Real American Hero: 1998 Ford Contour SVT
The US market Ford Contour was marketed by the folks at Ford’s PR department as a re-purposed European Ford Mondeo, but in truth it only shared a few pieces including the windshield, windows, side mirrors and door handles. Everything else was standard parts bin junk left over from the Tempo or borrowed from the Taurus or Escort. That didn’t stop Ford from making an interesting SVT version that put a 200 horsepower Duratec V6 mated to a 5-speed manual box up front. Think of it like a 17/18ths scale Taurus SHO with a thin verneer of Europeanism. But they are cheap, so I’m in. Find this 1998 Ford Contour SVT offered for $6000 in Dublin, CA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
From the seller:
1998 Ford Contour SVT
condition: good
cylinders: 6 cylinders
drive: fwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 134000
paint color: silver
size: compact
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: sedan
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1998 Ford Contour SVT, Created by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team, Duratec V6 designed by Ford & Porche. Fully outfitted with leather interior, silver exterior, optioned electric sunroof, AC, PS, 4wheel disc brakes, dual exhaust, 5 speed manual trans, low miles on tires. Fun car that drives, performs and handles well. Vehicle is pretty much completely stock other than an upgraded stereo system. Adult owned.
See a better way to drive front wheels? tips@dailyturismo.com
I don’t recall this engine being designed by either Porsche or “Porche”.
If the pedias of wiki are to be believed:
“The Ford Duratec V6, also known as the Mondeo V6, is an aluminum DOHC V6 engine with a 60° bank angle introduced in 1993 with the Ford Mondeo. The primary engineering input came from Porsche,[1] who was developing a similar V6 before selling the engineering to Ford, and Cosworth, who helped with cylinder head manufacturing.[2] The Jaguar AJ-V6 engine is similar but adds variable valve timing.”
I had an identical one and it was an awesome car! While very few visible exterior parts were shared with Europe, the platform was shared and was the big differentiator vs. Tempo/Topaz. Yes, the Porsche involvement in Duratec is a surprise to many!