x14 General G4S radials on our test car, with their lack of grip and propensity to tuck under in tight cornering. It's handling could be better, suffering particularly from the nose dives under braking that you get with a long travel suspension, but it's a fair tradeoff if what you're looking to do is tour. The car is fun, but it's dignified fun. What more does one need in this class? (Note to showoffs: The Contour's platform is stiff enough that it lifts the inside rear wheel on medium speed corners.)

The seats in the Contour are very firm, but comfortable for extended cruising. You can feel the different densities of foam in the seat and down at the bottom is something that is very bottom-shaped and firm.

At speed, the cabin is very quiet except for a lot of wind noise, which on our test car came from the tops of both front doors.

Pedals are not too well-placed for heel and toe. The brake is noticeably closer to you than the throttle and the clutch has a very long throw and is light. Brakes are very strong, coming on well and firmly.

We would have liked a more solid feel to the shifter. It's not what one would expect in a car that seems to have so much else going for it. When the car is cold (as in wintertime cold the shifter does not want to go in gear, and once it does it's very notchy until the car warms up. Even after a long trip, when moving from third to fourth the shifter almost seemed to want to go somewhere I didn't necessarily want it to go, so I put the clutch back in, took it easy, and eased it into fourth. It popped out of gear several times during our test.

Rear seat passengers were comfortable when sitting behind the Splendid One; less so behind me. Room in the rear is adequate, although not up to the fronton-like dimensions of Chrysler's JA cars; access through the unexpectedly small door opening is more awkward than it should be.

CONCLUSION

The Honda Accord and similar vehicles have a real problem with the Contour. At sixteen grand this is a very good automobile. While build on our test car was occasionally sloppy, the whole of the car is greater than the sum of its parts, thanks primarily to the Contour's high quality dynamics. In addition to having a number of features, it drives as if it were of a piece, and it's got more power and certainly more character than most competitors. Back to the Autobahn!

Copyright 1995, Backyard Aerospace

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